Spring Break
99 students receive honors
by Matthew Brock
News | 4/29/08
Posted online at 7:28 AM EST on 5/20/08
A group of 99 junior and senior students were inducted into Brandeis' Mu chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society at a ceremony last Saturday afternoon in Spingold Theater.
Phi Beta Kappa is a national organization with 270 chapters at colleges and universities across the country. Seniors selected for membership must place within the top 10 percent of their class and are chosen based on the quality of their academic careers and faculty comments in nomination letters. Juniors must rank among the top 1 percent of their class to qualify for selection.
A procession of inductees slowly entered the auditorium and sat down following Prof. Andreas Teuber's (PHIL) brief introduction. Teuber, the president of the Brandeis chapter, called the society the oldest and most prestigious of its kind in the United States.
Prof. John Schrecker (HIST) gave a short history of Phi Beta Kappa, providing highlights from over 200 years of the organization's history. He said the society was formed as a secret fraternity in 1776 at the College of William and Mary by a small group of students at a local tavern.
"Appropriately for a frat, we were founded at a bar," he said.
Prof. Jeffery Abramson (POL), who is leaving his position at Brandeis this year to pursue a career at the University of Texas, delivered the Phi Beta Kappa address. Abramson began by telling the inductees that he couldn't think of a better class than the Class of 2008 on which to hinge his memories of Brandeis.
"You don't know how good you are," he told them.
He then spoke to the parents, telling them about his daughter's induction into Phi Beta Kappa last year.
"You don't need a ceremony to know your kids are great," he said. "But today, everyone else can see what you see."
Abramson proceeded to interview himself, asking himself questions. He said that students today are supposedly only focused on their careers and not on politics and morals like his generation. He disagreed with this statement.
Phi Beta Kappa is a national organization with 270 chapters at colleges and universities across the country. Seniors selected for membership must place within the top 10 percent of their class and are chosen based on the quality of their academic careers and faculty comments in nomination letters. Juniors must rank among the top 1 percent of their class to qualify for selection.
A procession of inductees slowly entered the auditorium and sat down following Prof. Andreas Teuber's (PHIL) brief introduction. Teuber, the president of the Brandeis chapter, called the society the oldest and most prestigious of its kind in the United States.
Prof. John Schrecker (HIST) gave a short history of Phi Beta Kappa, providing highlights from over 200 years of the organization's history. He said the society was formed as a secret fraternity in 1776 at the College of William and Mary by a small group of students at a local tavern.
"Appropriately for a frat, we were founded at a bar," he said.
Prof. Jeffery Abramson (POL), who is leaving his position at Brandeis this year to pursue a career at the University of Texas, delivered the Phi Beta Kappa address. Abramson began by telling the inductees that he couldn't think of a better class than the Class of 2008 on which to hinge his memories of Brandeis.
"You don't know how good you are," he told them.
He then spoke to the parents, telling them about his daughter's induction into Phi Beta Kappa last year.
"You don't need a ceremony to know your kids are great," he said. "But today, everyone else can see what you see."
Abramson proceeded to interview himself, asking himself questions. He said that students today are supposedly only focused on their careers and not on politics and morals like his generation. He disagreed with this statement.
Be the first to comment on this story