About the National Society
The Society was founded by five students at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, during a lively discussion at the town’s famous Raleigh Tavern, on December 5, 1776. In 1780, Yale College and Harvard College received the second and third chapters. Women were first admitted in 1875 by the Chapter at the University of Vermont. Currently, there are a total of 270 chapters and a half a million living members.
The Society’s name comes from the first letters of its Greek motto, (roughly) “Philosophia Biu Keeburnatas”; “Love of learning, the Helmsman of Life.”
Its objectives include not merely knowledge and academic achievement, but intellectual integrity, tolerance, and a broad range of intellectual interests.
National stipulations for membership include the study of mathematics and foreign language at the college level, and excellence in a diverse curriculum of liberal arts and sciences.
Prominent members include 17 U.S. Presidents, as well as many national legislators and Supreme Court Justices, authors and activists, poets and composers, and entertainers.
Activities of the National Society include the Visiting Scholars Program, publication of the award-winning quarterly journal The American Scholar; three annual $2,500 book awards, and sponsoring numerous programs in high schools around the country to encourage students to consider the study of the liberal arts and sciences.
More information about the Phi Beta Kappa Society can be found at their website.
