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66-564: The origins of honor societies in the United States can be traced back to the establishment of Phi Beta Kappa in 1776 at the College of William and Mary , which began as a debating society and did not initially impose grade point average (GPA) restrictions for membership. Many honor societies invite students to become members based on the scholastic rank (the top x% of a class) and/or grade point averages, either overall or for classes taken within

132-489: A Latin motto (perhaps "Fraternitas, Humanitas, Cognitioque"). A second Latin-letter fraternity at William & Mary, the P.D.A. Society, was publicly known as "Please Don't Ask". John Heath , chief organizer of the Phi Beta Kappa, according to tradition earlier sought but was refused admission to the P.D.A., though he may instead have disdained to join it (much later, his friend and fellow student William Short wrote that

198-606: A Masonic lodge also met at this tavern, but the Freemasons gathered at a different building in Williamsburg. (Some of the original members of Phi Beta Kappa did become Freemasons, but later in life). Whether the students organized to meet more freely and discuss non-academic topics, or to discuss politics in a Revolutionary society is unknown. The earliest records indicate only that the students met to debate and engage in oratory, and on topics that would have been not far removed from

264-432: A Phi Beta Kappa event. The topic of the lectures should be an important philosophical issue of current interest, and the lectures should offer contrasting (not necessarily opposing) views on that topic. Honoraria for the symposiasts are funded at an adjusted rate based on the current size of the endowment. Previous winners have won as much as $ 25,000 each. The Mary Isabel Sibley Fellowship is awarded annually, alternating in

330-502: A cord attached to the button. At the University of Cambridge , undergraduates by ancient convention used to cut their tassels very short so that the tassel does not extend beyond the edge of the board. After they graduated, they wore the square cap with the tassel at the normal length. This convention has now fallen into disuse; few people now wear headgear with academic dress at any time and undergraduates in particular have no need to wear

396-409: A member of such an organization cannot join other honor societies representing the same field. Many honor societies are referred to by their membership or by non-members as fraternities and sororities . Honor societies exist at the high school , collegiate / university , postgraduate , and professional levels, although university honor societies are by far the most prevalent. In the United States,

462-585: A more loosely coordinated lobbying association of four of the nation's oldest and most prestigious honor societies, called the Honor Society Caucus . Its members include Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi , Sigma Xi , and Omicron Delta Kappa . The symbol of the Phi Beta Kappa Society is a golden key engraved on the obverse with the image of a pointing finger, three stars, and the Greek letters from which

528-592: A multi-disciplinary scholarship component. Jesuit institutions of higher education   Gold These societies are open to Humanities disciplines and may be department-specific. Upperclassmen and Graduate Students These societies are open to social science disciplines and may be department-specific. and protective studies These societies are open to students in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines and may be department-specific. This section also includes all healthcare-related fields, including veterinary science. Stole color

594-400: A personal friend or a family relative. Another version has nine ribbon bows called "butterflies" attached to the back of the skull cap (three running vertically down the back seam, two vertically on either side further towards the sides and one on either side at the sides of the skull) in addition to the above. This cap is worn during the mourning of the monarch, a member of the royal family or

660-670: A quarterly subscription-based journal that accepts essays on literature, history, science, public affairs, and culture. The Phi Beta Kappa Book Awards are the Ralph Waldo Emerson Award , the Christian Gauss Award (named for Christian Gauss ), and the Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science . The Book Awards are given annually to outstanding scholarly books published in the United States. Winning works, which are drawn from

726-414: A reflection, were on the vanguard of change. Several Jewish-only organizations merged into (or absorbed) formerly Christian-exclusive societies. Title IX forced most single-sex societies to admit women, though many had already opted to embrace this change. Racial barriers, where they existed, were challenged and retired, with any holdouts subject to significant criticism. The presence of these holdovers and

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792-473: A stipend of $ 20,000. The Walter J. Jensen Fellowship for French Language, Literature, and Culture aims to help educators and researchers improve education in standard French language, literature, and culture and in the study of standard French in the United States. Established in 2001 by Professor Walter J. Jensen (ΦΒΚ, UCLA), the fellowship is awarded for at least six continuous months of study in France and carries

