Phi Beta Kappa is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious academic honor society and has more than 500,000 members. Since its founding at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia in 1776, the Society has fostered and recognized excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, and its gold key is widely recognized as a symbol of academic distinction.
Thirty-five resident faculty members chartered Beta of Kansas, the K-State chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, on February 11, 1974. That first year, 24 students were elected to membership. The chapter continues to recognize excellence in the liberal arts and sciences with election each spring of juniors and seniors who demonstrate scholarly achievement, good character, and broad cultural interests.
Students elected to Phi Beta Kappa have shown themselves devoted to intellectual pursuits and to the objectives of a liberal education - not merely knowledge but also breadth of interest, depth of understanding, and respect for a diversity of informed opinion. There are fewer than 300 chapters of Phi Beta Kappa nationally (only about 10% of institutions of higher learning have chapters), with just two chapters in the state of Kansas.
According to the society, 17 U.S. Presidents, 39 former or current U.S. Supreme Court Justices and more than 130 Nobel laureates are members of Phi Beta Kappa.
