Beta of Mississippi Chapter
University of Mississippi
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History of the
Society
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(This text is reproduced primarily from the Phi Beta Kappa Society's History web page.)
Origin in Virginia
On December 5, 1776, a group of young men who were then studying at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, met to create a secret society, at once intellectual and social in purpose. It was 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 (discarded in 1831), a badge, mottoes in Latin and Greek, a code of laws, and an elaborate form of initiation.Regular meetings were held at which chief attention was given to literary exercises, especially to composition and debating. The President’s greeting to new members in 1779 reads in part:
“Here . . . you are to indulge in matters of speculation, that freedom of inquiry that ever dispels the clouds of falsehood by the radiant sunshine of truth. . . .”In their clandestine meetings, the members seriously debated a host of questions, such as “Whether a wise state hath any interest nearer at heart than the education of the Youth.” Fraternal sentiments were fostered, occasional meetings were held for social purposes, and anniversaries were celebrated in the Apollo Room of the Raleigh Tavern, as they are again now that the College of William and Mary has recreated the Apollo Room in the Phi Beta Kappa Hall on the Williamsburg campus.New England Branches
The original Phi Beta Kappa Society had an active life of only four years, ending when the approach of British troops under General Cornwallis forced the College of William and Mary to close its doors. But the faith of those youthful scholars in the permanence and future greatness of their Society is shown by their preparation of charters for branches in other colleges. The two charters voted upon and granted during that period went to Harvard, December 4, 1779, and to Yale, four days later. The charters were delivered to groups in New Haven and Cambridge the following year and subsequently the Alpha of Connecticut was established at Yale (November, 1780) and the Alpha of Massachusetts came into being at Harvard (September, 1781).While the Alpha of Virginia at the College of William and Mary was inactive between 1780 and 1851 and again from early in the Civil War until 1893, the Alpha at Harvard has had an uninterrupted existence and the Alpha at Yale has been inactive only from 1871 to 1884. These two chapters largely determined the permanent character of Phi Beta Kappa and shaped its policy in the establishment of other new chapters.
The two New England branches preserved the essential qualities of the Virginia experience, adopting some changes in procedure to suit local conditions. Shortly before the close of the college year, the members selected from the junior class a small group of leading students who in the following year constituted the "immediate society." The continuing custom of annual anniversary celebrations led to many significant contributions to American prose and poetry. Ralph Waldo Emerson delivered an oration at Harvard's 1837 celebration entitled "The American Scholar" later adopted as the name of Phi Beta Kappa's quarterly journal.
The United Chapters
Fifty years after the Society's extension into New England, only four additional chapters had been founded: 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. In each case, the new charters were granted by the concurrent action of the Alphas already chartered.Fifteen additional chapters were established in the succeeding 30 years. In 1881 there were only 20 active chapters - with the exception of three in Ohio, all were situated east of the Alleghenies and north of the Mason-Dixon line. At the centennial celebration of the Alpha of Massachusetts on June 30 of that year, to which the other chapters had been invited to send representatives, a proposal was made by the delegate from Hobart to effect a closer union. After consideration then and in later meetings, a constitution was prepared, adopted, and ratified and on September 5,1883 the first National Council of the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa began its sessions. A revision to the constitution in 1937 strengthened this union, at the same time safeguarding the rights and liberties of the individual chapters.
By the time the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa were founded, about 14,000 persons had been elected to membership.
Changes in Character
Three important changes marked the first century of Phi Beta Kappa's history. The anti-Masonic agitation of the 1820s led to much discussion at Dartmouth, Harvard, and Yale of the Phi Beta Kappa oath. In 1831, the Alpha at Harvard was the first chapter to remove the requirement of secrecy. In 1883, when the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa were organized to bring together the scattered chapters into some national uniformity, the last vestiges of secrecy disappeared.A second change was more fundamental. Originally Phi Beta Kappa had been a society of congenial spirits, similar in its basis of membership to the present-day fraternity, and in the character of its meetings to a debating or literary club. As time passed, it tended more and more to become an "honor" society, existing to recognize and to foster excellence in liberal learning at the undergraduate level.
Another necessary development was the admission of women. The Alpha at the University of Vermont, finding in 1875 that two women had met the scholastic requirements, admitted them to membership. The following year, four women were elected by the Gamma of Connecticut at Wesleyan. This step, regarded in some quarters as revolutionary, 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.
Today's Society
In the years since the organization of the United Chapters, the number of chapters has increased from 25 to 262, and the 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 and some of its members created off-campus Phi Beta Kappa associations to foster the Society's educational mission, it became increasingly clear that the term "United Chapters" no longer described the scope of Phi Beta Kappa's programs. In 1988 the delegates assembled at the 35th Council voted to change the organization's name to "The Phi Beta Kappa Society." This more inclusive designation, also the historic name of the Society, now appears on all of the organization's legal documents and publications.
