ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, May 26, 1996 TAG: 9605280050
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES
THE HONOR SOCIETY, founded at the College of William and Mary, is the nation's oldest and most prestigious liberal arts honor society.
Time was that men hung the golden key of Phi Beta Kappa from watch chains, and membership in the society was noted at every milestone of life: in marriage announcements, promotion notices, obituaries. But today's top college students are turning down Phi Beta Kappa in record numbers.
Some of the chosen don't join because they've never heard of the organization; others are confused by a profusion of honor societies, or see them as anachronisms that are not worth the $30 to $50 membership fees. The upshot is that Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's most prestigious honor society, has an image problem.
``I don't think anybody is going to hire or fire me because I belong to Phi Beta whatever,'' said Brian D. Bosch, who graduated last week from the University of Connecticut.
Bosch received an invitation in early April to join Phi Beta Kappa, but he turned it down. The UConn chapter elected 143 juniors and seniors this spring, but 65 of them - 45 percent - did not join.
Another student who turned down the society, Joseph T. Bafumi, said: ``They're basically resume-builders. You get nothing out of it and you really don't put anything into it.''
And, said Laura M. Harris, who was invited as a junior but did not accept: ``I've joined several other honor societies that seem better known. I don't know if this one is well known or not.''
Phi Beta Kappa is both the oldest and the most exclusive honor society in the country. Only 10 percent of colleges have chapters, and just over 1 percent of college seniors are elected each year.
To be elected, a student must have more than a high grade average. Chapter members review the academic records of the top 10 percent of the class, to ensure that most credits are earned in the liberal arts and sciences, in a broad array of subjects, and at an advanced level.
The student must also take language and math classes, even if the college does not require them.
Nationwide, 85 percent of students who are elected choose to join Phi Beta Kappa. At small liberal arts colleges and at private universities, it is still virtually unheard of for a student to turn down the society.
``I don't want to sound too big for our boots, but if I heard that 85 percent of people awarded Nobel Prizes had accepted, I'd be startled,'' said Charles Blitzer, the president of Phi Beta Kappa. ``We're not Nobel Prizes, but it really is an honor.''
At many state universities, the acceptance numbers hover around 60 percent, so low that the society did its first national survey last year. At the University of Washington, fewer than half the students join.
Phi Beta Kappa's newsletter calls the phenomenon ``membership resistance.'' National and local officers attribute it to first-generation college students, students who do not consult their parents on such matters, and students who have gone to public schools, all of whom are less likely to have heard of the society. The officers are looking for ways to combat that.
Phi Beta Kappa was founded at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg in 1776, as a society to preserve academic freedom and liberal arts education. The Greek initials stand for the motto Philosophia Biou Kybernetes: ``Love of wisdom [is] the guide of life.''
The society quickly spread to other colleges, and it has spawned dozens of imitators that cater to students in specific departments or to any high achiever on campus. The popularity of these diverse groups has made Phi Beta Kappa less special to many students.
At the University of Connecticut, most of the students invited to join Phi Beta Kappa have already been asked to join Golden Key, Phi Kappa Phi, Mortar Board and honor societies in their own departments. The Phi Beta Kappa letter arrives last, in early April. Each society has an initiation fee, from $30 to $50.
``There are so many different societies out there now, and they all cost money,'' said Karen L. Heley, a senior who turned down Phi Beta Kappa after joining three other societies. ``So it's a matter of who gets to you first.''
Erika Linkkila D'Atria was a junior in the communications sciences department at the University of Connecticut, with a grade point average of 3.94 and membership in three honor societies, when she got the invitation from Phi Beta Kappa.
``I hadn't heard of it before,'' said D'Atria, 21. ``I guess I should have, but there isn't much advertising or publicity. The letter said it was the first Greek society from 1776 or whatever, but then at the bottom it asked for $35. I was a little skeptical.''
Meanwhile, the chapter had chosen D'Atria as one of three juniors to whom they wished to offer a scholarship. When she did not respond to the invitation, an officer of the society called her adviser, Susan Fridy. Fridy urged D'Atria to join.
``She wasn't even aware of Phi Beta Kappa, which really surprised me,'' Fridy said. ``It was such a conventional understanding of excellence when I came through the system.''
Of course, some students do still hear about Phi Beta Kappa. ``I just always remember hearing people refer to someone intelligent as a Phi Bete,'' said Aara Kupris, who joined the society this spring.
Although Phi Beta Kappa has the highest acceptance rate among the major honor societies, the issue of declining acceptance became public last year when newspaper reports in Tucson focused on the students at the University of Arizona turning down membership.
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