After almost 40 years since the university’s first application, Phi Beta Kappa (PBK) has awarded Mississippi State University a chapter of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honor society.
The society voted to grant MSU, along with three other colleges, a chapter August 3 during the organization’s 45th Triennial Council in Boston.
“Earning Phi Beta Kappa distinction reflects achievement in the liberal arts and sciences broadly and signals the value of a challenging academic program and meritocratic success at the highest level,” Secretary Frederick M. Lawrence, head of Phi Beta Kappa’s national office, said in a statement.
MSU President Mark Keenum said the university’s selection should be attributed to those who worked tediously on the applications.
“The granting of a Phi Beta Kappa chapter to Mississippi State is a testament to the outstanding faculty and administrators who have been working toward this most significant achievement,” Keenum said in a press release.
Only 10 percent of colleges in the U.S. shelter PBK chapters, and the society reserves membership for undergraduates majoring in arts and sciences. The organization selects members through a merit-based invitation process.
“It is most appropriate that our exceptional students will now be eligible for consideration of Phi Beta Kappa membership, and we look forward to the induction of our inaugural class of scholars in the spring of 2019,” Keenum said.
The society grants a chapter to PBK members of the faculty, not the university itself. For the chapter to be maintained, members should comprise at least 10 percent of the full-time teaching faculty of the arts and sciences department.
Morris “Bill” Collins, founding director of the Stennis Institute of Government, submitted the university’s first PBK application in 1979. Collins was followed by Nancy Hargrove, now a Giles Distinguished Professor Emerita of English, in 1982. In 1985, 1988, 2000 and 2003, Leslie Bauman led the application effort. Bauman is now professor emerita in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
For the past 11 years, English professor Robert West has led the application initiative.
Keenum praised West and his team for persevering to organize a chapter.
“Dr. West and his fellow Phi Beta Kappa colleagues among our faculty have worked tirelessly to organize a chapter, and I appreciate deeply their hard work and dedication on behalf of our students,” Keenum said.
PBK inducted West when he was an undergraduate at Wake Forest University. Speaking from personal experience, West said those who are invited to join will benefit immensely.
“Those students will have that nationally recognized honor for the rest of their lives, and for some, that may help open some doors or make some useful connections,” West said. “Really, though, all graduates from MSU, and especially all those with bachelor’s degrees from the College of Arts and Sciences, should benefit—I think we’re going to see the value of those degrees go up, thanks to this national recognition by the one organization that’s most famously dedicated to promoting a liberal arts and sciences curriculum.”
West said the first induction of students to the organization should occur in the spring semester of 2019.
In addition to being awarded a chapter, MSU is creating a $1 million endowment to support the organization.
Founded in 1776, Phi Beta Kappa is the nation’s most prestigious academic honor society. It has chapters at 290 colleges and universities in the U.S., nearly 50 alumni associations, and more than half a million members worldwide. Members include 17 U.S. presidents, 40 U.S. Supreme Court Justices and more than 140 Nobel Laureates.