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Delta Kappa Alpha

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Cinema society at the University of Southern California
Delta Kappa Alpha
ΔΚΑ
The official coat of arms of Delta Kappa Alpha
FoundedMarch 16, 1936; 88 years ago (1936-03-16)
University of Southern California
TypeProfessional
AffiliationPFA
StatusActive
EmphasisCinematic arts
ScopeNational
MottoTruth in Illusion
SloganCinematic Artists of Character
Colors  Deep royal blue
  Old gold
SymbolMovie camera
FlowerWhite carnation
MascotDragon
PublicationCineJournal
Chapters21 (active)
NicknameDeKA
Headquarters1179 Union Circle
Denton, Texas 76201
United States
Websitewww.dka.org

Delta Kappa Alpha (ΔΚΑ or DKA) is a national, gender-inclusive, professional cinematic society founded in 1936 at the USC School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles, California. The mission of DKA is to foster lifelong character, collaborative and creative storytelling, ethical and productive business practices, philanthropic action, and fraternal bonds by and between students of the cinematic arts.

History

Delta Kappa Alpha was founded in 1935 as a Professional Cinematography Fraternity for men. DKA received its National Charter on March 16, 1936, in Bridge Hall of the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, California. Over 85 years later, the organization has evolved into a gender-inclusive society welcoming undergraduate and graduate students of any major who demonstrate a passion for creative collaboration in the cinematic arts.

Ten men are honored as Delta Kappa Alpha's founding members:

  • Allen K. Dallas
  • William A. Halpern
  • John W. Findlater
  • Donald Fischer
  • Jack H. McClelland
  • Terry Bissinger
  • Robert V. Rogers
  • Louis Tarleton
  • Robert Turner
  • Peter Kinnel

Allen K. Dallas served as the first President of Delta Kappa Alpha.

The Alpha chapter had considerable influence in its first incarnation from 1936 until the mid-1980s. The fraternity had its own office within the School of Cinematic Arts building, equivalent to the current Student Production Office in today's SCA complex.

The fraternity also held annual banquets to honor notable contributors to the cinematic arts. Film legends such as Alfred Hitchcock and Fred Astaire were inducted into the fraternity as honorary members. Hollywood heavyweights such as Sophia Loren, George Cukor, and Judy Garland were known to attend these events.

The fraternity was in its heyday in the 1960s and 1970s, when Dirty Dozen members George Lucas and Howard Kazanjian were among its members. There were five national chapters with a membership of 1500 in 1965. However, by the mid-1980s the Alpha chapter as well as other chapters in the United States and South America had disbanded. Despite no longer being on campus, USC still held a "DKA film series" of screenings from 1982 until the late 2000s at the Norris Cinema Theater on campus, drawing hour-long lines every Friday.

All of the chapters deactivated because the national fraternity lacked an executive office, keeping it from surviving the anti-establishment period that shut down chapters and Greek organizations across the country. Former National President and National Secretary Herbert E. Farmer protected the fraternity’s history through his well-preserved archive. This made it possible for the fraternity to be resurrected at the University of Southern California in 2009 by Grace Lee and Hillary Levi. With the help of leading fraternity experts and consultants, the society now thrives with its overhauled and significantly improved national structure, growing expansion projects, passionate membership, and close-knit alumni.

Present

In the spring of 2009, a group of students at USC re-established the Alpha chapter. It has since grown to be the largest undergraduate student group at the School of Cinematic Arts, again encompassing all divisions of study and bringing guests such as Alan Myerson, John Landis, and John C. McGinley (on behalf of Spread the Word to End the Word) to campus as part of its DKA Speaker Series. In 2012, the national organization was revived. The first revived National Council was composed of Andy Dulman (President), Eric Foss (Vice President), and National Councilors Ryan Bartley, Arielle Zakowski, Shipra Gupta, and Flo Miniscloux. This new leadership worked diligently to create and ratify a national constitution and chapter bylaws, implement a structure for organization and growth, continuity, national identity, expansion to other campuses, and much more.

At the beginning of 2013, a group of students re-established the Delta chapter at UCLA after disbanding in the 1970s. Initially as a colony in January of 2013, the Delta chapter became a fully fledged chapter in the spring of that year.

Delta Kappa Alpha chapters are organized into Resident Councils, which include the current student members of a chapter, and Graduate Councils, made up of all members who have graduated or left school. Each council of a chapter is entitled to a vote at the National Convention, which meets every two years and is the highest level of authority in the organization. The convention elects National Council members who serve as a board of directors for the society and governs between conventions. In the off-year when National Conventions are not held, a convention called "Conclave" is held. Its purpose is to further create community between the chapters and share ideas.

The national organization is made up of multiple corporations, including the Delta Kappa Alpha Foundation. The Delta Kappa Alpha Foundation was created in 2013 as a separate charitable organization. As a public, charitable, and educational foundation, the mission of the Delta Kappa Alpha Foundation is to ensure the development of philanthropic support necessary to sustain high levels of educational programming by fostering lifelong relationships and commitment to the society's ideals. The key functions of the separate organization are rooted in the idea that the foundation must provide vehicles for members to fulfill their lifelong commitment to Delta Kappa Alpha and to fellow members.

The Chief Executive Officer executes the National Council's plan and serves as a mediator between the Council and Foundation Board. The Executive Offices staff assists with implementing said plan.

Delta Kappa Alpha's national partner is the Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF).

