IUPUI Alumni Relations

Honors Cords and Medallions

Graduating with Distinction

IUPUI holds all of its graduates in high esteem, and takes an added measure of pride in those who have excelled academically. Candidates who are graduating with Distinction, High Distinction, and Highest Distinction are entitled to wear the fourragère, cream and crimson cords for IU graduates, black and gold for Purdue graduates. In addition, at IUPUI students are entitled to wear gold medallions indicating they are graduating with honors. The Plater Medallion may also be worn by IUPUI recipients. The requirements for graduating with honors are different for each school, and honors are awarded by a vote of various faculties. The fourragère are provided by the university and become the property of the student.

Honors Cords
Graduates who are members of the nearly 60 nationally recognized honor societies listed below may also wear their societies’ honors cords or medallions during Commencement. Students may purchase the appropriate cords directly from Herff-Jones, which provides IU apparel (www.Herff Jones.com). Cords also are available for purchase directly from the various society headquarters. Websites are provided. Cords become the property of the student.

Permission to wear cords from an honor society not listed must be requested at least 30 days before Commencement. The request must include detailed descriptions of the organization and the cord or medallion. Requests should be submitted to the Office of Alumni Relations at IUPUI. Campus academic officers will be consulted on all such requests.

Once approved the distinctive items may be worn at all subsequent Commencements.

Graduates who are members of the following organizations may wear honors insignia.

A

Alpha Chi -- National honor society for juniors and seniors. http://www.harding.edu/alphachi/index.html

Alpha Epsilon Delta – National Health Pre-professional Honor Society. http://www.nationalaed.org/

Alpha Kappa Delta – International Sociology Honor Society. Teal cord. http://www.alpha-kappa-delta.org/

Alpha Lambda Delta -- National honor society for first-year students. http://www.nationalald.org/

Alpha Phi Sigma – National Criminal Justice Honor Society. Blue and gold honor cords. http://www.alphaphisigma.org/

Alpha Psi Omega – national Honorary Theatre Society. Light blue and amber cords. http://www.alphapsiomega.org/

Beta Alpha Psi -- National Honorary Organization for Financial Information students and Professionals. Black and red honor cords http://www.bap.org/index.htm

Beta Beta Beta – National Biological Honor Society. Red and green honor cords. http://www.tri-beta.org/

Beta Gamma Sigma – International Honor Society Recognizing Business Excellence. Blue and gold cords. http://www.betagammasigma.org/

Beta Phi Mu -- International library and information science honor society. Purple and white cords. http://www.beta-phi-mu.org/

Chi Alpha Epsilon – National Honor Society. Blue and white honor cords. http://www.xaehonor.com/default.asp?id=181517

Chi Sigma Iota -- International Honor Society for Students, Professional Counselors and Counselor Educators. Blue and white cords. http://www.csi-net.org/

D

Delta Mu Delta – Honor Society in Business Administration. Purple and gold cords. http://www.deltamudelta.org/

Eta Sigma Gamma - National Health Education Honor Society. Green and gold cords. http://www.etasigmagamma.org/

Eta Sigma Phi - National Honor Society for students of Latin and/or Greek. Purple and gold cords. http://department.monm.edu/classics/esp/

Gamma Theta Upsilon -- International honor society in Geography. Blue, brown and gold cords. http://www.achsnatl.org/society.asp?society=gtu

Golden Key International Honour Society -- academic honor society which recognizes and encourages scholastic achievement and excellence among college and university students from all academic disciplines. http://www.goldenkey.org/GKIHS

Kappa Delta Pi - Education Honor Society. Purple and green cords. http://www.kdp.org/

Kappa Omicron Nu -- Honor Society for Students in the Human Sciences. http://www.kon.org/

Kappa Tau Alpha – Honor Society in Journalism and Mass Communication. Colors are light blue and gold. http://web.missouri.edu/~umcjourktahq/

L

Lambda Iota Tau -- National Honorary Society for Literature. Gold and purple cords. http://www.bsu.edu/english/undergraduate/LIT/

Lambda Pi Eta - Rhetoric and Communication Studies Honor Society. Gold cords; majors graduating with departmental honors may also wear silver cords. http://www.natcom.org/nca/Template2.asp?bid=21

M

Mortarboard National College Senior Honor Society—Black and gold cords. http://www.mortarboard.org/

Mu Kappa Tau—Honor Society in Marketing. Gold and purple cords. www.pse.org/home.asp

