Omicron Kappa Upsilon

This article is about the dental honor fraternity. For the social fraternity, see Omicron Kappa Epsilon.

Omicron Kappa Upsilon
ΟΚΥ
Founded	May 21, 1914; 110 years ago (May 21, 1914) Northwestern University Dental School
Type	Honorary
Affiliation	Independent
Status	Active
Emphasis	Dentistry
Scope	National
Colors	Navy blue,   Gold, and   Lilac
Chapters	63
Headquarters	c/o Kornberg School of Dentistry, Temple University Attn: Dr. J. Suzuki, OKU 3223 N. Broad St. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19140 United States
Website	okusupreme.org

Omicron Kappa Upsilon (ΟΚΥ) is a national honorary society serving the field of dentistry.

History

The Society originated with the 1914 graduating class of the dental school at Northwestern University in Chicago. The idea for the fraternity came from the Dean of the Northwestern University Dental School, Dr. Green Vardiman Black who soon invited the deans of 51 other dental school extant at the time to organize chapters of their own, forming a network of locals. The Society was incorporated on March 15, 1916 by the State of Illinois. It quickly expanded, with its Alpha through Kappa chapters considered to be "founding chapters."^[1][2]

In 1923, Anita Martin became the first woman inducted into Omicron Kappa Upsilon.^[3]

Omicron Kappa Upsilon's first Canadian chapter was Tau Tau, at the University of Toronto, followed by chapters at the University of Manitoba, University of British Columbia, and the University of Western Ontario. Of these, only the Toronto unit remains active.^[2]

The Society has expanded to serve most US and Canadian dental schools, with few exceptions. Several dental schools have shuttered over the years, resulting in the cessation of active chapters on those campuses. The Society's Alpha chapter at Northwestern closed in 2001 when that school's dental program ceased.^[1][2] The Society has 63 active chapters as of 2022.

Membership

Membership is conferred in a two-step process, first by the student's attainment within the top 20% of a school's graduating class, then by a faculty vote based on qualities including character, service, research, etc. Thus only the top 12% of students are selected. The Society also offers faculty and honorary membership categories.^[1][2]

Symbols and traditions

Lilac is the traditional symbol of dentistry. It features prominently on graduation stoles for students and faculty within the field, and is used as the primary color for ΟΚΥ materials and publications. The official colors of the society are Navy blue and gold, using Lilac trim.^[4]

The official key of the society is a monogram of the letters of the name of the society, Ο, Κ and Υ, superimposed on a larger, stylized Sigma (Σ) which represents the word Conservation, in Greek.^[1]

Chapters

Chapters of Omicron Kappa Upsilon include the following. Active chapters noted in bold, inactive chapters noted in italics.^[1][5][2]

