Alpha Kappa Delta began in 1920 at the University of Southern California. Membership in the group was limited to students having strong academic scholarship and engaged in research. In 1924, at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association (ASA), faculty from a variety of universities met and established the United Chapters of Alpha Kappa Delta (AKD). In 1927 AKD was admitted to the Association of College Honor Societies (ACHS). Since then it has expanded. More than 133,000 scholars have been initiated into AKD; there are 670 chapters in 49 states and six foreign countries.
AKD promotes excellence in scholarship in the study of sociology, research of social problems, and such other social and intellectual activities as will lead to improvement in the human condition. (AKD Constitution, Art. II, Sec. 2). AKD derives its name from the first letters of the Greek words, “anthropon” (mankind), “katamanthanein” (to investigate thoroughly), and “diakonesein” (for the purpose of service).
Requirements for election into AKD are as follows: students must be graduating seniors who have officially declared a major in Sociology; have an overall grade point average of at least 3.3 across all courses and 3.0 in sociology courses taken at Georgetown; and have completed at least four sociology courses prior to initiation (excluding courses graded as pass/fail).