Omega Chi Epsilon--National Honor Society for Chemical Engineering. No cords. http://www.che.utoledo.edu/oxe/

Omega Rho -- International Honor Society for Operations Research, Management Science, and Related Areas. No cords. http://omegarho.informs.org/

Omicron Delta Epsilon - International Honor Society in Economics. Gold, white and blue cord. http://www.omicrondeltaepsilon.org/

Omicron Kappa Upsilon – National Dental Honor Society. Stoles in navy blue with gold trim. http://www.oku.org/index.htm

Phi Alpha Theta - History Honor Society. Red and blue cords http://www.phialphatheta.org/

Phi Beta Delta - International Scholars Honor Society. Red and yellow ribbon with medallion. http://www.phibetadelta.org/

Phi Beta Kappa - National Scholarship Honor Society for Liberal Arts and Sciences. Phi Beta Kappa Key suspended from blue and pink ribbon. https://staging.pbk.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home3

Phi Eta Sigma - First Year Scholarship and Academic Excellence. Gold and black cords. http://www.phietasigma.org/index.html

Phi Kappa Phi -- All-discipline honor society. http://www.phikappaphi.org/Web/index.html

Phi Sigma--Academic Excellence in the Biological Sciences. Green, yellow and white cord. http://www.eiu.edu/~phisigma/

Phi Sigma Iota - International Foreign Language Honor Society. Purple cords. http://phisigmaiota.org/

Phi Sigma Tau - Philosophy Honor Society. Light blue and dark blue cords. http://www.achsnatl.org/society.asp?society=pst

Phi Upsilon Omicron--National Honor Society in Family and Consumer Sciences. No cords. http://www.phiu.org/index.htm

Pi Alpha Alpha -- National Honor Society for Public Affairs and Administration. Blue and gold cords. http://www.naspaa.org/initiatives/honor.asp

Pi Delta Phi -- National French Honor Society. No cords. http://www.augie.edu/related/pideltaphi/index.html

Pi Gamma Mu -- International Honor Society in Social Sciences. Purple and white cords. http://www.pigammamu.org/index.html

Pi Kappa Lambda — National Music Honor Society. Gold and white cords. http://pikappalambda.capital.edu/

Pi Lambda Theta - International Honor Society and Professional Association in Education. Gold cords. http://www.pilambda.org/

Pi Mu Epsilon - Mathematics Honor Society. Purple and gold cords. http://www.pme-math.org/

Pi Omega Pi -- National Business Education Teacher Honor Society. http://catpages.nwmissouri.edu/m/oisbe/piomegapi/

Pi Sigma Alpha - Political Science Honor Society. Medallion on a broad red grosgrain ribbon. http://www.apsanet.org/~psa/

Pi Tau Sigma--Mechanical Engineering Honor Society. No cords. http://www.pitausigma.net/

Pi Theta Epsilon--The National Occupational Therapy Honor Society http://www.pithetaepsilon.org/index.html

Psi Chi - Psychology Honor Society. Gold and blue cords. http://www.psichi.org/

Sigma Beta Delta -- International Honor Society for Business, Management and Administration. Green and gold cords. http://www.sigmabetadelta.org/

Sigma Delta Pi - Hispanic Honor Society. Badge with yellow and red ribbons. http://www.sigmadeltapi.org/

Sigma Gamma Epsilon – The National Honor Society for Earth Sciences. No cords. http://www.earth.uni.edu/SGE/

Sigma Phi Alpha -- National Dental Hygiene Honor Society. White satin stoles. http://www.sigmaphialpha.org/index.htm

Sigma Pi Sigma – National Physics Honor Society. Green and beige cords. http://www.sigmapisigma.org/

Sigma Tau Delta – International English Honor Society. Black and red cords. http://www.english.org/

Sigma Theta Tau -- International Honor Society of Nursing. Purple and white cords. http://www.nursingknowledge.org/Portal/Main.aspx?PageID=700

Tau Alpha Pi -- National Honor Society for Engineering Technology. http://www.taualphapi.org/

Theta Alpha Kappa - National Honor Society for Religious Studies and Theology. Red cord. http://tak.syr.edu/

U

Upsilon Pi Epsilon--International Honor Society for the Computing and Information Disciplines. Maroon and white cords. http://upe.acm.org/index.html

IU organizations

Cox Scholarship Program -- Red cords with blue/gold tassels