Celebrating 25 Years of Phi Beta Kappa at Gustavus

In April, Gustavus celebrated its 25th anniversary as a Phi Beta Kappa institution. Phi Beta Kappa began during colonial times, in 1776, when its members secretly met to discuss revolution against the British throne. It was the first Greek society founded in the United States and today remains the most prestigious of scholarly organizations. Out of the nearly 5,000 colleges and universities in the country, only about 300 are authorized to host a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. The application process for a chapter charter is long and tedious. The national board looks at a college’s ratio of Ph.D. faculty members, test scores, endowment, and the number of books in the library, among other things. A team then comes to do a physical inspection of the campus. Gustavus applied five times before it was recommended for a chapter. After a year of planning, Gustavus members were first initiated in 1983. For more information, go to Phi Beta Kappa.