858-457: A stipend originally set in 1995 at $ 10,000, to be adjusted for inflation. The stipend for 2016 was $ 15,500. The Romanell-Phi Beta Kappa Professorship is awarded annually to scholars in the field of philosophy, without restriction to any one school of philosophical thought. The professorship recognizes not only distinguished achievement but also the recipient's contribution or potential contribution to public understanding of philosophy. Since 1956,

924-736: A student's honor society. Of these, cords and mortarboard tassels are most often used to indicate membership. Most institutions allow honor cords, tassels, and/or medallions for honor society members. Stoles are less common, but they are available for a few honor societies. Virtually all, if not all honor societies have chosen such colors and may sell these items of accessory regalia as a service or fundraiser. The Honor Society Caucus and Association of College Honor Societies (ACHS) are two voluntary associations for national collegiate and post-graduate honor societies. ACHS formed in 1925 to establish and maintain desirable standards for honor societies. Later, four prestigious founding members of ACHS established

990-585: Is   Peach and   Old gold Some universities have their own independent, open honor societies, which are not affiliated with any national or international organization. Such organizations typically recognize students who have succeeded academically irrespective of their field of study. leadership; Juniors Freshmen and service; Juniors and service; Seniors freshmen and sophomores Commonly referred to as high school societies. This list also includes middle school societies. Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society ( ΦΒΚ )

1056-699: Is a mandatory initiation fee (between $ 50 and $ 95, as of 2005), which is sometimes covered by the inductee's university. Membership in Phi Beta Kappa is typically limited to students with very high grade point averages (GPAs), at least 3.8 out of a 4.0 scale. In 2001, a quorum of PBK alumni voted to raise the GPA cutoff: though all chapters set their standards for induction, they were now instructed to be much more selective in terms of GPA. Since its inception, 17 U.S. Presidents , 42 U.S. Supreme Court Justices, and more than 136 Nobel Laureates have been inducted members. Phi Beta Kappa has 293 chapters. Chapters are approved at

1122-536: Is also used. The cap, together with the gown and sometimes a hood, now form the customary uniform of a university graduate in many parts of the world, following a British model. The mortarboard may have developed from the biretta , a similar-looking hat worn by Roman Catholic clergy. The biretta itself may have been a development of the Roman pileus quadratus , a type of skullcap with superposed square and tump (meaning small mound). A reinvention of this type of cap

1188-626: Is known as the Bishop Andrewes cap . The Italian biretta is a word derived from the Medieval Latin birretum from the Late Latin birrus "large hooded cloak", which is perhaps of Gaulish origin, or from Ancient Greek πυρρός pyrrhos "flame-coloured, yellow". In the UK, the tassel is shorter and is gathered at the button at the centre of the board. The US style is slightly longer, gathered at

1254-404: Is the best-known of those addresses, but there were dozens of others at schools such as Bowdoin, Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard, Union, and Yale. As the first collegiate organization of its type to adopt a Greek -letter name, the Phi Beta Kappa is generally considered a forerunner of modern college fraternities as well as the model for later collegiate honorary societies. Ironically, it was partly

1320-708: Is the guide of life”. Greek was chosen because it was the language of science in Roman times . Later, in May 1777, a new sign of recognition was devised: "A salutation of the clasp of the hands, together with an immediate stroke across the mouth with the back of the same hand, and a return with the hand used by the saluted". This new complex of gestures was created to allow the mutual recognition of members "in any foreign country or place." Further chapters appeared at Union College in 1817, Bowdoin College in 1825, and Brown University in 1830. The original chapter at William & Mary

1386-673: Is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded at the College of William & Mary in Virginia, in December 1776. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, and to induct outstanding students of arts and sciences at select American colleges and universities. Since its inception, its inducted members include 17 United States presidents , 42 United States Supreme Court justices, and 136 Nobel laureates . The Phi Beta Kappa Society had its first meeting on December 5, 1776, at

