Alpha Kappa Mu

Alpha Kappa Mu
ΑΚΜ
Founded	26 November 1937 (26 November 1937) Tennessee A&I State College
Type	Honor society
Affiliation	ACHS
Emphasis	General scholarship
Scope	National
Colors	Royal blue and   White
Symbol	Torch, Quill, Open book
Publication	Alpha Kappa Mu Newsletter
Chapters	79
Members	93,000 lifetime
Headquarters	c/o Dr. Mollie B. Brown Executive Secretary-Treasurer Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society 324 Enterprise Drive Albany, Georgia 31705 United States
Website	Official website

The Alpha Kappa Mu National Honor Society (ΑΚΜ) is an American collegiate honor society recognizing academic excellence in all areas of study.

History

Alpha Kappa Mu was founded on November 26, 1937 at Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial State College in Nashville, Tennessee. Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society grew out of an idea conceived by George W. Gore then dean of Tennessee A&I State College. In November 1937, Gore invited representatives from five colleges that already had local scholastic honor societies on their campuses to meet at the college. The 'Federation of Honor Societies formed as an outgrowth of this meeting on November 26, 1937.

The local organizations that merged to form the Federation of Honor Societies were Alpha Epsilon at Bennett College, Alpha Delta Sigma at West Virginia State College, Beta Tau Upsilon at Tuskegee Institute, Gamma Tau at Negro Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina, and Phi Beta Tau at Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial State College. The first chairman of the Federation was James C. Evans of West Virginia State College and Gore was the executive secretary/treasurer.

The original goal of the Federation of Honor Societies was to promote and reward academic excellence among African-American students. Due to its roots, most added chapters were located at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, though some later additions are at predominantly white colleges.

Its first annual convention was held at Tennessee A&I State College in 1937. At its third annual convention at Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical and Normal College in December 1939, its names was changed to Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society and a constitution was approved.

Alpha Kappa Mu was admitted to the Association of College Honor Societies in 1952. Gore retired from being the executive secretary/treasurer in 1974 after 25 years in that office, becoming an emeritus member of the society's executive committee. Alpha Kappa Mu was incorporated in the State of South Carolina on September 7, 1977. Starting in 1999, its convention became biennial.

The society has admitted approximately 93,000 members at 79 chapters. Most chapters are found in the South and Midwest, and the majority are at public colleges and universities. Its national headquarters is in Albany, Georgia.

Symbols

The official colors of Alpha Kappa Mu are Royal Blue and white. The society's symbols are the torch, the quill, and the open book. Its publication is Alpha Kappa Mu Newsletter.

Its stole consists of a white honor cord that wraps behind the neck and down both sides of the front and is joined across the chest with a blue satin v-shaped panel embroidered in gold and black with the society's key.

Membership

Potential members are in the top ten percent of their class and are juniors or seniors with a GPA of 3.3 with a minimum of thirty hours. Graduate students with a GPA of 3.7 with a minimum of fifteen hours are also eligible for membership. Although originally linked to historically Black colleges and universities, today acceptance of new members is race-blind.

Chapters

Following is a list of Alpha Kappa Mu chapters. Active chapters are indicated in bold. Inactive chapters and institutions are in italics.

