Gamma Sigma Delta Emblem

THE HONOR SOCIETY OF AGRICULTURE
GAMMA SIGMA DELTA

Auburn Chapter

GAMMA SIGMA DELTA began at the Ohio State University December l, 1905, as a professional, agricultural fraternity for undergraduates called Delta Theta Sigma. Iowa State organized a Chapter in 1907 but as an honorary rather than as a professional society. Other Chapters were installed soon after at Land-Grant Universities in Pennsylvania, Oregon, Missouri and Utah, all adhering to the honorary plan.

A conclave was held in Columbia, Missouri in May 1913, when the organization became fully honorary and the name was changed to GAMMA SIGMA DELTA. Chapters were added at Kansas in 1914 and at Auburn University in 1916. The Alabama Polytechnic Institute, as Auburn was then called, became the Eighth Chapter to be formed.

 Following a merger with the University of Minnesota's Agricultural Honor Society of America, a new constitution was drafted and ratified in 1917. It made GAMA SIGMA DELTA the Honorary Society of Agriculture and established the broad principles of faculty control. There are at present 47 Chapters of GAMMA SIGMA DELTA.

 The Society is strictly honorary in character. Elections to membership are conducted by the faculty. Seniors and graduate students are elected in the Fall and Spring; faculty and alumni are elected in the Spring only.

 Senior students elected to membership must rank scholastically in the upper 15 per cent of the class and they must show promise of future leadership in some phase of agriculture in its broadest meaning.

 Graduate students of outstanding ability in the various fields of agriculture or closely related sciences, and alumni and faculty who have, by virtue of outstanding achievement in agricultural pursuits, are also eligible for election. Faculty members are eligible after at least three years of service. Alumni are eligible for election not sooner than five years after graduation.
 
 

Objectives

The Honor Society of Agriculture, GAMMA SIGMA DELTA, is an organization with the objectives of improving all phases of agriculture, including production agriculture, biology, environmental studies, agribusiness, and other related sciences. High standards of scholarship and outstanding achievement in career pursuits are encouraged. It is hoped that all those who engage in the broad field of agricultural science will work toward the goal of improving all the aspects of agriculture.

 Since the beginning of recorded history, humankind's central occupation has been directed toward providing the basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter. Our problems are now more complex and our needs much broader, so that all people are concerned with problems in agriculture. If we are to provide solutions, leadership in all areas related to agriculture is vitally needed.
 
 

MEMBERSHIP PLEDGE

In recognition of

My duties and responsibilities
As a member of
The Honor Society of Agriculture,
GAMMA SIGMA DELTA,
I pledge myself
To use my abilities
In furthering
The progress of agriculture.
The emblem of the Society is a key bearing the words "The Honor Society of Agriculture" in small Roman letters and the Greek letters GAMMA SIGMA DELTA, which are its insignia. These are the initial letters for the Greek words, Gaea (Ge-a), Syndesmos (Syn-des-mos), and Demeter (De-me-ter), which are symbolic of our organization.
Gaea (Ge-a) was acknowledged by the Greeks as the Goddess of Earth, the original mother of all, the all-producing and all-nourishing mother.

 

 
 
 

Syndesmos (Syn-des-mos) was the Greek word for "bind or band together," hence symbolic of strength, of unity of purpose and interest.

 

 
 
 

Demeter (De-me-ter) was the Grecian Goddess of Agriculture, of fruitfulness and of rural life. She presided over every operation of the practice of farming and was therefore the essence of life to a pastoral people.
Thus, the Greek meaning of our name is "The binding together of earth, the mother of all, and the practice of agriculture, and the arts relating thereto for the welfare of mankind." So may we here join together to further the practice of all the agriculturally-related sciences and to serve our fellow men.
 
 

2003-2004 Officers

Russ Muntifering, President
Joey Shaw, Immediate Past President
Gregg Traxler, Treasurer
Amy Wright, Secretary
Charles Mitchell, Historian

Departmental and Area Representatives

Joe Molnar, Agricultural Economics & Rural Sociology
Cliff Flood, Biosystems Engineering
Keith Cummins, Animal & Dairy Science
Kira Bowen, Entomology and Plant Pathology
Yoland Brady, Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures
Amy Wright, Horticulture
Roger Lien, Poultry Science
Earl de Brunner, Forestry
Nondepartmentalized Extension Specialists
Veterinary Medicine
Kirk Swortzel, Agric. Education
Brenda McCord, Human Sciences

January 2004 - August 2004 Calendar

Spring Semester
  • January 13, Classes begin
  • March 15, Call for nominations
    • Fall Semester


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