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1452-564: The ACHS on December 30, 1925 . Its participation was short-lived, with the decision to withdraw and operate again as an independent society made just over a decade later, effective December 15, 1937 . In the 1960s, Vanderbilt University professor Donald Davidson claimed that Phi Beta Kappa was under the influence of Communists. In 1988, the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa officially changed its name to The Phi Beta Kappa Society , recalling

1518-619: The American Philosophical Association . The associated Lebowitz Symposium is presented annually at a divisional meeting of the American Philosophical Association. The prize was established in 2013 by Eve Lewellis Lebowitz in honor of her late husband, Martin R. Lebowitz, to provide significant, tangible recognition for excellence in philosophical thought. The Symposium program consists of a pair of lectures to be delivered at an annual APA division meeting and

1584-512: The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia by five students, with John Heath as its first President. The society established the precedent for naming American college societies after the initial letters of a secret Greek motto. The group consisted of students who frequented the Raleigh Tavern as a common meeting area off the college campus. A persistent story maintains that

1650-588: The Honor Society Caucus , expressing that the ACHS had diluted and lost sight of the mission of its founding members. While ACHS membership is a certification that the member societies meet these standards, not all legitimate honor societies apply for membership in ACHS. Notable national and international honor societies based in or at schools include the following: General collegiate societies are open to all academic disciplines, although they may have other affinity requirements. Leadership societies recognize leadership, with

1716-503: The United Kingdom and Ireland which have as a common theme the idea that the wearing of the cap was abandoned in protest at the admission of women to the university. In Ireland, a common belief holds that only women wear the mortarboard because a bachelor's degree was thought to be the maximum education they could attain and thus represented the 'capping' of their education, however there is little evidence for this. Dr. David Fleming of

1782-428: The University of Oxford , caps are mandatory dress for matriculation events and for all examinations. It is a commonly repeated myth at Oxford that the cap must be held and may not be worn at all except at the student's graduation; however, there is no rule in the university to this effect, and undergraduates wearing formal academic dress may either carry the cap or wear it. In particular, women undergraduates who exercise

1848-541: The 2005 founding of the Bouchet Graduate Honor Society by Yale University and Howard University . Rather than adopting the traditional tapping to identify top students from a given academic class based on merit, a distinct aspect of this society's nomination process is its focus on self-nominations. A Ph.D. or Ph.D. track is required, among other qualifications. Modern honor societies are increasingly focused on creating supportive environments that promote

1914-469: The British attempt at reclamation of the sovereign American colonies, including Virginia, there was a temporary closure of the College of William & Mary and disbandment of Phi Beta Kappa in early 1781. Elisha Parmelee, an alumnus of Yale College and Harvard College , passed through Williamsburg and took charters from the Phi Beta Kappa to establish branches of the society at these schools. A second chapter

1980-539: The History Department at the University of Limerick called this reason 'complete nonsense and an urban myth', while the university's gown partner, Phelan Nolan said 'Women used to wear hats in Church and that is where the tradition has come from'. There are several types of mortarboard. The most common in the UK is the 'folding skull' in which the skull part can be folded for ease of storing and carrying. Traditionally,

2046-485: The P.D.A. "had lost all reputation for letters, and was noted only for the dissipation & conviviality of its members"). The new society was intended to be "purely of domestic manufacture, without any connection whatever with anything European, either English or German." The founders of Phi Beta Kappa declared that the society was formed for congeniality and to promote good fellowship, with "friendship as its basis and benevolence and literature as its pillars." Before

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2112-672: The Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Program has offered undergraduates the opportunity to spend time with some of America's most distinguished scholars. The purpose of the program is to contribute to the intellectual life of the campus by making possible an exchange of ideas between the Visiting Scholars and the resident faculty and students. Phi Beta Kappa also sponsors a National Arts & Sciences Initiative, which taps into its cross-country network of members, chapters, and associations to connect with leaders, shares

2178-675: The Triennial Conventions. In 2008, the Phi Beta Kappa Society was awarded the Arts and Sciences Advocacy Award from the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences ( CCAS ). CCAS bestows this award upon an individual or organization demonstrating exemplary advocacy for the arts and sciences, flowing from a deep commitment to the intrinsic worth of liberal arts education. Square academic cap The square academic cap , graduate cap , cap , mortarboard (because of its similarity in appearance to