Chapter	Charter date	Institution	Location	Status	References
Gamma Tau	1937	North Carolina A&T State University	Greensboro, North Carolina	Active
Alpha Epsilon	1937	Bennett College	Greensboro, North Carolina	Active
Phi Beta Tau	November 26, 1937	Tennessee State University	Nashville, Tennessee	Active
Beta Tau Upsilon	1937	Tuskegee University	Tuskegee, Alabama	Active
Alpha Delta Sigma	1937	West Virginia State University	Institute, West Virginia	Active
Alpha Beta Tau	1938	University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff	Pine Bluff, Arkansas	Active
Eta Sigma Tau	1938	Knoxville College	Knoxville, Tennessee	Inactive
Alpha Kappa Sigma	1939	Johnson C. Smith University	Charlotte, North Carolina	Inactive
Zeta Rho Chi	1940	Bluefield State University	Bluefield, West Virginia	Inactive
Rho Beta Chi	1940	Fayetteville State University	Fayetteville, North Carolina	Active
Kappa Delta	1940	Hampton University	Hampton, Virginia	Active
Pi Lambda Psi	1940	Morgan State University	Baltimore, Maryland	Active
Kappa Gamma	1940	North Carolina Central University	Durham, North Carolina	Active
Pi Sigma Kappa	1940	Philander Smith College	Little Rock, Arkansas	Active
Alpha Pi Mu	1940	Prairie View A&M University	Prairie View, Texas	Active
Alpha Omicron	1940	Shaw University	Raleigh, North Carolina	Inactive
Zeta Phi Rho	1940	Xavier University	New Orleans, Louisiana	Active
Kappa Alpha	1941	Southern University	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	Active
Kappa Eta	1941	Virginia Union University	Richmond, Virginia	Inactive
Delta Eta Sigma	1942	Dillard University	New Orleans, Louisiana	Active
Alpha Kappa	1942	Elizabeth City State University	Elizabeth City, North Carolina	Inactive
Kappa Beta	1944	LeMoyne–Owen College	Memphis, Tennessee	Active
Kappa Theta	1944	Clark Atlanta University	Atlanta, Georgia	Inactive
Kappa Iota	1944	Florida A&M University	Tallahassee, Florida	Active
Kappa Kappa	1945	Morris Brown College	Atlanta, Georgia	Inactive
Kappa Lambda	1945	Wilberforce University	Wilberforce, Ohio	Inactive
Kappa Mu	1945	Wiley College	Marshall, Texas	Inactive
Kappa Nu	1945	Kentucky State University	Frankfort, Kentucky	Active
Kappa Xi	1945–1952	Huston–Tillotson University	Austin, Texas	Inactive
Kappa Omicron	1947	Alabama State University	Montgomery, Alabama	Inactive
Kappa Pi	1947	Benedict College	Columbia, South Carolina	Inactive
Kappa Rho	1947	Paine College	Augusta, Georgia	Active
Kappa Sigma	1948	Alabama A&M University	Normal, Alabama	Active
Kappa Tau	1948	Central State University	Wilberforce, Ohio	Active
Kappa Upsilon	1949	Alcorn State University	Lorman, Mississippi	Active
Kappa Phi	1949	Jackson State University	Jackson, Mississippi	Active
Kappa Chi	1949	Allen University	Columbia, South Carolina	Inactive
Kappa Omega	1950	Bethune-Cookman University	Daytona Beach, Florida	Active
Kappa Zeta	1950	Grambling State University	Grambling, Louisiana	Inactive
Kappa Psi		South Carolina State University	Orangeburg, South Carolina	Inactive
Alpha Alpha	1950	St. Augustine's University	Raleigh, North Carolina	Active
Alpha Beta	1950	Texas Southern University	Houston, Texas	Inactive
Alpha Gamma	1950	Lincoln University	Jefferson City, Missouri	Inactive
Kappa Epsilon	1950	Winston-Salem State University	Winston-Salem, North Carolina	Active
Alpha Delta	1951	Texas College	Tyler, Texas	Inactive
Alpha Zeta	1951	Bishop College	Marshall, Texas	Inactive
Alpha Eta	1951	Virginia State University	Ettrick, Virginia	Inactive
Alpha Theta	1951	Claflin University	Orangeburg, South Carolina	Active
Alpha Iota	1952	Albany State University	Albany, Georgia	Active
Alpha Mu	1952	Fort Valley State University	Fort Valley, Georgia	Active
Alpha Nu	1952	Savannah State University	Savannah, Georgia	Active
Alpha Xi	1953	Jarvis Christian College	Hawkins, Texas	Inactive
Alpha Pi	1954	Saint Paul's College	Lawrenceville, Virginia	Inactive
Alpha Rho	1954	Tougaloo College	Tougaloo, Mississippi	Active
Alpha Tau	1954	Barber–Scotia College	Concord, North Carolina	Inactive
Alpha Phi	1954	Florida Memorial University	Miami Gardens, Florida	Inactive
Alpha Lambda	1955	University of Maryland Eastern Shore	Princess Anne, Maryland	Inactive
Alpha Sigma	1956	Miles College	Birmingham, Alabama	Inactive
Alpha Upsilon	1956	Stillman College	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	Active
Alpha Chi	1957	Langston University	Langston, Oklahoma	Inactive
Alpha Psi	1962	Livingstone College	Salisbury, North Carolina	Active
Alpha Omega	1962	Lane College	Jackson, Tennessee	Inactive
Mu Alpha	1963	Delaware State University	Dover, Delaware	Active
Mu Beta	1963	Coppin State University	Baltimore, Maryland	Active
Mu Gamma	1965	Bowie State University	Bowie, Maryland	Inactive
Mu Delta	1969	Mississippi Valley State University	Itta Bena, Mississippi	Inactive
Mu Epsilon	1969	Voorhees University	Denmark, South Carolina	Active
Mu Epsilon ?		Grand View University	Des Moines, Iowa	Active
Mu Zeta	1970	Norfolk State University	Norfolk, Virginia	Inactive
Mu Eta	1973	Cheyney University of Pennsylvania	Cheyney, Pennsylvania	Inactive
Mu Theta	1975	Rust College	Holly Springs, Mississippi	Active
Mu Iota	1975	Paul Quinn College	Dallas, Texas	Inactive
Mu Lambda		Morris College	Sumter, South Carolina	Active
Mu Kappa	1976	University of Southern Mississippi	Hattiesburg, Mississippi	Inactive
Mu Mu		Kent State University	Kent, Ohio	Inactive
Mu Nu		Cleveland State University	Cleveland, Ohio	Active
Mu Xi		Ohio State University	Columbus, Ohio	Inactive
Mu Omicron		Western Michigan University	Kalamazoo, Michigan	Active
Mu Pi		Virginia Tech	Blacksburg, Virginia	Inactive
Mu Rho		Youngstown State University	Youngstown, Ohio	Inactive
Mu Sigma		Texas A&M University–Central Texas	Killeen, Texas	Inactive
Mu Tau		Concordia College Alabama	Selma, Alabama	Inactive
Mu Phi		Edward Waters University	Jacksonville, Florida	Active

See also

• Honor society
• Honor cords

External links

• Official website