The German National Honor Society or Delta Phi Alpha () (german: Deutsche Ehrenverbindung), is the sole post-secondary national honorary society for German studies in the United States. According to the organization, the honor society seeks to "recognize excellence in the study of German and to provide an incentive for higher scholarship. The society aims to promote the study of the German language, literature, and civilization, and endeavors to emphasize those aspects of German life and culture which are of universal value and which contribute to humankind's eternal search for peace and truth." Delta Phi Alpha was founded on May 27, 1929 at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where the Alpha chapter still resides. The honor society is currently operated from the campus of
Washington & Jefferson College
Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries to ...
in Washington, PA. The society has over three hundred constituent chapters at colleges and universities throughout the United States.
History
21 Wofford students under the guidance of the Dr. James A. Chiles met in Old Main in February 1928, and founded a German Club they named Deutscher Verein. Over the next year, John Olin Eidson '29 and members of the Wofford group began contacting German clubs at other schools. Invitations were sent to active German clubs in about twelve or fifteen small colleges to form chapters of a national fraternity.
This led to the formation of Delta Phi Alpha, the National Honorary German Society, on May 27, 1929. Wofford was the Alpha chapter of the society, and Dr. Chiles became its president, a position he occupied for the remainder of his active career.
[
]
Chapters
The active chapters of Delta Phi Alpha ():
Additionally the charters of Delta Phi Alpha as of 1939 include:
*By the end of 1929: Alpha at Wofford College, Beta at Central College in Fayette, Missouri, and Gamma at Bates College in Lewiston
* 1930: Vanderbilt University; Davidson College, North Carolina Berea College, Kentucky; University of Rochester; Birmingham-Southern College; University of Washington.
* 1931: Rutgers University; West Virginia University; Alabama College; Wittenberg College, Ohio; University of Cincinnati; Duke University; University of Illinois; University of Pennsylvania.
* 1932: University of South Carolina; New York University; Western Reserve University; Bucknell University; University of California a Los Angeles; Washington University in St. Louis.
* 1933: Indiana University; Cornell University; Clark University.
* 1934: University of Colorado; University of Buffalo; Southern Methodist University; University of Southern California; Union Col Schenectady, N. Y.
* 1935: Colgate University; Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.
* 1936: University of Oregon; University of Tennessee; Hunter College; University of Iowa.
* 1937: Drake University; Capital University, Columbus, Ohio; Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, Ohio.
See also
*National Honor Society
The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...
*Spanish National Honor Society
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
* French National Honor Society
References
External links
Delta Phi Alpha
* http://blogs.wofford.edu/from_the_archives/2009/02/10/james-a-chiles-teacher-and-scholar/
High school honor societies
Student organizations established in 1968
1968 establishments in Florida
{{honor-stub