Recently, Southeastern’s chapter of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi was deemed a Chapter of Excellence, the highest status a chapter can acquire from the national organization.

Phi Kappa Phi was founded in 1897 at the University of Maine. According to phikappaphi.org, the honor society was founded by ten senior students, two faculty members and the school president to recognize and honor excellence in all academic disciplines unlike the few other honor societies in existence at that time. 

Admission to Phi Kappa Phi is by invitation only. Candidates must display not only scholarship, but good character as well.

English professor and advisor of Phi Kappa Phi Dr. Joan Faust explained how selectively Phi Kappa Phi chooses its members.

“To be inducted into Phi Kappa Phi, one must be a second semester junior in the top 7.5 percent of his/her academic college, a senior in the top 10 percent of his/her college or a graduate student in the top 10 percent of all grad students,” said Dr. Faust. “They must demonstrate a steady advancement to the degree.”

Many requirements must be met for a chapter to be recognized as a Chapter of Excellence. Some of the categories that determine if a chapter is worthy of such an honor include chapter leadership, awards and grants, campus events and campus public relations. To be eligible, a chapter must complete all of the requirements on the annual chapter recognition award criteria list. 

“Trying to fulfill all criteria was not an easy task,” said Dr. Faust.

Phi Kappa Phi’s strong presence on campus due to promoting academic excellence in various ways was a factor that contributed to being named a Chapter of Excellence. 

“Among the activities we sponsor are the Quiz Bowl, Princeton Review sessions for exam preparation and a yearly induction and banquet,” said Dr. Faust. “We also nominate one member for the National Fellowship Awards, and we have had several winners. We give one, possibly next year, two, Phi Kappa Phi scholarships to worthy students with at least one semester left at Southeastern. We also had members winning other national awards like literacy grants and travel awards. We also give monetary awards at our banquet to the top junior of each college and the top honors student.”

Dr. Faust and the entire chapter are proud of their accomplishments and happy that all of their hard work did not go unnoticed. 

“Since we found out only 29 chapters out of over 300 chapters in the nation received this honor, we were very pleased to be recognized,” said Dr. Faust. “It took a lot of work and dedication.”

Phi Kappa Phi will continue to uphold the same standards as previous years in hopes of being recognized again.

“We certainly will try to maintain our standards, encouraging members to apply for the national awards such as Love of Learning, Literacy and Scholar as well as our local scholarships.”

For more information about the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, including upcoming events, please visit selu.edu/phikappaphi.