With a new faculty advisor and 10 newly-minted members chosen from the senior class, Omicron Delta Kappa has kicked off the year at Hillsdale College with the renewed purpose of recognizing and promoting leadership across campus.
The national honorary recognizes college students who exemplify leadership in one of five areas: academics and research, athletics, service to campus and community, communications, and creative and performing arts.
According to faculty advisor and assistant history professor Jason Gehrke, the Hillsdale’s ODK circle consists of seniors who have made themselves servants of the campus community. Membership in ODK, he says, is a certain type of acknowledgement that the student has been a leader and has an interest in developing the social and community atmosphere of Hillsdale.
“Leadership is such a special and important part of Hillsdale College and its mission,” said Catholic Society Vice President and ODK member Emma Purdy. “This place seeks to create leaders and build leaders, and ODK acknowledges that and honors it.”
A lifetime membership honorary, ODK provides a place for these students to collaborate with each other and learn from leaders across the country.
“It’s the idea that you are the sum of the five people you spend the most time with, right?” said JP Schlueter, the honorary’s newly elected president. “So if you’re with a group of people that are high achieving individuals, chances are you’re going to want to do better, and ODK provides a platform for that.”
For Alpha Tau Omega President Bennett Nichols, being a part of ODK means being able to connect with other leaders on campus and gain a new perspective on leadership.
“It’s a good way to branch out and meet other leaders and develop relationships. That’s part of being a leader: having relationships outside of what you do to get a different perspective and see how other leaders on campus do what they do and how they lead,” Nichols said.
This benefit of this collaboration isn’t limited to the students in the program. Gehrke described taking on the role of ODK advisor as a uniquely edifying experience.
“The ODK honorary is all seniors who are at the end of their college career and have a lot of experience and knowledge that is different from my own. You always learn from your students, but being part of this circle is a special kind of partnership,” Gehrke said. “Working with them is a way to edify the college and the campus in a way that I wouldn’t be able to just by working in the classroom.”
According to Purdy, the honorary hopes to extend its impact beyond the students in the program this year by promoting leadership across campus.
“What we realized was that Hillsdale as a campus has a lot of leaders,” Schlueter said. “These are highly driven individuals who want to be better, who want to do better, and who want to serve their community. And so this year for ODK, what we’re trying to do is to tap into the leadership throughout campus, not just the people in specific leadership positions or roles. And so we’re hoping to run some talks on leadership that all of campus will be invited to.”
Though the honorary has hosted speakers in the past, Gehrke noted that these events will be different. Throughout the semester, ODK plans to present a series of speakers who represent leadership in various areas of everyday life including family, education, and business. Schlueter hopes this series will help give Hillsdale students an example of real-world leadership and the resources necessary for success.
“I think it’s easy, especially at Hillsdale, to talk about the abstract ideals and virtues of leadership,” Schlueter said. “But to have people that are actually living it in their day to day life – we want to recognize those people and put ourselves at their feet to learn from them.”