2244-561: The academic and personal development of all scholars, especially those from traditionally underrepresented groups. This evolution reflects a broader movement within academic institutions towards a more equitable and comprehensive recognition of student excellence. Academic robes and regalia identifying by color the degree, school, and other distinctions, are controlled under rules of a voluntary Intercollegiate Code. In addition, various colored devices such as stoles , scarves , cords , tassels , and medallions are used to indicate membership in

2310-441: The cap. The American Council on Education (ACE) code states that "The tassel should be black or the colour appropriate to the subject," and makes an exception only for the gold tassel. The gold metallic tassel is reserved for those entitled to wear the doctoral gown, as is the use of velvet for headwear. Only one tassel is worn at a time. Other countries may have different colours for different disciplines. For schools where

2376-419: The chapter at Dickinson College , founded in 1887; Beta of Pennsylvania, the chapter at Lehigh University (founded later that same year); Gamma of Pennsylvania, the chapter at Lafayette College (1890); and Delta of Pennsylvania, the chapter at the University of Pennsylvania (1892). By 1920, a total of 89 chapters existed at a variety of schools. Phi Beta Kappa was one of six honor societies that co-founded

2442-557: The class. Some chapters also elect graduate students graduating with Master's or Doctoral degrees who have exceptional academic records. Each chapter sets its academic standards, but all inductees must have studied the liberal arts and sciences, demonstrated "good moral character", and, usually, earned grades placing them in the top tenth of their class. However, at least one school, Princeton University , includes Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) students in Phi Beta Kappa. There

2508-592: The curriculum. In the Phi Beta Kappa Initiation of 1779, the new member was informed, Older fraternal societies existed at College of William & Mary . The F.H.C. Society (nicknamed "the Flat Hat Club "), founded in 1750, is the first collegiate secret society recorded in North America; unlike the newer Phi Beta Kappa, the F.H.C. was a Latin-letter society, its name taken from the initial letters of

2574-486: The date that a particular fob or key was awarded, when in fact it is merely the date of the founding of the society). Only in 1912 was the key made to a uniform standard of size, golden appearance (some are plated), and engraving with the school's name, recipient's name, and date of the award. The Phi Beta Kappa Society publishes The Key Reporter , a newsletter distributed quarterly to all contributing members and biannually to all other members, and The American Scholar ,

2640-400: The demise of those that exhibited overt racism offer an opportunity for a critical reassessment of the criteria and culture within honor societies. While changes sparked from within these societies were prevalent between the massive influx of students after World War II and before and after the adoption of Title IX, additionally, the demand for recognition of racially diverse scholars spurred

2706-476: The discipline for which the honor society provides recognition. In cases where academic achievement would not be an appropriate criterion for membership, other standards are usually required for membership (such as completion of a particular ceremony or training program). Scholastic honor societies commonly add a criterion relating to the student's character. Most honor societies are invitation-only, and membership in an honor society might be considered exclusive, i.e.,

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2772-413: The era of honor society expansion in the early 20th century, these organizations were generally supportive of cultural changes that challenged racism, classism, and sexism. Like other aspects of academia, honor society integration and diversity grew with the expansion of an increasingly multicultural and co-educational student body. There were some holdouts, but academia in general, and its honor societies as

2838-528: The fields of Greek and French. The award may be used for the study of Greek language, literature, history, or archaeology, or the study of French language or literature. Established in 1934 by Isabelle Stone (ΦΒΚ, Wellesley College) in honor of her mother, Mary Isabel Sibley, the fellowship was designed to reward the women in these two fields of study with the experience of studying and living abroad, which Miss Stone did in Greece during her studies. The fellowship carries

2904-433: The fields of the humanities, the social sciences, the natural sciences, and mathematics, must be of broad interest and accessible to the general reader. Each award carries a $ 10,000 prize. The winners were selected from five short-listed titles in each category. The Dr. Martin R. Lebowitz and Eve Lewellis Lebowitz Prize for Philosophical Achievement and Contribution is awarded by the Phi Beta Kappa Society in conjunction with

