Alpha Lambda Delta is an honor society for students who have achieved a 3.5 GPA or higher in their first semester of college. The initials GPA can refer, among other things, to Grade Point Average; see Grade (education) Guinness Peat Aviation General Practice Australia, a private, independent medical accreditation society Greyhound Pets of America This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... An academic term is the time during which a school, college or university holds classes. ...

History

Alpha Lambda Delta was founded in 1924 by the Dean of Women, Maria Leonard, at the University of Illinois to recognize academic excellence among freshmen women. One year before, Dean Thomas Arkle Clark had founded Phi Eta Sigma, an honor society to recognize academic excellence among freshmen men. Both groups operated as single sex organizations until the mid-70s when they both became coeducational in response to Title IX. The University of Illinois is the set of three public universities in Illinois. ... Phi Eta Sigma is the oldest and largest freshman honor society founded at the University of Illinois on March 22, 1923, and now has more than three hundred chapters throughout the United States and more than 800,000 members. ... Freshmen can refer to multiple things: For the comic book, see Freshmen_(comics). ... Coeducation is the integrated education of men and women. ... State (formally known as the Opportunitrtyurt76uy in Education Act) is an Act of Congress666 focusing on equality in sports opportunities and called for the increase of college scholarships of women 666to ensure parity with male athletes. ...

At the first meeting of the chapter, Florence Finn, president of the society, presented a passage from Plato’s Republic in which Socrates asks the question, “Will they hold torches and pass them to one another...?”. This idea, together with the symbol of a candle and the concept of sharing the love of learning with others, caught the imagination of the charter members.

The honor society soon became a national organization through the chartering of chapters at Purdue University in 1926, at DePauw University in 1927, at the University of Michigan in 1927, and at the University of Oklahoma in 1929. The first national convention was held in 1930 on the campus of the University of Illinois. Conventions were suspended during the Depression years because of travel expenses. The third convention was held in 1938 at the University of Michigan. A decision was made at that convention to suspend holding a national convention and to invest those funds into establishing a graduate fellowship fund. The first fellowship was awarded to Louise Houssiere for graduate study at MIT in 1940. See also Purdue University System. ... This school is not to be confused with DePaul University, which has a similar pronunciation. ... This article is about the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. ... The University of Oklahoma, often called OU or Oklahoma, is a coeducational public research university located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. ... The Great Depression was a worldwide economic downturn, starting in 1929 and lasting through most of the 1930s. ...

The Association of College Honor Societies was organized in 1925 to consider matters of mutual concern to member organizations; Alpha Lambda Delta has been active in the Association since its admission to membership in 1939. In 1976 in response to Title IX, the National Council voted for the Society to become coeducational. In 1981, the first two male members of the National Council were installed. The Association of College Honor Societies (ACHS), founded in 1925, is a predominantly American organization that serves a number of functions with respect to national collegiate and post-graduate honor societies. ...

Alpha Lambda Delta has continued to be innovative and responsive in recognizing academic excellence by providing Senior Certificates and the Maria Leonard Senior Book Award since 1939, offering workshops since 1978, recognizing outstanding chapters with the Order of the Torch Award since 1989, recognizing an Outstanding Adviser of the Year since 1990, and taking advantage of technology by posting a national web site in January of 1997.

The Society Today

Today, Alpha Lambda Delta has chapters at 251 campuses in the United States. Members are invited to join by the local chapters, after the chapter has determined that the student has achieved an 3.5 or higher GPA in their first year or term of enrollment in an institution of higher education. The members of the local chapters are also considered to be members of the National organization. The University of Cambridge is an institute of higher learning. ...

The National organization is governed by a National Council, which operates in the same fashion as a board of directors. The policies adopted by the National Council, and annually by the chapters, are administered by the National Office. The National Office is located in Macon, Georgia. All administrative details of operating the Society are carried out through the National Office. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Macon is a city located in Bibb County, Georgia, USA. It lies near the geographic center of Georgia, approximately 80 miles (129 km) south of Atlanta, hence the citys nickname as the Heart of Georgia. ...

As of Fall, 2005, the Society had initiated just over 720,000 lifetime members, and initiates roughly 25,000 new members each year.

Awards

Each year, National Alpha Lambda Delta awards over $100,000 in scholarships and fellowships to members. Undergraduate members may be awarded the Jo Anne Trow Scholarship, a non-renewable award of $1,000. 35 such awards are given each year. Graduate members may be awarded an Alpha Lambda Delta Graduate Fellowship, ranging in value from $3,000 to $7,500. 23 such awards are granted each year. Note: The term scholarship can mean either the methods employed by scholars (see scholarly method) or an award of access to an institution and/or money for an individual for the purposes of furthering their education. ... In some educational systems, an undergraduate is a post-secondary student pursuing a Bachelors degree. ... A graduate school or grad school is a school that awards advanced degrees, with the general requirement that students must have earned an undergraduate (bachelors) degree. ...

Additionally, members are entitled to wear Alpha Lambda Delta honor cords at their graduation exercises. Students in each chapter who have succeeded in maintaining the highest GPA from among their school's membership may be awarded the Maria Leonard Senior Book Award, the presentation of a book with an inscribed bookplate. Academic procession during the University of Canterbury graduation ceremony. ... The bookplate of Sir John Forrest A bookplate is commonly a printed piece of paper pasted on one of the pages of the book, mostly found on the inside front cover, and shows the ownership of the book. ...

External links

• Alpha Lambda Delta official website