65 CSB and SJU students invited to join Phi Beta Kappa

Sixty-five students from the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University have been invited into the Theta of Minnesota Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa at CSB and SJU.

The students will be inducted into the chapter during a ceremony at 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, in Pellegrene Auditorium, SJU. The public is welcome to attend the induction ceremony, which will be followed by a reception in the Great Hall and an invitation-only dinner for Phi Beta Kappa members and guests in the Founders Room (room 170), Quadrangle Building.

Shawn Colberg, assistant professor of theology at CSB and SJU, will deliver the keynote address. SJU President Michael Hemesath will also be giving brief welcome remarks.

A total of 52 seniors and 13 juniors were selected by faculty members at CSB and SJU who are members of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest academic honor society, which was founded in 1776. There are 41 students from CSB and 24 from SJU in this year's group.

Students are chosen based on their grade-point average (3.75 for juniors, 3.65 for seniors) and must be a liberal arts major. The selection committee also looked at the breadth and depth of the student's program and other achievements, such as a thesis or other research.

This is the seventh group of students who have been inducted into the chapter. Delegates from more than 200 chapters and associations of Phi Beta Kappa voted to establish the chapter at CSB and SJU Oct. 2, 2009, during their Triennial Council in Austin, Texas.

The CSB and SJU chapter was the eighth Phi Beta Kappa chapter established in Minnesota and was named 'Theta' after the eighth letter of the Greek alphabet.