The Society’s symbols and purposes are now well known across the land. These purposes were eloquently summarized in the following statement by one of the Society’s most eminent members, Charles Evans Hughes, the late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court:
"The particular interest of Phi Beta Kappa is in liberal education. . . . Intensive critical study of educational aims and methods has found nothing to take its place. It means the development by careful training of the capacity to appreciate what has been done and thought, the ability to make worthwhile appraisals of achievements, doctrines, theories, proposals. It is liberal because it emancipates; it signifies freedom from the tyranny of ignorance, and, from what is worse, the dominion of folly. . . . [Phi Beta Kappa] holds aloft the old banner of scholarship, and to the students who have turned aside from the easier paths and by their talent and fidelity have proved themselves to be worthy, it gives the fitting recognition of a special distinction."
This time around, the committee's preliminary application was well received. Work began on a much longer General Report. The first good news came in the form of an exhaustive site visit to campus from representatives of the Committee on Qualifications in February 1999. Then, in May, perhaps the most meaningful step was taken when the Committee on Qualifications recommended the application to the Phi Beta Kappa Senate. In December 1999, the Senate recommended to the full Council of Phi Beta Kappa that the faculty of Ole Miss shelter a chapter. The final step in the process came on October 21, 2000, when Council delegates from all the chapters in the nation voted to award a chapter to the University of Mississippi.
The University of Mississippi Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the Beta of Mississippi, was chartered on April 6, 2001. It is the second of only two chapters established in the state, with the Alpha of Mississippi Chapter residing at Millsaps College. Ole Miss is now among a group of only 262 colleges and universities in the nation to shelter a chapter. In addition to recognizing outstanding undergraduates at an annual initiation ceremony, the University of Mississippi Chapter sponsors lectures by distinguished Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholars.
Along the way to its goal of sheltering a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa,
the University of Mississippi benefitted from many extraordinary gifts
from alumni and friends, including:
The effects of this generosity go far beyond the Phi Beta Kappa
Initiative; they will be seen and felt by students, staff, faculty, and
the administration of the University of Mississippi for many years to come.
by Tina Hahn, Newsdesk Story #172
Because it lists many important contributions that were made to the Phi Beta Kappa initiative, this story is reproduced in its entirety below. Please also note the two subsequent stories regarding the generous gifts from Diane and Richard Scruggs and Tracy and David Nutt.
UNIVERSITY, Miss. -- University of Mississippi Chancellor Robert C.
Khayat
describes the birthday gift he received this week
as "extremely special": a call that
Ole Miss will be visited by a Phi
Beta Kappa team -- the next step toward gaining
a chapter of the prestigious academic honor society.
Dr. Douglas W. Foard, secretary of the Phi Beta Kappa
Society, notified Dr.
Ronald A. Schroeder, chair of Ole Miss' Phi Beta
Kappa Faculty Application
Committee, that The University of Mississippi had
been selected for a site visit
during the 1998-99 academic year.
"The University community has been waiting on this
call to our Phi Beta Kappa
faculty, and we are thrilled by this news,"
Khayat said. "Phi Beta Kappa officials
advised us that a team will visit our campus
in early 1999. We were told our
application has been well received. It outlines
the tremendous work and progress
made in key academic areas on our campus."
If successful, the University will become the
first public institution of higher
learning in the state to be approved for a
Phi Beta Kappa chapter. The rigorous
process of seeking a chapter includes the
site team's making a recommendation to
the Senate of Phi Beta Kappa. If the Senate
supports a recommendation to
approve a chapter at Ole Miss in December
1999, a membership vote by the full
Council of the organization will occur in
fall 2000.
Khayat and Schroeder, an associate professor
of English, personally delivered the
University's preliminary application to the
honor society's Washington, D.C.,
headquarters in late October 1997. Schroeder
and other faculty members who
served on the committee are all Phi Beta Kappa
alumni.
"We didn't just make it over the first
hurdle," Schroeder said. "The favorable
reaction to our application bodes well
for the future. Gaining a Phi Beta Kappa
chapter would give The University of
Mississippi recognition and visibility in a
group of very elite schools across the
nation. Being chosen for a chapter would
be an endorsement of the academic quality
of our College of Liberal Arts and of
our commitment to academic excellence.
A chapter also serves as a powerful
recruitment tool, as prospective students
would find it attractive that we could
send Phi Beta Kappa graduates out into
the world. Phi Beta Kappa membership
opens doors and greatly enhances a resume."
Phi Beta Kappa's evaluation will include extensive
study of the University's
endowments, library holdings, technological
resources, strength of the College of
Liberal Arts, quality of students (based on
test scores), scholarships and other
considerations.
