Kansas Wesleyan University Director of Forensics and Debate Gary Harmon was this year’s recipient of the prestigious John Shields Award for Outstanding Contributions to Pi Kappa Delta, the national honor society for undergraduate university students and a professional organization for graduates, typically university Speech and Debate Coaches.

The Concept that resulted in the creation of Pi Kappa Delta was the realization of the need for a means of providing recognition for orators and debaters in the smaller colleges.

The idea was the brainchild of two of the founders of the fraternity, John A. Shields and Egbert R. Nichols.

PKD encourages the education of articulate citizens through a three-part focus: the commitment to and promotion of ethical humane and inclusive communication and educational practices; the commitment to and promotion of professional development of forensics educators; and the commitment to and promotion of comprehensive forensics programming.

More than 60,000 men and women have been initiated into PKD. Active chapters are located on more than 200 college and university campuses.