The Association of College Honor Societies
was organized October 2, 1925, by a group of college and university teachers,
administrators, and representatives of a few well-established honor societies. Its object
was then and is now to consider problems of mutual interest such as those arising from the
confusion prevailing on college campuses concerning the character, function, standards of
membership, multiplicity, and undesirable duplication of honor societies; to recommend
action leading to appropriate classification, higher standards, reasonable cost of
membership, consolidation or elimination; and to promote the highest interest of honor
societies.
There were six initial honor societies in
the A.C.H.S.: Phi Beta Kappa, in liberal arts; Sigma Xi, in scientific research; Tau Beta
Pi, in engineering; Phi Kappa Phi, in all academic fields of university scope; Alpha Omega
Alpha, in medicine; and Order of the Coif, in law.
Provision was made for responsibility to be
lodged in a Council which consists of an official representative of each member society.
Provision was made also for meetings, admission of other societies found to have proper
qualifications, for admission fees and annual dues, and for needed studies, reports, and
recommendations.
Former Tau Beta Pi President A. D. Moore
was a leader in the formation of the A.C.H.S. in 1925. He served as our representative
from 1925-32 and was president of the A.C.H.S. in 1933-37. President P. W. Ott was our
representative from 1932-47, serving as vice president of the A.C.H.S. in 1939. Former
Secretary R. H. Nagel was representative from 1947-82, secretary-treasurer from 1949-57,
and president from 1957-59. Secretary J. D. Froula became Tau Beta Pi's representative in
1982 and served on the executive committee in 1987-89, as vice president in 1989-91, and
as president in 1991-93.
Sixty-nine honor societies are now
members of the A.C.H.S., although several of the founding societies have
withdrawn. Tau Beta Pi is classed as a general honor society of the scholarship
variety, as distinguished from the leadership kind. A third classification
by the A.C.H.S. is that of specialized honor societies, and a fourth is
freshman scholarship societies. Definitions, standards, requirements for
membership, and a statement on the functions of honor societies were adopted
by the A.C.H.S. in 1944. These were incorporated with appropriate modifications
in the Constitution and Bylaws of the A.C.H.S. in 1951.
|