Name	Chartered	Institution	Location	Status	Notes	Reference
Alpha	May 21, 1914–2001	Northwestern University	Evanston, IL	Inactive	Dental school closed in 2001
Beta	1916	University of Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh, PA	Active
Gamma	1916–1991	Washington University in St. Louis	St. Louis, MO	Inactive	Dental school closed in 1991
Delta	1916	Oregon Health & Science University	Portland, OR	Active
Epsilon	1916	Creighton University	Omaha, NE	Active
Zeta	1916	University of Southern California	Los Angeles, CA	Active
Eta	1916	University of Pennsylvania	Philadelphia, PA	Active
Theta	1916–1936, 1965	Ohio State University	Columbus, OH	Active
Iota	1916–1965	Vanderbilt University	Nashville, TN	Inactive	Dental school closed late 1920s; Chapter closed in 1965 ?	[1]
Kappa	1921	Virginia Commonwealth University	Richmond, VA	Active
Lambda	1921–1988	Emory University	Atlanta, GA	Inactive	Dental school closed in 1988
Mu	1923	University of Iowa	Iowa City, IA	Active
Nu	1924	University of Louisville	Louisville, KY	Active
Xi	1924	Marquette University	Milwaukee, WI	Active
Omicron	1925	Texas A&M University (originally Baylor)	Dallas, TX	Active		[6]
Pi	1925–1993	Loyola University Chicago	Chicago, IL	Inactive	Dental school closed in 1993
Rho	1929	University of Missouri–KC	Kansas City, MO	Active		[7]
Sigma	1928	University of Illinois	Chicago, IL	Active
Tau	1929–1970	Loyola University New Orleans	New Orleans, LA	Inactive	Dental school closed in 1970
Upsilon	1929	Case Western Reserve University	Cleveland, OH	Active
Phi	1930	University of Maryland, Baltimore	Baltimore, MD	Active
Chi	1930	University of Michigan	Ann Arbor, MI	Active
Psi	1930	University of Tennessee	Memphis, TN	Active
Omega	1930	New York University	New York, NY	Active
Alpha Alpha	1930	University of Nebraska–Lincoln	Lincoln, NE	Active
Beta Beta	1930	University of Minnesota	Minneapolis, MN	Active
Gamma Gamma	1930	Harvard University	Boston, MA	Active
Delta Delta	1933	University of the Pacific	San Francisco, CA	Active
Epsilon Epsilon	1934	Columbia University	New York, NY	Active
Zeta Zeta	1934–1990	Georgetown University	Washington, D.C.	Inactive	Dental school closed in 1990
Eta Eta	1934–1967	Saint Louis University	St. Louis, MO	Inactive	Dental school closed in 1967 Dental school re-established with SIU	[8]
Theta Theta	1934	Indiana University	Indianapolis, IN	Active
Iota Iota		Unassigned
Kappa Kappa	1936	Temple University	Philadelphia, PA	Active
Lambda Lambda	1937	University at Buffalo	Buffalo, NY	Active
Mu Mu	1940	University of Texas	Houston, TX	Active
Nu Nu	1941	University of Detroit Mercy	Detroit, MI	Active
Xi Xi	1944	Tufts University	Boston, MA	Active
Omicron Omicron	1945	Meharry Medical College	Nashville, TN	Active
Pi Pi	1948	Howard University	Washington, D.C.	Active
Rho Rho	1948	University of California, San Francisco	San Francisco, CA	Active
Sigma Sigma	1950	University of Washington	Seattle, WA	Active
Tau Tau	1950	University of Toronto	Toronto, Ontario	Active
Upsilon Upsilon	1953	University of North Carolina	Chapel Hill, NC	Active
Phi Phi	1954	University of Alabama	Birmingham, AL	Active
Chi Chi	1956	Loma Linda University	Loma Linda, CA	Active
Psi Psi	1957–1990	Fairleigh Dickinson University	Rutherford, NJ	Inactive	Dental school closed in 1990
Omega Omega	1957	Rutgers University (UMDJN)	Newark, NJ	Active		[9]
Alpha Beta	1961	West Virginia University	Morgantown, WV	Active
Beta Gamma	1961	University of Puerto Rico School	San Juan, PR	Active
Gamma Delta	1961–20xx ?	University of Manitoba	Winnipeg, Manitoba	Inactive
Delta Epsilon	1966	University of Kentucky	Lexington, KY	Active		[2]
Epsilon Zeta	1967	University of California, Los Angeles	Los Angeles, CA	Active		[2]
Zeta Eta	1970	University of South Carolina	Charleston, SC	Active		[2]
Eta Theta	1970–20xx ?	University of British Columbia	Vancouver, British Columbia	Inactive		[2]
Theta Kappa	1971	Louisiana State University	New Orleans, LA	Active		[2]
Kappa Lambda	1972	Augusta University	Augusta, GA	Active		[2]
Lambda Mu	1972	Boston University	Boston, MA	Active		[2]
Mu Nu	1973	UT Health San Antonio	San Antonio, TX	Active		[2]
Nu Xi	1973	Southern Illinois University	Carbondale, IL	Active		[2][8]
Xi Omicron	1974	University of Florida	Gainesville, FL	Active		[2]
Omicron Pi	1975	University of Oklahoma	Oklahoma City, OK	Active		[2]
Pi Rho	1976	University of Colorado Denver	Aurora, CO	Active		[2]
Rho Sigma	1977	University of Mississippi	Jackson, MS	Active		[2]
Sigma Tau	1977	Stony Brook University	Stony Brook, NY	Active		[2]
Tau Upsilon	1979–1986	Oral Roberts University	Tulsa, OK	Inactive	Dental school closed in 1986	[2]
Upsilon Phi	1984–2000 ?	University of Western Ontario	London, Ontario	Inactive		[2]
Phi Chi	1997	University of Connecticut	Farmington, CT	Active		[2]
Chi Psi	2000	Nova Southeastern University	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Active		[2]
Psi Omega	2003	University of Nevada, Las Vegas	Las Vegas, NV	Active		[2]
Beta Alpha	2007	Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health (A.T. Still)	Mesa, AZ	Active		[2]
Beta Delta	2010	Midwestern University (Arizona)	Glendale, AZ	Active		[2]
Beta Epsilon	2012	Midwestern University (Illinois)	Downers Grove, IL	Active
Beta Zeta	2013	Western University of Health Sciences	Pomona, CA	Active
Beta Eta	2015	East Carolina University	Greenville, NC	Active
Beta Theta		Unassigned ?
Beta Iota		Unassigned ?
Beta Kappa		Unassigned ?
Beta Lambda	2017	Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health (A.T. Still)	Kirksville, MO	Active
Beta Mu	2018	Touro University	Valhalla, NY	Active

See also

• Delta Sigma Delta
• Xi Psi Phi
• Psi Omega
• Alpha Omega
• Sigma Phi Alpha
• List of dental schools in the United States
• List of defunct dental schools in the United States

References

1. Anson, Jack L.; Marchenasi, Robert F., eds. (1991) [1879]. Baird's Manual of American Fraternities (20th ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Baird's Manual Foundation, Inc. p. VI-126–127. ISBN 978-0963715906.
2. Suzuki, Jon (Spring 2011). "Omicron Kappa Upsilon: a historical and current perspective" (PDF). Journal of the American College of Dentists. 78 (1). Gaithersburg, MD: American College of Dentists: 19–23. PMID 21739867.
3. Patricia Blanton (2006-11-01). "Women in Dentistry: Negotiating the Move to Leadership". Journal of Dental Education. American Dental Education Association. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
4. Noted in the 2021 Commencement brochure for the University at Buffalo, p.22, accessed 19 May 2022.
5. OKU national chapter list, accessed 19 May 2022.
6. Note, Baylor University's dental school was moved to Texas A&M in 1996.
7. The school originated as the Kansas City Dental College, then merged with Western Dental College, eventually becoming part of the University of Missouri system.
8. Southern Illinois University and Saint Louis University share a cooperative dental education program. Accessed 19 May 2022.
9. This chapter originated at Seton Hall University.

External Links

• Official website