Through these various avenues of involvement, in addition to his work as a composer, author, and educator, he was one of the leading music advocates of his day.

Dykema led the school's students in regular choral concerts presented in the community (Indianapolis News, January 24, 1900).

Dykema sometimes presented public lectures in the community on topics such as education and visual art (Indianapolis News, November 5, 1898).

He took a leave of absence from 1918 to 1919 to serve as Supervisor of music for Commission on Training Camp Activities of the War Department.

Teacher's College, Columbia University (1924-1940) He served as professor and chair of the music education department, Teachers College, Columbia University, in New York from 1924 until his retirement in 1940, where he was a contemporary of educational reformer John Dewey.

He wrote a choral anthem, We Who Love Music, and two Christmas songs, which appeared in the Blue Book of the Twice 55 series.

His collaborators included M. Teresa Armitage; Donald Franklin Main; Hazel Nohavec Morgan; Gladys Pitcher; Floy Adele Rossman; Martha Powell Setchell; Herman F Smith; D K Stevens; and J. Lilian Vandevere.

In 1918, he chaired a joint committee of twelve (that included John Alden Carpenter, Frederick S. Converse, Wallace Goodrich, Hollis Dann, among others) that prepared the "service version" of the National Anthem.

During much of this period, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and MTNA held national conventions simultaneously.

Three years later, he was elected an honorary member of the Beta chapter at the Combs College of Music in Philadelphia.

Following a period of internal difficulty following the active departure of Ossian E. Mills, Percy Jewett Burrell, and other early Fraternity leaders, the Fraternity experienced internal difficulty (made more significant by the challenges of World War I) during the five years leading up to Dykema's election in 1922.

Dykema's words challenged and stirred his listeners, and the Fraternity's second defining period commenced.

He was instrumental in bringing multiple key leaders in music education and advocacy into the fraternity, including Paul J. Weaver, Edward Bailey Birge, and Clarence C. Birchard.

Through his influence, many men associated with music education on the national level came into Fraternity membership.

He served as supreme president from 1922 to 1928, during which time the Fraternity essentially doubled its number of active chapters across the country.

Along with William B. McBride, Dykema is one of only two men who served as national president of both the Fraternity and the NAfME.

The eulogy, written by former Sinfonia national president Norval Church, was delivered by Columbia's chaplain, James A. Pike.