Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society Comes to A&M-Commerce

The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi has allowed the colonization of a chapter on the Texas A&M University-Commerce campus for the upcoming year and will hold its installation ceremony on May 21.  The A&M-Commerce chapter received notice of its approval after a spring board meeting in March of the Phi Kappa Phi Board of Directors.

Phi Kappa Phi is the oldest national honor society for all academic disciplines, founded in 1897 at the University of Maine. PKP is a selective organization for individuals with exemplary academic accomplishments. Membership may be obtained through an invitation-only process in which offers are only given to the top 10 percent of seniors and graduate students and just 7.5 percent of juniors. Having achieved outstanding scholastic recognition, faculty, staff and alumni may also qualify to join. There are over 300 chapters of PKP in North America and the Philippines which initiate around 30,000 persons per year. Members are required to pay annual dues and in turn are given a multitude of benefits, including the opportunities of $1 million each biennium in scholarships and awards.

“The commitment to excellence at Texas A&M University–Commerce is evidenced by the superior academic environment, highly motivated student population, strong honors program, and exceptional faculty and staff,” said Society President Dr. Diane G. Smathers. “We are confident A&M-Commerce's commitment to recognizing and honoring academic excellence will benefit both the university and Phi Kappa Phi, and we look forward to developing a strong working relationship with the chapter.”

The society's motto reads “Let the love of learning rule humanity,” and that is what the group hopes to bring to the A&M-Commerce campus. Their mission in Commerce and nationally is “to recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others.” Author John Grisham, President Jimmy Carter, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Co-founder of YouTube, Chad Hurley, have all been inducted into Phi Kappa Phi. The non-profit group governs itself nationally with a 15-person Board of Directors with input from Regional Vice Presidents and a Council of Students. Individual chapters are presided over by chapter officers at each campus.

“I am thrilled that our university will soon have its own chapter of Phi Kappa Phi,” said President Dan Jones, a member of PKP. “I was inducted into this prestigious honor society as an undergraduate in 1973, and can still remember the feeling of pride and accomplishment that came with this recognition.  I'm delighted that our very best students will now have the opportunity to become members of this distinguished group of scholars.”

For more information on Phi Kappa Phi, contact Dr. Raymond Green, chapter president, at [email protected] or visit www.PhiKappaPhi.org.