The Phi Beta Kappa Society is the nation's oldest and most prestigious undergraduate honors organization. For more than 200 years, the Society has pursued its mission of fostering and recognizing excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, and its distinctive emblem, a golden key, is widely recognized as a symbol of academic distinction. Phi Beta Kappa was founded on December 5, 1776, at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.
The first society to have a Greek letter name, and in its initial period at William and Mary it introduced the essential characteristics of such societies—an oath of secrecy, a badge, mottoes in Latin and Greek, a code of laws, an elaborate form of initiation, a seal, and a special handclasp. The Florida State University chapter of Phi Beta Kappa: Alpha of Florida, was established in 1935, and was the first chapter authorized in the state.
Election Information
The Alpha of Florida Chapter elects new student members in the Fall and the Spring. The Chapter elects both juniors-in-course and graduating seniors.
Initiation Addresses
Spring Initiation features keynote speaker, ranging from professors to our most recent orator: President Thrasher.
Chapter Awards
The Marion Jewell Hay Award is presented biannually to an outstanding student member of the Society.
The Phi Beta Kappa Excellence in Teaching Award is presented annually.