Students, faculty members, teachers and administrators take part in the first induction ceremony for a new University of Houston-Victoria chapter of Kappa Delta Pi. The ceremony took place in both Victoria, left, and Cinco Ranch, right, through Interactive Television.

International education honor society Kappa Delta Pi recently held its first induction ceremony for a new chapter at University of Houston-Victoria, installing 62 students, faculty members, teachers and administrators.

Through Interactive Television on Feb. 4 at the Victoria campus and the University of Houston System at Cinco Ranch, the university’s new Kappa Delta Pi chapter, called Alpha Zeta Lambda, welcomed the new members. They include undergraduates, graduates and faculty from the UHV School of Education & Human Development, and teachers and administrators from local school districts.

Since the international education honor society was established in 1911 at the University of Illinois, its membership has included such notables as Albert Einstein, George Washington Carver, Eleanor Roosevelt, Andy Hargreaves and Howard Gardner, according to the Kappa Delta Pi website.

Invitations to join are extended to education applicants who have completed 30 semester hours or more and have at least a 3.0 grade-point average.

“What’s neat is we have undergraduates, graduate students, administrators and teachers from the local school district, and university faculty all in this same chapter together,” said Lindsay O’Leary, Alpha Zeta Lambda student president at the UH System at Cinco Ranch. “That provides our members, especially our undergraduate members, with a foot in the door as it facilitates networking with local district leaders.”

Nathan Bond, president of Kappa Delta Pi, spoke at the ceremony and officially installed O’Leary and the local chapter’s five other student officers who were nominated by professors. They are Sarah Stubbs, Victoria president; Brandi Pish, Victoria vice president; Jessica Scott, Cinco Ranch vice president; Amanda Beck, Victoria treasurer; and Emilie Eggleston, Victoria secretary.

“It’s nice to have this organization through which we can do service projects together and get to know each other outside of the classroom as well,” Stubbs said.

Student life for education students at both campuses will be enhanced, said Diane Prince, interim dean of the School of Education & Human Development.

“We are thrilled about this new chapter’s potential to connect our education students with each other and the local and international community of educators,” said Prince, who also was inducted at the event.

She credited Steve Trowbridge, a UHV associate professor in the School of Education & Human Development, for the leadership and administrative work in organizing and launching the local chapter. Trowbridge is the Victoria-based sponsor of Alpha Zeta Lambda, and Amy Barnhill, an assistant professor, is the chapter’s sponsor based at the UH System at Cinco Ranch.

“Kappa Delta Pi is a highly regarded organization within the educational community and very careful with the universities it charters, so we’re fortunate,” Trowbridge said.

Officers and Trowbridge began discussions with the organization’s national contact last fall to receive guidance on fully launching the local chapter. Alpha Zeta Lambda members already have begun gearing up for service projects, including participation in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life in Victoria and Katy, collecting books for a school in Kenya, and organizing education programs and activities to bring students and teachers together.

More information about the UHV chapter of Kappa Delta Pi can be found at uhkdp.wordpress.com/.