Delta Kappa Alpha

Delta Kappa Alpha (ΔΚΑ) is a national, gender-inclusive, cinematic professional fraternity founded in 1936, at the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California, United States.

Delta Kappa Alpha
ΔΚΑ
Founded	March 16, 1936 University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
Type	Professional
Emphasis	Cinematic arts
Scope	National
Mission statement	The mission of Delta Kappa Alpha 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.
Vision statement	The vision of Delta Kappa Alpha is to be recognized as the premier institute of upstanding entertainment industry leaders.
Motto	Truth in Illusion
Slogan	Cinematic Artists of Character
Colors	Deep royal blue   Old gold
Symbol	Movie camera
Flower	White carnation
Mascot	Dragon
Publication	CineJournal
Website	Delta Kappa Alpha national website

According to USC's cinema website, "Recognized by the School of Cinematic Arts as the official professional cinema fraternity at the University of Southern California, DKA engages the community through philanthropic, social, and professional events. The goal of this gender-inclusive fraternity is to establish meaningful relationships and camaraderie between students highly committed and interested in the film industry and in the cinematic arts."[1]

History

Delta Kappa Alpha was founded on March 13, 1936, at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California, originally as a group for cinematographers. Soon the Alpha chapter encompassed all undergraduate divisions at the School of Cinematic Arts, including Film & TV Production, Critical Studies, Writing for Screen & Television, Animation & Digital Arts, and most recently Interactive Entertainment.[2]

Ten men are honored as Delta Kappa Alpha's founding members:[3]

• 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.[4] Hollywood heavyweights such as Sophia Loren, George Cukor, and Judy Garland were known to attend these events.[5]

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.[6] However, by the mid-1980s the Alpha chapter as well as other chapters in the United States and South America had disbanded.[7] 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.[8][9]

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 fraternity 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,[10] 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,[11] again encompassing all divisions of study and bringing guests such as Alan Myerson,[12] John Landis,[13] and John C. McGinley (on behalf of Spread the Word to End the Word)[14] to campus as part of its DKA Speaker Series. In 2012, the national organization was revived and improved to allow for structure for organization and growth, continuity, national identity, expansion to other campuses, and much more.

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 fraternity 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 fraternity'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 brothers and sisters.

The Chief Executive Officer executes the National Council's plan and serves as a mediator between the Council and Foundation Board. The Fraternity Executive Offices staff assists with implementing said plan. The staff is divided into four departments: chapter services, education (career support), finance, and communications.

Delta Kappa Alpha's national partner is SeriousFun.[15]

• Type of fraternity: national, honorary, values-based, professional, gender-inclusive
• Fraternity colors: deep royal blue and old gold
• Fraternity symbol: film camera
• Fraternity mascot: dragon
• Fraternity flower: white carnation
• Verbal fraternity nickname: DeKA (pronounced ˈdekə), meaning: "10" / "ten" in Greek, representing the 10 founders and the 10 jewels of a Delta Kappa Alpha member. (Ex.: "I am a DeKA. DeKA's having a screening tomorrow.")
• Public slogan: "Cinematic Artists of Character"
• Open motto: "ΑΛΗΘΕΙΑ ΣΤΗΝ ΠΑΡΑΙΣΘΗΣΗ"; "Truth in Illusion"
• Meaning of fraternity letters: Delta (dramatic), Kappa (kinematic), Alpha (aesthetic)

Collegiate chapters

Chapter list from the national website.[16]

Greek	Chapter	Established	University	City	State	Region
Α	Alpha	1936 *	University of Southern California	Los Angeles	California	Pacific
Β	Beta	1949 *	Boston University	Boston	Massachusetts	New England
Γ	Gamma	1950 *	New York University	New York	New York	Mid-Atlantic
Δ	Delta	1953 *	University of California, Los Angeles	Los Angeles	California	Pacific
Ε	Epsilon	2010	San Francisco State University	San Francisco	California	Pacific
Ζ	Zeta	2013	Chapman University	Orange	California	Pacific
Η	Eta	2013	University of California, Berkeley	Berkeley	California	Pacific
Θ	Theta	2013	Loyola Marymount University	Los Angeles	California	Pacific
Ι	Iota	2013	George Mason University	Fairfax	Virginia	Mid-Atlantic
Κ	Kappa	2013	University of Tampa	Tampa	Florida	South Atlantic
Λ	Lambda	2013	University of Texas at Austin	Austin	Texas	West South Central
Μ	Mu	2013	Columbia University	New York	New York	Mid-Atlantic
Ν	Nu	2014	American University	Washington	District of Columbia	Mid-Atlantic
Ξ	Xi	2014	University of Miami	Miami	Florida	South Atlantic
Ο	Omicron	2014	Syracuse University	Syracuse	New York	Mid-Atlantic
Π	Pi	2014	Ithaca College	Ithaca	New York	Mid-Atlantic
Ρ	Rho	2016	Emerson College	Boston	Massachusetts	New England
Σ**	Sigma	2016	University of Arizona	Tucson	Arizona	Mountain
Τ	Tau	2017	Depaul University	Chicago	Illinois	Midwest
Υ	Upsilon	2017	University of California, Santa Barbara	Santa Barbara	California	Pacific
Φ**	Phi	2017	Cornell University	Ithaca	New York	Mid-Atlantic
Χ**	Chi	2018	University of North Texas	Denton	Texas	West South Central
Ψ**	Psi	2018	Temple University	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	Mid-Atlantic
Ω**	Omega	2019	University of Wisconsin-Madison	Madison	Wisconsin	?