"The overriding question the site team members
will ask as they examine our
academic environment and resources is
whether or not The University of
Mississippi is committed to excellence
in the humanities, arts and sciences,"
Khayat said. "I think they will look
favorably, for example, on the
McDonnell-Barksdale Honors College and
the J.D. Williams Library; the
strengthened (liberal arts) faculty
salaries; the diversity of our faculty, staff and
students; and the increase in entering
freshmen's ACT scores over a five-year
span.
"Phi Beta Kappa sets extremely high standards,
and for Ole Miss to be
successful, we must and will continue
our commitment to excellence," said the
chancellor.
Increased levels of funding from
the Mississippi Legislature and private gifts --
that is, more than 17,000 individuals
contributing gifts of all sizes, from one dollar
to millions of dollars -- have
been extremely helpful, Khayat said. The University's
endowment stood at $192.6 million
at the end of 1997, up from $114.3 million in
mid-1995, when Khayat was tapped
for the top leadership position and outlined a
plan to seek a Phi Beta Kappa
chapter in his goals to the Board of Trustees of
State Institutions of Higher Learning.
Since work on a Phi Beta Kappa application
began, some of the gifts have
included:
The Joseph
C. Bancroft Charitable and Educational Fund in McComb set up a
support trust equivalent
to a $60 million endowment to establish the Croft Institute for
International Studies. The new
Institute will offer $28,000 scholarships annually to
10 entering freshmen pursuing
degrees in international studies.
The Gertrude
C. Ford Foundation of Jackson announced a $20 million gift to Ole
Miss to build the Ford Center
for the Performing Arts. The state-of-the-art
1,200-seat facility will be the
first step toward establishing a performing arts
complex on the University
Avenue entrance to campus.
The
Donald W. Reynolds Foundation of Tulsa, Okla., gave the University
a gift of
$16.5 million, with $8 million
designated for the J.D. Williams Library, $6 million for
the School of Accountancy
and $2.5 million for administrative restructuring. The
gift honors Ole Miss alumnus
E.H. "Pat" Patterson, who served as the
foundation's trustee and
vice chairman.
Netscape President and CEO
James
Barksdale and his wife, Sally McDonnell
Barksdale,
presented their alma mater with $5.4 million to establish the
McDonnell-Barksdale Honors
College. The endowment also provides $24,000
scholarships annually to
four entering freshmen.
The
Robert M. Hearin Support Foundation of Jackson announced a $5 million
grant to assist the Ole
Miss School of Business Administration in its march
toward national prominence.
The grant will create up to seven Hearin Chairs in
Business Administration,
as well as provide resources for general faculty
development and infrastructure
services.
The
Eugenia Pichitino Estate of New Orleans provided $4.5 million to
establish the
Donal S. Pichitino Memorial
Honors Scholarships. Each year, four top high school
scholars receive the $24,000
scholarships.
The
Phil Hardin Foundation of Meridian provided $24,000 to cover a number
of
expenses associated with
the actual Phi Beta Kappa application process and then
announced a $450,000 challenge
grant to help ensure that Ole Miss meets the
honor society's criteria.
"We are deeply appreciative
for the enormous private support provided by alumni
and friends in critical
areas," Khayat said. "The University community also is
grateful to Dr. Schroeder
and other Phi Beta Kappa faculty for their dedicated
work toward the pursuit
of a Phi Beta Kappa chapter."
"We are indebted to the nucleus
of Phi Beta Kappa faculty, to the entire faculty,
to the administration, and
to alumni and friends of Ole Miss for the support the
committee has received,"
said Schroeder. "Many offered to do anything they
could to help with the application,
and others lent moral support. This process
has been very gratifying,
with virtually everyone wishing us success."
http://www.olemiss.edu/cgi-bin/news2000/display.pl?id=172&mode=full
by Tina Hahn, Newsdesk
Story #260
Regarding the same gift, see also:
From the Foundation Newsletter, Volume 4, No. 1 (Spring 1999)
http://www.umf.olemiss.edu/newsletter5/gift.html
Full story
by Tina Hahn, Newdesk Story #390
by Tina Hahn, Newsdesk Story #494
Late Saturday evening Phi Beta Kappa faculty
members at Ole Miss received the
call reporting the Committee on Qualifications
has recommended to the Phi Beta
Kappa Senate that a chapter be established
on the Oxford campus. If the Senate
supports a recommendation in December 1999,
a membership vote by the full
Council of the organization will occur in
fall 2000.
by Tina Hahn, Newsdesk Story #689
by Tina Hahn, Newsdesk Story #920
Full Story
at the Phi Beta Kappa web site
by Tina Hahn, Newsdesk Story #1451
Full Story at the Phi Beta Kappa web site
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