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HomeSpecial EventsCharter Omicron Delta Kappa Honor Society Circle Launches at Belmont

Charter Omicron Delta Kappa Honor Society Circle Launches at Belmont

The charter circle of Belmont University’s new Omicron Delta Kappa honor society became a reality Monday as 55 students and two faculty members were officially inducted. Omicron Delta Kappa is a 100-year old national leadership honor society that has initiated more than 300,000 members since its founding.

Provost Dr. Thomas Burns initiated the chartering and was a member of OΔK as an undergrad at Dickinson College. “OΔK values the importance of integrity, academic achievement, leadership and service. There is such extraordinary consonance between those values and Belmont’s mission of “providing an academically challenging education that empowers men and women of diverse backgrounds to engage and transform the world with disciplined intelligence, compassion, courage and faith.” Essentially, bringing OΔK to campus allows us to celebrate our shared beliefs, recognize students who exemplify these qualities, and help provide them additional opportunities to expand their commitments to these values. Partnering our students with the OΔK organization helps connect Belmont students to a much larger international community allowing them new opportunities to shape their world.”

The Society recognizes not only academic achievement but also campus leadership across the five phases of campus life:

  • Scholarship
  • Athletics
  • Campus or Community Service, Social or Religious Activities, and Campus Government
  • Journalism, Speech and the Mass Media
  • Creative and Performing Arts

OΔK is committed to developing campus leaders who will become tomorrow’s community leaders. Founded at Washington and Lee University (Virginia) in 1914, OΔK currently has 299 active circles across the country, with Belmont being the most recent.

Faculty, staff, students and alumni are all eligible to apply for membership, but due to time constraints around launching the charter circle, the Provost’s office worked with Student Affairs to target 140 student leaders who were academically qualified to encourage them to apply for the inaugural class. Of those, 55 applied and were accepted, and College of Business staff and faculty Jill Robinson, Dr. Del Devries and Dr. Dennis Chen were appointed president, vice preseident and secretary respectively. Elections will be held to determine the student officers.

Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Dr. Beverly Schneller said, “Having been the person who reviewed all the applications, I can tell you that these students are more than academically qualified. They are distinguished. You would be astonished at some of the things these students have done especially in the areas of community service. It was really wonderful for me to read those applications to become acquainted with the depth and magnitude of these young people.”

An invitation will be sent this summer to encourage applications for the next class, with an induction ceremony planned for the fall. Approximately 100 members per year will be inducted.

The following individuals were inducted Monday in the the ODK charter circle at Belmont University:

Dr. Amy Crook, College of Business
James Meaders, Art Department
Briana August
Steven Bell
Alexandra Bowen
Kelly Brickey
Iris Chiang
Madison Crooks
Corwin Davis
Sean Della Croce
Evin Edens
Sarah Ellis
John Thomas Faircloth
Stephen Fralick
Marci Greene
William Griswold
Denée Headen
Alicia Hsu
Samantha Hubner
Christina Hughes
Juliana Ireland
Deanna Johnson
Aniko Juhasz
Ellie Kidd
Erin Lewis
Victoria Lewis
Zachary Lord
Kaytlyn Lowhorn
Anthony Manker
Ansley McAlister
Joseph Minga
Jeanette Morelan
Lauren Moses
Leena Patel
Jesse Peck
Marie Peters
Jonathan Rankin
Brittany Redd
Kamrie Reed
Mary Reed
Leah Rose
Salwa Saba
Sydney Scheben
Skyler Schmanski
Jennifer Shearon
Mareon Smit
Bailey Smith
Morgan Stone
Morgan Turner
Lexie Ward
Savannah Weeks
Taylor Welton
Miranda West
Dallas Woods
Claire Zetak

 

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