* Previously inactive
** Colony

Notable alumni

• Julie Andrews[17]
• Fred Astaire[17]
• Lucille Ball[17]
• Lucien Ballard[17]
• Anne Baxter[17]
• Steve Bloom[17]
• Charles Brackett[17]
• Joe E. Brown[17]
• Frank Capra[17]
• William Castle[17]
• Stanley Cortez[17]
• Delmer Daves[17]
• John Cromwell[17]
• George Cukor[17]
• Cecil B. DeMille[17]
• Stanley Donen[17]
• Kirk Douglas[17]
• Irene Dunne[17]
• Allan Dwan[17]
• Blake Edwards[17]
• Rudi Fehr[17]
• Sylvia Fine[17]
• Glenn Ford[17]
• John Ford[17]
• Gene Fowler[17]
• William A. Fraker[17]
• John G. Frayne[17]
• Arthur Freed[17]
• Karl Freund[17]
• Lee Garmes[17]
• Greer Garson[17]
• William Goetz[17]
• Jerry Goldsmith[17]
• John Green[17]
• Conrad Hall[17]
• Henry Hathaway[17]
• Sir Cedric Hardwicke[17]
• Howard Hawks[17]
• Edith Head[17]
• Alfred Hitchcock[17]
• James Wong Howe[17]
• Ross Hunter[17]
• John Huston[17]
• Ub Iwerks[17]
• Norman Jewison[17]
• Chuck Jones[17]
• Producer Howard Kazanjian[17][18]
• Gene Kelly[17]
• Stanley Kramer[17]
• Fritz Lang[17]
• Jesse Lasky[17]
• Jack Lemmon[17]
• Mervyn LeRoy[17]
• Sol Lesser[17]
• Harold Lloyd[17]
• Director George Lucas[17][18]
• Rouben Mamoulian[17]
• Michelle Manning[17]
• Frances Marion[17]
• Walter Matthau[17]
• Steve McQueen[17]
• William Cameron Menzies[17]
• Arthur Miller[17]
• Paul Newman[17]
• Jack Oakie[17]
• Gregory Peck[17]
• William Perlberg[17]
• Mary Pickford[17]
• David Raksin[17]
• Hal Roach[17]
• Miklos Rosza[17]
• Rosalind Russell[17]
• Editor Arthur Schneider[19]
• George Seaton[17]
• William Seiter[17]
• Mark Serrurier[17]
• Robert Snyder[17]
• Steven Spielberg[17]
• Barbara Stanwyck[17]
• George Stevens[17]
• Jimmy Stewart[17]
• Gloria Swanson[17]
• Daniel Taradash[17]
• Norman Taurog[17]
• Gregg Toland[17]
• William Tuttle[17]
• King Vidor[17]
• Slavko Vorkapich[17]
• Jerry Wald[17]
• Hal Wallis[17]
• Jack L. Warner[17]
• Lawrence Weingarten[17]
• Orson Welles[17]
• Mae West[17]
• Wally Westmore[17]
• Haskell Wexler[17]
• Charles Wheeler[17]
• Albert Whitlock[17]
• Billy Wilder[17]
• Elmo Williams[17]
• Robert Wise[17]
• Joanne Woodward[17]
• William Wyler[17]
• Fred Zinnemann[17]
• Adolph Zukor[17]

Delta Kappa Alpha dinners and honorees

Delta Kappa Alpha had an annual banquets in January/February which honored figures in the Cinema industry and presented them with honorary membership in the fraternity. Honorees include:

