77 CSB and SJU students to be inducted into Phi Beta Kappa

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

The students will be formally inducted into the chapter during a ceremony at 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 23, in Pellegrene Auditorium, SJU. The public is welcome to attend the induction ceremony and a short reception following the ceremony in the Great Hall, SJU. An invitation-only dinner for Phi Beta Kappa members and guests will take place following the reception.

SJU President Michael Hemesath '81 will be inducted as an alumni member of Phi Beta Kappa. Richard Ice, academic dean at CSB and SJU, will be inducted as an honorary member.  

Three speakers are scheduled to speak at the event - Scott Richardson, professor of modern and classical languages at CSB and SJU and a Phi Beta Kappa member; CSB President MaryAnn Baenninger, a Phi Beta Kappa member; and Hemesath.  

A total of 65 seniors and 12 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 56 students from CSB and 21 from SJU in this year's group.

The basic criteria for selection are a grade-point average (3.75 for juniors, 3.65 for seniors) and 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 fourth group of students who have been inducted into the chapter. A total of 288 CSB and SJU students have been inducted into Phi Beta Kappa in four years.

Delegates from more than 200 chapters and associations of Phi Beta Kappa voted to establish the chapter at CSB and SJU on 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.