Honors College

Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK), the National Leadership Honor Society, was founded on December 3, 1914 at Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia. The Society recognizes and encourages superior scholarship, leadership, and exemplary character.

ODK emphasises development of the whole person both as a member of the college community and as a contributor to a better society. The society promotes the idea that leadership of exceptional quality and versatility in college should receive recognition, that representatives in all college life should cooperate in a worthwhile endeavor, and that outstanding students, faculty, and administrators should meet on a basis of mutual interest.

ODK was the first college honor society of a national scope to give recognition and honor for meritorious leadership in the five areas of:

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

In the United States there are over 269 circles of Omicron Delta Kappa. Members include Arnold Palmer, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Bob Hope, Jonas E. Salk, Walter Cronkite, and numerous U.S. Presidents including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, and George Bush, as well as members of the U.S. Congress.

Membership in the Omicron Delta Kappa Society is regarded as one of the highest collegiate honors to be awarded to an individual.

Past & Current Membership

View the past ODK Initiates