Symbols

Delta Kappa Alpha's letters (DKA) stand for Dramatic, Kinematic, Aesthetic. The society's colors are deep royal blue and old gold. Its symbol is the film camera and its mascot is the dragon. Its flower is the white carnation. Delta Kappa Alpha's public slogan is "Cinematic Artists of Character" and its open motto is "Truth in Illusion". The society nickname is DeKA, meaning "ten" in Greek and representing the 10 founders and the 10 jewels of a Delta Kappa Alpha member.

Chapters

Following is a list of Delta Kappa Alpha collegiate chapters. Active chapters are indicated in bold. Inactive chapters are indicated in italic.

Chapter Chartered date and range Institution Location Status References
Alpha March 16, 1936 – 19xx ?;

2007

University of Southern California Los Angeles, California Active
Beta 1949 Boston University Boston, Massachusetts Active
Gamma 1950 New York University New York, New York Active
Delta December 6, 1953 University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, California Active
Epsilon 2010 San Francisco State University San Francisco, California Active
Zeta 2013 Chapman University Orange, California Active
Eta 2013 University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, California Active
Theta 2013 Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, California Active
Iota 2013 George Mason University Fairfax, Virginia Active
Kappa 2013 University of Tampa Tampa, Florida Active
Lambda 2013 University of Texas at Austin Austin, Texas Active
Mu 2013–20xx ? Columbia University New York, New York Inactive
Nu 2014–20xx ? American University Washington, D.C. Inactive
Xi 2014 University of Miami Miami, Florida Active
Omicron 2014 Syracuse University Syracuse, New York Active
Pi 2014 Ithaca College Ithaca, New York Active
Rho 2016 Emerson College Boston, Massachusetts Active
Sigma 2016 University of Arizona Tucson, Arizona Active
Tau 2017 Depaul University Chicago, Illinois Active
Upsilon 2017 University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, California Active
Phi 2017 Cornell University Ithaca, New York Active
Chi 2018 University of North Texas Denton, Texas Active
Psi 2018 Temple University Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Active
Omega 2021 Pennsylvania State University State College, Pennsylvania Active

Notable members

Delta Kappa Alpha held an annual banquets which honored figures in the cinema industry and presented them with honorary membership in the fraternity. Honorees include:

See also

References

  1. "History". Archived from the original on 2014-10-29. Retrieved 2014-10-29.
  2. DKA Alpha chapter website
  3. "USC President Rufus von KleinSmid, Sophia Loren, George Cukor, and Judy Garland at a DKA event circa 1959."
  4. ^ USC's El Rodeo Yearbook 1965 p178
  5. "DKA Beta chapter website". Archived from the original on 2012-03-28. Retrieved 2011-07-21.
  6. "Daily Trojan article, "DKA movies a Friday tradition"". Archived from the original on 2012-10-18. Retrieved 2011-07-21.
  7. ""Oct 2, 2007 ... Friday, DKA Film Series is showing Pirates of the Caribbean."" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 28, 2012. Retrieved July 21, 2011.
  8. "Delta Kappa Alpha (DKA) is the resurrected cinema fraternity..."
  10. DKA Presents a Q&A with Alan Myerson
  11. A Question and Answer Session led by USC’s Cinema Fraternity
  12. Daily Trojan article, "Spread the Word to End the Word’ comes to USC"
  13. "Film fraternity Delta Kappa Alpha re-established at UCLA". Daily Bruin. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  14. Not to be confused with the similarly-named DECA, a student organization promoting entrepreneurial training for high school and college students.
  15. "Current Chapters". Archived from the original on 2020-09-20. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
  16. Delta Kappa Alpha - Delta Charter signed
  17. Lensman to Be Honored by Fraternity
  18. "Fraternity to Induct". Archived from the original on 2012-11-07. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  19. "Fraternity to Honor Gene Kelly". Archived from the original on 2012-11-07. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  20. ^ Tierney Film return set
  21. Journal of the University Film Producers Vol. 11, No. 4, SUMMER, 1959
  22. Greer Garson and Kirk Douglas with Awards
  23. America's Sweetheart remembered
  24. Past, Present Merge for Mutual Love of Movies
  25. "Realistic Locales Seen Aiding Actors". Archived from the original on 2012-11-07. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  26. "USC Fraternity Cites 3 Film-TV Personalities". Archived from the original on 2012-11-07. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  27. Hollywood Celebs Send Second String for Awards
  28. Nostalgia was the keynote, Mae West stole the show
  29. "Bouquets for Notables at Film Banquet". Archived from the original on 2012-11-07. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  30. "Film Notables Receive Honorary Tribute". Archived from the original on 2012-11-07. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  31. Journal of the University Film Association Vol. 24, No. 1/2, 1972
  32. Paul Newman joins Ingmar Bergman Cult
  33. "Fraternity Fetes Stanwyck, Green, Castle". Archived from the original on 2012-11-07. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  34. "Tributes to Fred". Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2011-07-24.
  35. Glen Ford's Delta Kappa Alpha Certificate
  36. The late Albert Whitlock was one of movie history’s most skilled illusionists.
  37. Chronology of the Walt Disney Company
  38. Lindsey, Robert (16 November 1978). "Neil Simon to Move Back to New York Part‐Time (Published 1978)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2022-12-16.
  39. Russ Meyer--the life and films: a biography and a comprehensive, illustrated
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