Phi Beta
Kappa, the nation's oldest and largest academic honor society, was
founded on December 5, 1776 by five students at the College of William
& Mary in Williamsburg VA. It was the first society to have a Greek
letter name and in its early years it introduced the essential
characteristics of such societies: an oath of secrecy (discarded in
1831), a badge, mottoes in Latin and Greek, a code of laws, and an
elaborate initiation ritual.
The members held regular meetings, generally with an emphasis on
literary exercises, especially composition and debating. Fraternal
sentiments were fostered, and the purpose of some meetings was simply
good fellowship. Anniversaries were celebrated in the Apollo Room of
the Raleigh Tavern, which the College of William & Mary has
recreated on its campus in Phi Beta Kappa Hall.
The original Phi Beta Kappa
Society was active for only four years because the approach of the
British Army under General Cornwallis forced the college to close. But
the faith of those youthful scholars in the future of their Society is
shown by their preparation of charters for branches at two other
institutions. A charter was voted to Harvard, on December 4,
1779,
and to Yale four days later. The charters were delivered--in
reverse order--to groups of students in New Haven CT and in
Cambridge MA, creating Alpha of Connecticut at Yale in November
1780, and Alpha of Massachusetts at Harvard in September 1781.
This began the tradition of designating each state's chapter with a
letter from the Greek alphabet to indicate where it fits
chronologically in that state's chapters.
Alpha of Virginia at the College of William & Mary was inactive
between 1780 and 1851, and again from early in the Civil War until
1893. However Alpha at Harvard has had an uninterrupted existence, and
Alpha at Yale has had only one inactive period, from 1871 to 1884.
These chapters largely determined the permanent character of Phi Beta
Kappa and shaped its policy on the establishment of other new chapters.
The two New England branches preserved the essential qualities of the
Virginia experience, adopting changes in procedure to suit local
conditions. Shortly before the end of the academic year, the members
selected from the junior class a small group of outstanding students
who, the following year, constituted the "immediate society." Later
this role would be assumed by faculty members who had been invited to
join Phi Beta Kappa as undergraduates, and most of a chapter's new
members would be initiated as seniors.
Fifty years after the Society's
move into New England, only four more chapters existed: Alpha of New
Hampshire at Dartmouth in 1787; Alpha of New York at Union in 1817;
Alpha of Maine at Bowdoin in 1825; and Alpha of Rhode Island at Brown
in 1830. The new charters were granted by the concurrent action of the
existing Alphas.
Fifteen more chapters were established in the next three decades. In
1883 the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa was founded, which provided
a unified organization for the Society. By that time, 25 chapters had
been chartered, although not all were active, and about 14,000 members
had been elected.
Alpha of Vermont, at the
University of Vermont, admitted the first women members in 1875. And in
1876, four women were elected by Gamma of Connecticut at
Wesleyan. Although this step was regarded in some quarters as
revolutionary, it aroused no formal protest. A few years later, when a
general constitution and bylaws were adopted, the right of women to
membership was accepted without question.
The University of Vermont also led the way in electing the Society's
first black member, who was initiated in 1877. The first black woman
member was elected at Cornell in 1905. The first Society chapters at
historically black institutions were established at Howard and Fisk,
both in 1953.
Since 1883, the number of chapters has increased from 25 to 283 and
membership has grown accordingly. In 1900, when the first general
catalogue was published, the living membership was about 10,500. Today
it is more than 500,000.
As the organization acquired a truly national character, some members
created off-campus groups in their communities, called Phi Beta Kappa
Associations, to foster the Society's educational mission. In 1988
the delegates at the 35th Triennial Council voted to change the
organization's name to "The Phi Beta Kappa Society." This inclusive
designation, also the historic name of the Society, now appears on all
of its legal documents and publications. |
