<p>Phi Beta Kappa is the oldest and most prestigious academic society for undergraduates in the United States.</p>
<p>*Phi Beta Kappa was founded on December 5, 1776, by five students at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Foremost among the founders were John Heath, the first president, and William Short, who was active in the Society’s plan to expand by granting charters at other colleges (and who later became Thomas Jefferson’s secretary).</p>
<p>ΦBK was the first society to have a Greek-letter name, and it introduced the essential characteristics of such societies: an oath of secrecy, a badge, mottoes in Greek and Latin, a code of laws, an elaborate form of initiation, a seal, and a special handclasp. The organization was created as a secret society so that its founders would have the freedom to discuss any topic they chose. Freedom of inquiry has been a hallmark of ΦBK ever since.</p>
<p>Although the original society at William and Mary lasted only four years, ending when the approach of the British army forced the college to close, it had already admitted fifty members, held seventy-seven meetings — mostly literary exercises and debates — and granted charters for new chapters at Yale and Harvard.*</p>
<p>Selection of a university/college by PBK depends in part on these elements taken from their website:</p>
<p>*In examining the qualifications of colleges and universities seeking a chapter, the Committee on Qualifications will give close attention to the procedures by which an applicant institution addresses the following: (1) recruits and retains good students and prepares some for graduate study; (2) makes appropriate academic demands on those enrolled in its classes, including opportunities for honors studies for those who are especially capable; (3) develops and maintains a faculty whose preparation and scholarly activity give evidence that they are able to establish and assess those demands; (4) maintains financial resources sufficient to support the institution's academic programs; and (5) takes due precautions to prevent issues of governance, athletics, religion or politics from subverting the integrity of the institution's dedication to liberal education.</p>
<p>The great differences among colleges and universities — size of faculty and student body, governmental organization, library holdings, careers of graduates — preclude the formulation by Phi Beta Kappa of uniform, abstract standards for institutional membership. The Committee on Qualifications attempts to assess each applicant college or university with regard to its distinctiveness. Those seeking a chapter will be expected to produce both qualitative and quantitative evidence that their institution's educational programs in the arts and sciences conform to the objectives of Phi Beta Kappa. The applicant group must demonstrate that their institution has standards that encourage excellence, a system of governance that promotes academic freedom and vigor, a scholarly faculty, a promising student body, a library and other educational facilities serving and complementing the course offerings and an adequate and dependable income sufficient to maintain academic excellence.*</p>
<p>Alpha of Florida - FSU awarded 1935
Beta of Florida - UF awarded 1938
Gamma of Florida - Stetson awarded 1982
Delta of Florida - U Miami awarded 1983
Epsilon of Florida - FIU awarded 2001
Zeta of Florida - Eckerd College awarded 2004 </p>
<p>For more, see: Phi</a> Beta Kappa Society | Home</p>