Phi Beta Kappa elects 12 seniors
Fatime, Faizaa
Issue date: 11/5/09 Section: News
The nation's oldest and most widely known academic honor society, Phi Beta Kappa, acknowledged 12 Smith seniors for the fall 2009 election. They are: Sarah Bashiruddin, Alexandra Breus, Ingrid Davalos Lopez, Alyssa Greene, Molly Hamer, Dongyoung Kim, Lillian Lamboy, Elyse Macksoud, Sarah Maxner, Kathryne Van Tyne, Jennifer Wise and Christine Woodbury.
Phi Beta Kappa are the Greek initials of the motto "Love of learning is the guide of life." The society celebrates and advocates excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, and its campus chapters invite for induction students at America's leading colleges and universities.
For over two centuries, the society has embraced the principles of freedom of inquiry and liberty of thought and expression. Laptops have replaced quill pens, but these ideas, symbolized by Phi Beta Kappa's distinctive gold key, still lay the foundations of personal freedom, scientific inquiry, liberty of conscience and creative endeavor.
The chapter usually elects up to 10 percent of the senior class, with 3 percent of the class elected in the fall of their senior year based on their academic records through the junior year. Smith students are required to have a minimum of 58 completed graded credits of Smith coursework, not counting the first year, and most importantly, courses that fulfill the Latin Honors requirement.
Recent statistics show that an increasing number of students are completing Latin Honors every year. However, is getting into an honor society the reason behind the case? The Phi Beta Kappa invitees deny this explanation.
"This is just one of the rewards that can come with the fulfillment of Latin Honors," said Davalos. "I think it's useful to gear towards completing Latin honors rather than being elected to Phi Beta Kappa."
The same goes for Greene, whose mother was also a Phi Beta Kappan.
"Planning your life or creating goals this way would simply make your life more miserable," Greene said. "As for me, I did not keep the Phi Beta Kappa in mind while going with the Latin Honors. I just focused on doing well for my classes with the desire to branch out my breadth of knowledge of different academic fields.
Phi Beta Kappa are the Greek initials of the motto "Love of learning is the guide of life." The society celebrates and advocates excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, and its campus chapters invite for induction students at America's leading colleges and universities.
For over two centuries, the society has embraced the principles of freedom of inquiry and liberty of thought and expression. Laptops have replaced quill pens, but these ideas, symbolized by Phi Beta Kappa's distinctive gold key, still lay the foundations of personal freedom, scientific inquiry, liberty of conscience and creative endeavor.
The chapter usually elects up to 10 percent of the senior class, with 3 percent of the class elected in the fall of their senior year based on their academic records through the junior year. Smith students are required to have a minimum of 58 completed graded credits of Smith coursework, not counting the first year, and most importantly, courses that fulfill the Latin Honors requirement.
Recent statistics show that an increasing number of students are completing Latin Honors every year. However, is getting into an honor society the reason behind the case? The Phi Beta Kappa invitees deny this explanation.
"This is just one of the rewards that can come with the fulfillment of Latin Honors," said Davalos. "I think it's useful to gear towards completing Latin honors rather than being elected to Phi Beta Kappa."
The same goes for Greene, whose mother was also a Phi Beta Kappan.
"Planning your life or creating goals this way would simply make your life more miserable," Greene said. "As for me, I did not keep the Phi Beta Kappa in mind while going with the Latin Honors. I just focused on doing well for my classes with the desire to branch out my breadth of knowledge of different academic fields.
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