Phi Beta Kappa Establishes Six New Chapters

The Phi Beta Kappa Society
1606 New Hampshire Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20009

For Immediate Release
Contact: Kelly Gerald

October 30, 2006
Phone: (202) 745-3239

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Phi Beta Kappa Society has voted to establish new chapters at six American colleges and universities. The decision was made this month at the Society's 41st Triennial Council in Atlanta.

Founded in 1776, Phi Beta Kappa is the nation's oldest academic honor society and has more than 500,000 members. The addition of the six new chapters brings the total number chapters to 276 nationwide.

The new chapters are at the following institutions: Clemson University, Clemson, S.C.; The College of New Jersey, Ewing, N.J.; The University of the Pacific, Stockton, Calif.; Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas.; Washington College, Chestertown, Md.; and Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Phi Beta Kappa celebrates and advocates excellence in the liberal arts and sciences. Its campus chapters invite for induction the most outstanding arts and sciences students at America's leading colleges and universities. The Society sponsors activities to advance these studies — the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences — in higher education and in society at large.

John Churchill, secretary and chief executive officer of the Society, said, "Phi Beta Kappa exists to honor students who have excelled in those studies, and to advocate for the liberal arts and sciences both on campus and in the broader world. I am delighted to welcome these institutions to Phi Beta Kappa. The chartering of chapters on these campuses is a recognition of their excellence in the liberal arts and sciences.

"With the establishment of these chapters, we acknowledge the accomplishments of the six institutions in the field of liberal education, and we look forward to a lively partnership in advancing that cause. The Phi Beta Kappa members among the faculty and staff on each campus will organize their chapter in the weeks ahead, and we will present the charters and install the chapters in ceremonies during the 2006-2007 academic year."

Phi Beta Kappa stands for freedom of inquiry and expression, disciplinary rigor, breadth of intellectual perspective, the cultivation of skills of deliberation and ethical reflection, the pursuit of wisdom, and the application of the fruits of scholarship and research in practical life. We champion these values in the confidence that a world influenced by them will be a more just and peaceful world.

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