2970-432: The first African-American member, George Washington Henderson , was elected at the same institution two years later. In 1885, however, Phi Beta Kappa eliminated those majoring in engineering from eligibility. This practice continues today. Each chapter is designated by its state and a Greek letter indicating its position in the order in which that state's chapters were founded. For example, Alpha of Pennsylvania refers to

3036-481: The graduation regalia is rented or borrowed by the student, the tassel might be a part of the rental or provided separately. Some schools that do not provide a tassel for graduates to keep may offer a souvenir tassel that is not worn with the regalia. As with other forms of headdress, academic caps are not generally worn indoors by men (other than by the Chancellor or other high officials), but are usually carried. At

3102-464: The ground. A properly fitting mortarboard should not fall off easily. Until the second half of the twentieth century, mortarboards were often worn by schoolteachers, and the hat remains an icon of the teaching profession. Mortarboards are often seen in party supply shops in the United States in May and June, when they appear in the form of party decorations, on commemorative gifts such as teddy bears , and on congratulatory greeting cards. A version of

3168-544: The manner in which the older fraternities (and the Masonic bodies on which the collegiate societies were in part patterned) wore their insignia. Later, the size of the medallion was reduced and men took to wearing the insignia on their watch chains as fobs. Though several stylistic details have survived since the earliest days—the use of the stars, pointing hand, and Greek letters on the obverse, for example—notable differences exist between older keys and current examples. The name of

3234-418: The members, who have been initiated into the S.P. alias Phi Beta Kappa Society." The "key" of Phi Beta Kappa did not begin as a copy of a watch key. The first insignia was a larger, cut-and-engraved silver medallion, essentially a square of metal with a loop cut integrally with the body of the square from the same sheet of silver, to allow for suspension from one or two ribbons worn around the member's neck in

3300-403: The mortarboard had a 'rigid skull' which is considered more aesthetically pleasing and better fitting than a folding-skull one. In addition, the rigid skull type has the advantage of being easier to doff than the folding skull version, as there is no possibility of the skull collapsing in on itself. Many degree ceremonies in British universities include the ritual doffing of caps. Both types require

3366-438: The mortarboard is worn during mourning. Instead of a tassel and button on top of the board, there are two black ribbons that are attached from corner to corner of the board forming a cross. At the centre where the two ribbons intersect a black ribbon rosette is attached. The ribbon for the wide ribbons is grosgrain ribbon whilst the rosette can be made of either the same grosgrain or satin. This mourning cap can be worn when mourning

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3432-472: The mortarboard used by brickmasons to hold mortar ) or Oxford cap is an item of academic dress consisting of a horizontal square board fixed upon a skull-cap, with a tassel attached to the centre. In the UK and the US, it is commonly referred to informally in conjunction with an academic gown as a "cap and gown". It is also sometimes termed a square , trencher , or corner-cap . The adjective academical

3498-553: The name under which the organization had been established in 1776. In 1996, Emily Bernstein of The New York Times reported declining rates of Phi Beta Kappa membership acceptances at the University of Connecticut due to a decrease in social prestige. Citing an article by The Key Reporter , Bernstein claims that this is due in part to increasing numbers of 'first-generation college students, students who do not consult their parents on such matters, and students who have gone to public schools, all of whom are less likely to have heard of

3564-551: The nation's 100 black colleges and universities are members of Phi Beta Kappa " due to a rule that 10 faculty members at a university must be existing members, for which Black faculty would be socially disadvantaged due to a historic lack of admittance into relevant universities. Additionally, they created a list of "Predominantly White But Second- or Third-Tier Colleges and Universities That Have Been Awarded Phi Beta Kappa Chapters," which included Allegheny College and Millsaps College . Today, Phi Beta Kappa participates in

3630-429: The obverse has also changed over the years, with never fewer than three, but on some known examples with as many as a dozen (the explanation as to the meaning of the stars in these early cases varies from chapter to chapter). Also, the date of the awarding of the honor is only seen on keys from the second quarter of the nineteenth century onward (some people mistake the date that appears on the fob or key—December 5, 1776—as

