Delta Sigma Rho-Tau Kappa Alpha

Delta Sigma Rho-Tau Kappa Alpha
ΔΣΡ-ΤΚΑ
Founded	April 13, 1906 (April 13, 1906) (ΔΣΡ) May 13, 1908 (May 13, 1908) (ΤΚΑ) August 18, 1963 (1963-08-18) (Combined) Chicago, Illinois (ΔΣΡ) Indianapolis, Indiana (ΤΚΑ)
Type	Honor Society
Affiliation	ACHS (former)
Emphasis	Forensics
Scope	National
Motto	Oratory, the key to power and Honor for merit
Colors	Historic colors: ΔΣΡ:   Maroon and   Black ΤΚΑ:   Light Purple and   Dark Purple
Publication	Speaker and Gavel (Formerly the Gavel of Delta Sigma Rho and the Speaker of Tau Kappa Alpha)
Chapters	17
Members	60,000 lifetime
Headquarters	c/o Mike Edmonds Colorado College 14 E Cache La Poudre Colorado Springs, CO 80903 USA

Delta Sigma Rho- Tau Kappa Alpha (ΔΣΡ-ΤΚΑ) is a collegiate honor society devoted to the promotion of public speaking (forensics).

History

Both Delta Sigma Rho and Tau Kappa Alpha were founded as honorary forensic societies.

Delta Sigma Rho image from 1915 University of Chicago yearbook

Delta Sigma Rho

Delta Sigma Rho was founded in Chicago on April 13, 1906. The founders at the organizing convention included representatives from University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, University of Iowa, University of Wisconsin, University of Illinois, University of Nebraska, University of Chicago and Northwestern University. The call for the meeting was issued by Professor Eugene E. McDermott of the University of Minnesota after several years correspondence with the heads of the departments of public speaking at the other seven schools during which the idea was fully discussed and approved. The idea of the society came out of the simultaneous conception of the idea by Professor McDermont and Professor H. E. Gordon of University of Iowa.

The Purpose of the society was "to encourage sincere and effective public speaking". As of 1920, the constitution provided that charters shall only be granted to those institutions which have for at least five years participated in intercollegiate contests per year.

The society had more than 80 chapters by 1956.

Delta Sigma Rho had for its emblem a diamond shaped key on which the Greek letters Delta Sigma Rho and the date of the organization of the society (1906) appear in relief.

Colors were maroon and black.

Tau Kappa Alpha

Tau Kappa Alpha was organized May 13, 1908, at Indianapolis, Ind., primarily through the efforts of Oswald Ryan, a student at Butler University and Hugh Thomas Miller, Lieutenant Governor of Indiana, assisted by James J. Boyle, G. Claris Adams, Herbert R. Hyman, William Heilman and Roger W. Wallace. The principal qualification for membership is participation in an Intercollegiate oratorical or debating contest. Members are elected by the several State Councils in their respective States, and Alumni of accredited institutions may also be elected. The scheme of organization was a peculiar one. Charters were not granted to institutions of learning as such, but to eligible persons in each State upon the petition of students from a representative institution or institutions in such State and expansion within that State was entrusted to the charter members of the State Chapter. The purpose of this plan was to enable the election of desirable men from colleges not large enough or perhaps not strong enough to warrant the installation of or to maintain a separate chapter. It was found to be impracticable and at a convention held in 1914 the society was reorganized and chapters given an independent existence in the usual way.

The professional fraternity, Phi Delta Gamma merged into Tau Kappa Alpha in 1935.

By 1958 it had 90 national chapters, and both men and women were admitted.

Colors were light and dark purple.

Combined

The Delta Sigma Rho and Tau Kappa Alpha merged on August 18, 1963.

Chapters of Delta Sigma Rho

Chapters of Delta Sigma Rho at the time of the Merger

Code	Chapter Name	Date Founded
A	Albion	1911
AL	Allegheny	1913
AM	Amherst	1913
AMER	American	1932
B	Bates	1915
BE	Beloit	1909
BK	Brooklyn	1940
BR	Brown	1909
BU	Boston	1935
CA	Carleton	1911
CH	Chicago	1906
CLR	Colorado	1910
COL	Colgate	1910
CON	Connecticut	1952
COR	Cornell	1911
CR	Creighton	1934
D	Dartmouth	1910
DP	DePauw	1915
EL	Elmira	1931
GR	Grinnell	1951
GW	Georgie Washington	1908
H	Hamilton	1922
HR	Harvard	1909
HW	Hawaii	1947
I	Idaho	1926
ILL	Illinois	1906
IN	Indiana	1951
ISC	Iowa State	1909
IT	Iowa State Teachers	1913
lU	Iowa	1906
JCU	John Carroll	1958
K	Kansas	1910
KA	Kansas State	1951
KC	Kings	1961
KX	Knox	1911
L	Loyola	1960
LU	Lehigh	1960
MQ	Marquette	1930
M	Michigan	1906
MSU	Michigan State	1958
MN	Minnesota	1906
MO	Missouri	1909
MM	Mount Mercy	1954
MR	Morehouse	1959
MU	Mundelein	1949
N	Nebraska	1906
NEV	Nevada	1948
NC	North Carolina	1960
ND	North Dakota	1911
NO	Northwestern	1906
O	Ohio State	1910
OB	Oberlin	1936
OK	Oklahoma	1913
OR	Oregon	1926
ORS	Oregon State	1922
OW	Ohio Wesleyan	1907
P	Pennsylvania	1909
PO	Pomona	1928
PS	Pennsylvania State	1917
PT	Pittsburgh	1920
R	Rockford	1933
SF	San Francisco State	1961
SC	Southern California	1915
ST	Stanford	1911
SY	Syracuse	1910
TE	Temple	1950
T	Texas	1909
TT	Texas Tech.	1953
TU	Tulane	1960
UNYF	U. of N.Y. (Fredonia)	1960
VA	Virginia	1908
W	Washington Univ.	1922
WSU	Washington State	1960
WA	University of Wash.	1954
WAY	Wayne State	1937
WES	Wesleyan	1910
WICH	Wichita	1941
WIS	Wisconsin	1906
UWM	Wisconsin-Milwaukee	1962
WJ	Washington and Jefferson	1917
WM	Williams	1910
WO	Wooster	1922
WR	Western Reserve	1911
WVA	West Virginia	1923
WYO	Wyoming	1917
Y	Yale	1909