• 1953 Arthur Charles Miller[20]
• 1957 William A. Seiter[21]
• 1957 (November) Gene Kelly[22]
• 1958 Cecil B. Demille[23]
• 1959 George Cukor[23]
• 1961 Greer Garson and Kirk Douglas[24]
• 1963 (25th anniversary) Mary Pickford and Harold Lloyd[25]
• 1964 Gloria Swanson, Adolph Zukor, Jack Lemmon, Charles Brackett, and Billy Wilder[26][27]
• 1965 Rosalind Russell, Norman Taurog and Robert Wise[6]
• 1966 Lucille Ball, Gregory Peck and Hal Wallis[28]
• 1967 Irene Dunne and Jack Oakie[29]
• 1968 Mae West, Mervyn LeRoy and James Stewart[30]
• 1969 Conrad Hall and Kathryn Ross[31]
• 1970 Julie Andrews and Norman Jewison[32]
• 1972 Edith Head, Alfred Hitchcock, Walter Matthau and Sidney J. Solow, president of Consolidated Film Industries[33][34]
• 1973 Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Daniel Taradash and Lester Novros[35]
• 1974 Barbara Stanwyck, Johnny Green and William Castle[36]
• 1975 Fred Astaire and Stanley Donen[37]
• 1976 Glenn Ford[38]
• 1977 Albert Whitlock[39]
• 1978 Disney's Nine Old Men[40] and Neil Simon[41]
• 1979 Russ Meyer[42]
• 2014 Herbert E. Farmer[43][44]

Additional honorary members

• 1959 John G. Frayne[45]

References

1. USC School of Cinematic Arts website
2. "SCA Undergraduate Programs". Archived from the original on 2011-08-16. Retrieved 2011-07-21.
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-10-29. Retrieved 2014-10-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
4. DKA Alpha chapter website
5. "USC President Rufus von KleinSmid, Sophia Loren, George Cukor, and Judy Garland at a DKA event circa 1959."
6. USC's El Rodeo Yearbook 1965 p178
7. "DKA Beta chapter website". Archived from the original on 2012-03-28. Retrieved 2011-07-21.
8. "Daily Trojan article, "DKA movies a Friday tradition"". Archived from the original on 2012-10-18. Retrieved 2011-07-21.
9. ""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.
10. "Delta Kappa Alpha (DKA) is the resurrected cinema fraternity..."
11. DKA Alpha chapter website
12. DKA Presents a Q&A with Alan Myerson
13. A Question and Answer Session lead by USC’s Cinema Fraternity
14. Daily Trojan article, "Spread the Word to End the Word’ comes to USC"
15. SeriousFun
16. Current Chapters
17. "Delta Kappa Alpha History". Archived from the original on 2014-10-29. Retrieved 2014-10-29.
18. Skywalking: the life and films of George Lucas
19. George Schlatter and Arthur Schneider, Jump Cut: Memoirs of a Pioneer Television Editor, McFarland & Co Inc (31 Jul 1997), ISBN 978-0-7864-0345-5
20. Lensman to Be Honored by Fraternity
21. Fraternity to Induct
22. Fraternity to Honor Gene Kelly
23. Tierney Film return set
24. Greer Garson and Kirk Douglas with Awards
25. America's Sweetheart remembered
26. Past, Present Merge for Mutual Love of Movies
27. Realistic Locales Seen Aiding Actors
28. USC Fraternity Cites 3 Film-TV Personalities
29. Hollywood Celebs Send Second String for Awards
30. Nostalgia was the keynote, Mae West stole the show
32. Bouquets for Notables at Film Banquet
33. Film Notables Receive Honorary Tribute
34. Journal of the University Film Association Vol. 24, No. 1/2, 1972
35. Paul Newman joins Ingmar Bergman Cult
36. Fraternity Fetes Stanwyck, Green, Castle
37. Tributes to Fred
38. Glen Ford's Delta Kappa Alpha Certificate
39. The late Albert Whitlock was one of movie history’s most skilled illusionists.
40. Chronology of the Walt Disney Company
41. Neil Simon to Move Back to New York
42. Russ Meyer--the life and films: a biography and a comprehensive, illustrated
45. Journal of the University Film Producers Vol. 11, No. 4, SUMMER, 1959

External links

• Delta Kappa Alpha national website
• Delta Kappa Alpha, USC (Alpha)
• Delta Kappa Alpha, UCLA (Delta)
• Delta Kappa Alpha, SFSU (Epsilon)
• USC School of Cinematic Arts