Kramer School of Nursing
Nursing Honor Society
Sigma Theta Tau

SIGMA THETA TAU INTERNATIONAL

In 1992, six nursing students at Indiana University met to found a Society to advance nursing as a profession. They chose the name from the initials of the Greek words Storga, Tharos, Tima, meaning love, courage, honor.

Modern nursing was barely 20 years old. The new Society recognized, encouraged, and supported nursing excellence and scholarship by advancing professional development, scholarly pursuit, leadership, creativity, and a commitment to nursing. Today the Society has 356 chapters around the world that actively support excellence in nursing scholarship, practice, and leadership.

BETA DELTA CHAPTER-AT-LARGE

Beta Delta Chapter was first established on May 15, 1970, at the University of Oklahoma School of Nursing with 61 charter members. In April of 1982, the chapter was enlarged to include the University of Central Oklahoma and Oklahoma Baptist University. At that time, the chapter became known as Beta Delta Chapter-at-Large.

On April 15, 1999, the Beta Delta Chapter-at-Large expanded to include Southern Nazarene University and Oklahoma City University. Southwestern Oklahoma State University was recently added to the list, giving Beta Delta the distinction of being the only at-large chapter with six schools of nursing.

Graduates from these programs are in the upper 35% of their class, have a minimum of 3.0 grade point average, and have completed at least one-half of the nursing courses in their respective schools. Graduate students have a minimum of 3.5 grade point average and have completed one-fourth of their nursing courses. Community leaders have demonstrated marked achievement in education, practice, research, administration or publication. All inductees have been wholeheartedly endorsed by current Beta Delta Chapter members as current, or potential, leaders in the profession of nursing.

For information about Sigma Theta Tau International at Oklahoma City University, contact Prof. Hilda Crane-Smith at (405)208-5905 or by email at hcranesmith@okcu.edu. For access to the Beta Delta Chapter, click here. To access the headquarters of Sigma Theta Tau International, click here.