The Phi Beta Kappa Society, the nation’s most prestigious undergraduate honor society and oldest Greek letter organization, has granted chapters to 11 of the 12 Southeastern Conference universities. Mississippi State University only Southeastern Conference institution without a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. Phi Beta Kappa, which emphasizes the study of the liberal arts, introduced the model on which most modern honor societies and social fraternities are based. Over the past 25 years, Phi Beta Kappa’s absence on campus has prompted several Mississippi State faculty members who belong to Phi Beta Kappa to take action toward gaining a chapter.
Dr. Leslie Bauman of the department of physics, who has led the Phi Beta Kappa effort since 1985, said that she is motivated by the quality of the top students at MSU.
“I think that our very good students at Mississippi State University are capable and bright,” Bauman said. “Their futures should be as bright as the very good students at any other institution.”
Dr. Margaret Murray, an English professor at Mississippi State University and former president of the Northeast Mississippi Graduate Association of Phi Beta Kappa, said that the organization’s passion for the liberal arts is unparalleled.
“Its ideals are the ideals of our country,” she said. “People are recognized for a commitment to the life of the mind and a pursuit of truth over the pursuit of money.”
Many people believe that a having a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa on campus would help draw a larger number of quality students to Mississippi State.
Junior Kate McIntosh, who helps recruit quality students to MSU as a Roadrunner, said, “I would love for Mississippi State students to have the opportunity to be a part of Phi Beta Kappa,” she said. “It’s a symbol of a quality education, and it’s something the top students coming out of high school care about.”
Murray said that a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa would not only draw better students but also better faculty members. “In terms of recruiting, it’s essential to have Phi Beta Kappa,” she said. “It speaks a volume about the quality of a university. It shows a commitment to the humanities and a broader vision. It will also draw faculty here. Its absence contributes to faculty deciding to leave.”
In contrast, geosciences professor Dr. John Mylroie, also a member of Phi Beta Kappa, questioned the necessity of a chapter at MSU. “I don’t have strong feelings about whether or not we get Phi Beta Kappa,” he said. “Now that we’re in this unique situation, I would almost rather brag about our lack of it, and say, ‘We don’t need some Phi Beta Kappa designation to attract good students. Look at who we get. Look at the research we do. We don’t need your petty little certification.”
“We’re attracting the highest scholars in the state without it,” Mylroie said. “We’re doing what we need to do here to meet the needs of the people in Mississippi.”
Despite some uncertainty among the faculty about whether Mississippi State needs Phi Beta Kappa, MSU has fought for a chapter for almost 25 years.
Phi Beta Kappa accepts applications every three years and grants a small percentage of the applying campuses a site visit. During the site visit, Phi Beta Kappa officials tour campus and investigate the quality of an institution’s faculty, library, resources and commitment to the arts and sciences.
MSU submitted its first application to Phi Beta Kappa in 1979. After denying MSU a visit in 1979, 1982 and 1985, Phi Beta Kappa granted Mississippi State a 1990 site visit following its 1988 application.
During the 1990 visit, Phi Beta Kappa noted MSU’s small library as a major weakness and did not offer Mississippi State a chapter.
Bauman said that the criticism, however, bred some positive outcomes. “The publicity from that turn-down was the major impetus that allowed us to build the new library building,” she said. “Other campuses in Mississippi jumped on the bandwagon too, and virtually every campus in Mississippi got improvements to their library buildings that I think you can trace directly back Phi Beta Kappa’s negative comments about our library.”
Despite the positive impact, the rejection ultimately caused the effort to lose its momentum. “It demoralized the faculty that were pushing then,” Bauman said. “Because they were demoralized and there was no leadership from the administration afterward, we did not apply at the next opportunity. ”
Mississippi State did not submit applications to Phi Beta Kappa during the 1991, 1994, or 1997 application cycles. After reviewing the 1997 applications, Phi Beta Kappa granted chapters to the University of Mississippi and Auburn University, leaving Mississippi State as the only Southeastern Conference university without a chapter.
This unwanted distinction helped motivate the administration to display a renewed commitment to gaining a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. MSU applied again in 2000, but was not granted a site visit. In May 2001 Bauman traveled with former university President Malcom Portera to the organization’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., to inquire about the strengths and weaknesses of the 2000 application.
While Bauman and Portera were in Washington, Phi Beta Kappa praised the University Honors Program. Bauman and Portera also discovered that since 1988, MSU’s library system had evolved from a major weakness into an overwhelming strength in the eyes of the Phi Beta Kappa reviewers.
Members of Mississippi State’s faculty agreed. “The library is certainly light-years ahead of where it was during the first site visit,” Mylroie said.
While in Washington, Portera and Bauman also found out that the primary reason Mississippi State was not approved for a site visit was that less than 10 percent of its arts and sciences faculty members were members of Phi Beta Kappa.
Thus, upon his return, Portera began a campaign to draw more members of Phi Beta Kappa into faculty positions within the College of Arts and Sciences. His administration allocated additional funds to individual departments so that they could hire members of Phi Beta Kappa to fill empty positions.
Mylroie said that the decision by Portera to explicitly hire members of Phi Beta Kappa was questionable. “This is the type of behavior by the administration that, if Phi Beta Kappa learns of it, they may view it as so obviously superficial and so obviously premeditated,” he said. “It’s style over substance, which is typical. You can’t just go out and buy (a chapter) straight up.”
Faculty members theorize that MSU’s dedication to agriculture and technology over arts and sciences has also contributed Phi Beta Kappa’s hesitancy to grant Mississippi State a chapter.
“Phi Beta Kappa doesn’t care what the university (as a whole) has done,” Mylroie said. ” It will only care what has been done in the classic liberal course of study,” he said. “(Phi Beta Kappa) is an organization that views computer science as vocational, so it doesn’t matter how good your computer science program is, it’s vocational,” he said.
“(Phi Beta Kappa) wants to know how the faculty salaries are doing in history, English, philosophy, foreign languages, sociology, and geosciences,” Mylroie said. “They’re not interested in what’s happening in agriculture, engineering, architecture, or business because they’re vocational.
“My colleagues and I in arts and sciences often feel we are the stepchild at this university. We generate a majority of the credit hours, we have a majority of the majors, but we get a minority of the funding. That’s the nature of the beast; that’s how this institution is set up to run.”
In addition, Mylroie said he believes MSU officials are unaware of the qualities necessary to impress Phi Beta Kappa. “The university wants a notch on their gun, and that’s shown by how they’ve done this in the past and their lack of understanding about how Phi Beta Kappa looks at things,” he said.
“If they want this done right, they’re going to have to come (and show financial support) to someone like Leslie Bauman who knows the game inside and out,” he said. “She really knows how the game’s played. She’s been to Washington. She’s been through all the cycles, and she works hard at it.”
Bauman believes that consistent administrative support is the key to getting a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. “We have lacked the consistent support of top administrators here at Mississippi State,” she said. “Portera very clearly put his support behind it, but he’s gone.
“So the question is, ‘Will we continue to have the support?”‘ she said. “With an interim president, who knows who the president will be when we send in the next application?”
Bauman has a positive outlook for the next application cycle, which will be in the fall semester of 2003. “We’re in good shape now,” she said. “We’ve got a great freshman class again, and the numbers in Arts and Sciences are up again in terms of the number of degrees we’re awarding in liberal arts,” she said. “I think things look very positive for another application.