OMICRON DELTA KAPPA, The National Leadership Honor Society at AU - Home of the 2010 BCS National Champions
ODK has been recognizing outstanding leaders at Auburn University since receiving its charter on May 22, 1928. In 2008 we celebrated our 80th anniversary. While junior and senior student leaders in any discipline are the primary initiates, faculty, staff, community leaders (Honoris Causa), graduate students and alumni are also initiated from time to time. Initiations are held in the fall and spring of each year. Nominations for membership are solicited from Deans, Department Heads, and others.
Applications are scored by an ODK student committee using a predetermined point system. A ballot containing roughly twice the open spots is then prepared from the highest- scored applications and a vote of the active membership is used to select initiates. The VP is in general the one in charge of the nomination / selection process.
Our Circle is the Omega Circle. It used to be one of twenty-plus circles in Province XI, before that in Province VIII. Recently, it was in Region III, but the Region-structure of ODK no longer exists. The national homepage (see links near both the top and bottom of this page) has a number of resources, CLT2, scholarship grants, and other benifits to members, for example.
Current officers are:
PRESIDENT: Trevor Ramsey, senior in Biomedical Science/Spanish from Auburn, AL. You can e-mail him by clicking here. To see the latest message(s) (announcements, etc.) from Trevor, click ODK Messages and Announcements.
VICE PRESIDENT: Stephen Stuart, senior in Biomedical Sciences from Tuscaloosa, AL.
SECRETARY/TREASURER: Jared Batte, senior in Agricultural Economics. You can e-mail him by clicking here.
CHAPLAIN: Patrick Llewellyn. You can e-mail him by clicking here.
FACULTY SECRETARY: Dr. Dale A. Coleman, Associate Professor of Animal Science. You can reach him on e-mail by clicking here. Dale has been Faculty Secretary, the society's key on-campus officer who serves as a liason with the national office, since late 1999.
FACULTY ADVISOR: Dr. Susan Hubbard, Professor of Human Sciences. She is the mother of two and the wife of State Representative Mike Hubbard (R). You can reach Susan by clicking here.
The national office of ODK is now in Lexington, VA (see more below). There are over 300 "chapters" (we call them "Circles") at universities around the country. The society was begun at Washington & Lee in Lexington, VA in 1914. AU's now deceased Dean Jim Foy was Faculty Secretary at AU for many years and the Sportsmanship Trophy is named in his honor.
You can read about a major annual project of our Circle in a story currently on the national web site. It is the traditional Cake Race . For the purpose of recognizing the most outstanding sophomores, ODK annually selects ten second-year students to be Squires. A history of Squires can be read at SQUIRES .
The national newsletter is called, "The Circle," a copyrighted name for many years. ODK's 2000 national convention was held at St Louis, MO. The 2002 national convention was held in Lexington, KY. The 2004 convention was held in Norfolk, VA. The 2006 convention was held in Washington, DC. The 2008 national convention took place at the Marriot Marquis Hotel in Atlanta. The 2010 National Leadership Summit and Convention was held in Houston, Texas June 24-27, 2010. Yet TBA is the site of the 2012 Convention. However, the 2014 Centenial Convention will be in Lexington, VA where the new National Headquarters of ODK is now located [224 McLaughlin St., 24450, (540) 458-5348].
The 3-D logo at the bottom left is a variation of an award winning logo that Dr. Cutchins developed for an engineering honorary.
The letters, ODK and their Greek equivalents, the words, "The Circle", and the key shown above at the top right are all trademarks of Omicron Delta Kappa.
IMMEDIATE PAST FACULTY SECRETARY(1984-1999): Dr. Mac Cutchins, Professor Emeritus of Aerospace Engineering. You can reach him through the President or the Faculty Secretary. Dr. Cutchins served on the Board of Directors of ODK-National for 2000-02, and completed four two-year terms as Province Faculty Director. If you have comments or suggestions concerning this homepage, please contact Dr. Cutchins. [In Memoriam to a most excellent wife: Luanne Mount Cutchins; Mar. 3, 1942 - June 23, 2011.]
