McDaniel College is proud to host a chapter of Alpha Kappa Delta.

What does AKD mean?
Alpha Kappa Delta derives its name from the first letters of the three Greek words, "anthropon" (human kind), "katamanthanein" (to investigate throughly), and "diakonesein" (for the purpose of service). When this phrase is translated freely, it expresses both the goal and the method of Alpha Kappa Delta; "To study humankind for the purpose of service."

Statement of membership eligibility
As stated in the Constitution of the United Chapters of Alpha Kappa Delta, each candidate for membership in a chapter must be an officially declared sociology major or demonstrate a serious interest in sociology; must be at least a junior (third year); must have accumulated the equivalent of an overall grade point average of 3.0 (by a four point scale); must have maintained the equivalent of a 3.0 grade point average in sociology courses taken at the host institution prior to initiation. Election to Alpha Kappa Delta shall be without regard to race, creed, or national origin. Each initiate shall pay an  initiation fee to the United Chapters, which entitles the initiate to a lifetime membership in AKD, a membership certificate, and a one-year subscription to the journal Sociological Inquiry.  At McDaniel College, each spring AKD faculty sponsors screen the pool of sociology majors in search of candidates who meet these membership criteria.

History of AKD
In the fall of 1920, under the direction of Dr. E. S. Bogardus, 14 graduate students and members of the sociology staff of University of California organized a society for those who were vitally interested in, and who were doing outstanding work in, the field of sociology. The society grew out of the feeling that there was a need for both faculty and students to get together regularly to discuss the sociological projects that they were undertaking. The society was named Alpha Kappa Delta. During the following year Dr. Bogardus, Chairman of the Department of sociology, invited other sociology departments to establish similar honor societies.

At that time, there were many sociology clubs in many schools, as there still are, but Alpha Kappa Delta thought it desirable to limit membership in Alpha Kappa Delta to those students with superior scholarship and serious interest in sociology.

In 1911, the second chapter was founded at the University of Wisconsin. In December, 1913, at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in Chicago, sociology representatives from the Universities of Southern California, Wisconsin, Northwestern, and Kansas organized the United Chapters of Alpha Kappa Delta. Thereafter, the roster grew rapidly until there are now chapters in all parts of the United States and several other countries. Chapters in each state are named according to the Greek alphabet in the order of their founding.

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To be eligible for a chapter, an institution's sociology department must have at least two full-time teachers of sociology, and it must offer 30 semester hours of standard courses of sociology exclusive of summer sessions and extension teaching offerings. New chapters must be approved by three-fourths of the council. (Compliments of the Alpha Kappa Delta Handbook 1992-1993)