KU News Release

KU’s Phi Beta Kappa chapter inducts 116 new members

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LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas’ Alpha chapter of Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society initiated 116 members May 16.

Tara Welch, past president of the KU chapter and associate professor of classics, presided. Marlesa Roney, vice provost for Student Success, greeted the new initiates and their families and guests.

Roney also gave an address on the topic “Becoming an Outlier,” followed with a student response from Barry Robinson Ryan, a senior in anthropology from Lawrence, who was chosen last year for Phi Beta Kappa membership.

Election to Phi Beta Kappa recognizes a student’s high academic achievement while pursuing a broad and substantive liberal arts curriculum. To be eligible for consideration for membership, students must have senior class status and a minimum grade-point average of 3.65 on a 4.0 scale.

Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest national academic honorary society, was founded in 1776 at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va. KU’s Alpha chapter, founded in 1890, was the first chapter west of the Mississippi and is one of 276 chapters nationwide. About 10 percent of institutions of higher learning in the United States have Phi Beta Kappa chapters. Janet Riley, associate director of Budget Management and Fiscal Services, is KU’s chapter adviser.

New members are listed below by hometown, major, parents’ names and high schools.

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