255 Tar Heels inducted into Phi Beta Kappa
Less than 1% of all college students qualify for acceptance to the nation’s oldest college honorary society.
Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most honored college honorary society, inducted 255 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill students as new members, including 178 from North Carolina. Less than 1% of all college students qualify for acceptance.
The recent induction ceremony featured a keynote address by Dennis Blair, Knott Distinguished Visiting Professor of the Practice in the peace, war and defense department in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences.
Past and present Phi Beta Kappa members from across the country include 17 American presidents, 42 U.S. Supreme Court justices, more than 150 Nobel laureates, and numerous artistic, intellectual and political leaders.
Phi Beta Kappa membership is open to undergraduates in the College of Arts and Sciences and professional degree programs who meet stringent eligibility requirements. A student who has completed 75 hours of coursework in the liberal arts and sciences with a GPA of 3.85 or better (on a 4-point scale) is eligible for membership. Also eligible is any student who has completed 105 hours of coursework in the liberal arts and sciences with a 3.75 GPA. Grades earned at other universities are not considered.
Phi Beta Kappa has 293 chapters nationwide. Carolina’s chapter, Alpha of North Carolina, was founded in 1904 and is the oldest of eight chapters in the state. Each year, Phi Beta Kappa chapters and alumni associations across the country raise and distribute more than $1 million in awards, scholarships and prizes benefiting high schools and college students.
Phi Beta Kappa officers at Carolina for 2024-25 are students Simon Cook, president; Lucia Ciro, vice president; and Samantha Flores, recording secretary. James L. Leloudis, professor of history, Peter T. Grauer associate dean for Honors Carolina, and director of the James M. Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence, is chapter executive secretary and faculty adviser.
