On Tuesday, April 1, St. Mary’s College’s Zeta Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa held its 17th annual induction ceremony in which 22 students and two alumni were honored with membership to the nation’s oldest and most prestigious academic honor society.
Christopher Adams
Emily Buetow
Olivia Caretti
Jessica Chen
Naomi Garcia
Steven Gentry
Margaret Gruen
Evan Kelley
Samuel Knecht
Danielle Krause
Jacob Quaytman
Shannon Rafferty
Justin Rattey
Kira Schwartz
Katherine Sharpe
Maria Smaldone
Caitlin Sullivan
Rebecca Thayer
James Tomkinson
Christopher Weller
Grace White
Yi Xu
The Zeta Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa was honored to have Dr. Mel Endy attend the induction ceremony as a guest speaker. Endy, who retired from St. Mary’s in 2003, was former provost and professor of religious studies. The Zeta Chapter also welcomed two St. Mary’s College of Maryland alumni initiates: Dr. Brian Doss ’97, associate professor of psychology at University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, and Mr. Neil Irwin ’00, senior economics correspondent for The New York Times and author of “The Alchemists: Three Central Bankers and a World on Fire” (Penguin Press, 2013).
Phi Beta Kappa was established in 1776 by students at the College of William and Mary. Today, there are 283 chapters of the society at different colleges and universities across the United States. St. Mary’s College of Maryland was approved for a chapter in 1997 after a three-year review process to assess the College’s rigor and academic prestige in the liberal arts and sciences. Fewer than ten percent of each St. Mary’s senior class is inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, signifying the student’s academic achievement, intellectual interests, and good moral character that has been displayed throughout their undergraduate career at the college.
Photo by Bill Wood