Phi Beta Kappa initiate 20 top liberal arts students

PBK3key-lg copyThis year’s initiation ceremony for Phi Beta Kappa is scheduled for Friday, April 17 at 4:30 p.m. in the Gillespie Museum. A reception on the porch will immediately follow. Gillespie Museum is located at the southeast corner of campus, at 234 E. Michigan Ave. The public is invited to attend.

This year, 20 Stetson students have been invited to membership in Phi Beta Kappa. These students meet the highest standards for academic achievement and character, beginning with a 3.7 GPA (at Stetson and overall), at least 100 credits in approved courses in the liberal arts and sciences, and credit for language proficiency at least at the 201 level.

In 1982, Stetson University was the first private university in Florida to achieve membership in the oldest and most prestigious liberal arts and sciences honor society in the United States – Phi Beta Kappa. There are now 280 chapters at the strongest and best respected colleges and universities in the country. Membership is for life, with alumni chapters active around the country. Members work to foster and promote excellence in the arts and sciences – at their universities and beyond. In 2007, Stetson’s chapter of PBK instituted an annual Hague Teaching Award for outstanding teaching in the liberal arts and sciences, the first of which went to Senior Professor of Political Science Gary Maris. The PBK key, pictured, as described on the Phi Beta Kappa website, has become a universally recognized mark of academic achievement in the liberal arts and sciences. Visit Stetson University’s PBK website here.

Below is a list of the students and their majors, who have been invited to membership into Stetson University’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa:

Matthew Ady, Spanish and Finance

Carmen Bernecker, International Studies and Spanish

Benjamin Chase, Biology and Environmental Science

Patrick Cone, Political Science and History

Alonnah Creswell, Biology and Environmental Science

Dominque Drager, Integrative Health Science

Jean Godun, Psychology

Bianca Hernandez, English

Kristin Laskey, Psychology

Kassie Ledoux, Molecular Biology

Rowan Littlefield, Chemistry

Katherine McConnell, Integrative Health Science

Emily Minteer, Integrative Health Science

Kathryn Nathenson, Environmental Science and History

Sasha Pesci, Environmental Science

Tabitha Petri, Biology

Niulma Rodriquez, Integrative Health Science

Sarah Stubbs, Psychology

Daniel Urena, Political Science and Computer Science

Viviana Vasiu, English

For more information, please contact Grady Ballenger, Ph.D., professor of English and president of Stetson’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, at [email protected], or call 386-822-8779.