3696-423: The oldest academic society, Phi Beta Kappa , was founded as a social and literary fraternity in 1776. Other honor societies were established a century later, including Tau Beta Pi for engineering (1885), Sigma Xi for scientific research (1886), and Phi Kappa Phi for all disciplines (1897). Mortar Board was established in 1918 and was the first national honor society for women who were college seniors. During

3762-410: The recipient was not engraved on the earliest fobs or keys and was not until the first decade of the nineteenth century. The name of the school from which the fob or key came was also not routinely included on the earliest models, and sometimes the only way to trace a key to a particular school's chapter is by researching the name of the recipient against surviving class records. The number of stars on

3828-522: The right to wear a soft Canterbury cap must wear it on their head, rather than carrying it. Additionally, all undergraduates appearing before the Proctors' Court are required to present themselves wearing their caps, before removing them as proceedings start. In some graduation ceremonies caps have been dispensed with for men, being issued only to women, who do wear them indoors, or have been abandoned altogether. This has led to urban legends in universities in

3894-456: The rise of true "social" fraternities modeled after Phi Beta Kappa later in the nineteenth century which obviated the social aspects of membership in the organization, transforming it into the honorary society it is today. By 1883, when the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa were established, there were 25 chapters. The first women were elected to the Society at the University of Vermont in 1875, and

3960-444: The society takes its name. On the reverse are found the initials "SP" in the script. One official historian of the society, William T. Hastings, and some others believe that the "S" and "P", which stood for Societas Philosophiae , "Philosophical Society", were the original name of the Society and that "Phi Beta Kappa" came only over time to be taken as the name of the society. The heading on the original list of members states, "A List of

4026-561: The society. Earlier, in 1970, Robert Reinhold similarly reported for The New York Times that recipient students at the University of California at Berkeley expressed a mix of distaste and shame about the degree. Other members expressed a lack of satisfaction with the society for its significance. A 1997 article from The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education critiqued the society for under-representation at historically black colleges and universities . The authors wrote that "Only 3 of

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4092-420: The university chancellor. The mourning cap is worn with mourning bands (normal bands but with a pleat running down each band) and a mourning gown which is either a Cambridge DD undress gown with "pudding-sleeves" but in black stuff rather than silk as worn in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries or a plain black stuff gown. Hoods are not worn, as they are considered festal items. However, Cambridge proctors in

4158-479: The value of the arts and sciences through all of life, and advocate for policies that strengthen an arts and sciences education. Phi Beta Kappa has chapters in only about 10% of American higher learning institutions, and only about 10% of these schools' Arts and Sciences graduates are invited to join. Although most students are elected in their senior year, many colleges elect a limited number of extremely select students in their junior year, generally less than 2% of

4224-419: The wearer to wear the appropriate size to fit. In the US, an 'elasticated skull' is mostly used, which eliminates the need to make many mortarboards in different hat sizes. Some mortarboards, especially those in east Asia are laced-up at the back of the skull cap. The correct way to wear a mortarboard is to have the larger part of the skull of the mortarboard at the back of the head with the top board parallel to

4290-452: Was founded at Yale College in late 1780; a third, at Harvard College in 1781; and a fourth, at Dartmouth College in 1787. Phi Beta Kappa was a secret society to protect its members and to instil a sense of solidarity. The new society was given the motto, Φιλοσοφία Βίου Κυβερνήτη or in Latin letters Philosophia Biou Kybernētēs , which loosely translated to English means "Love of learning

4356-600: Was re-established. In 1831, the Harvard chapter publicly disclosed the fraternity's secrets during a period of strong anti- Masonic sentiment. The first chapter established after Phi Beta Kappa became an "open" society was that at Trinity College in Connecticut, in 1845. University of Alabama established in 1851. In the pre-Civil War period, Society chapters frequently sponsored addresses by distinguished speakers. Ralph Waldo Emerson 's 1837 address at Harvard, "The American Scholar",

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