More than 100 students were initiated into the Phi Kappa Phi academic honor society during ceremonies Monday, April 18 in McKinnon Hall. In addition, John Gardner, executive director of the Policy Center on the First Year of College, was an honorary inductee. Details...
Phi Kappa Phi is the nation’s oldest and largest academic honor society. The organization recognizes academic excellence in all fields of study, annually inviting top juniors and seniors to join the society. Elon’s Phi Kappa Phi chapter was installed in November 1995 and has distinguished itself through participation in national conferences, hosting sub-regional conferences and sponsoring winners of graduate fellowships.
Gardner is Senior Fellow of the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, and Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Library and Information Science at the University of South Carolina. Founded by Gardner in 1986, the Center hosts the influential and popular Conferences on the First Year Experience. In October 1999, Gardner became Executive Director of the Policy Center on the First Year of College, based at Brevard College in Brevard, N.C.
Gardner is best known for initiating an international reform movement in higher education in 1982 to call attention to and improve what he has coined “The Freshman Year Experience.” His efforts gained national and international attention, and inspired the popular Elon 101 courses that acclimate freshmen to life at Elon. His son, Jonathan, is an Elon alumnus.
President Leo M. Lambert congratulated the newest members and praised Phi Kappa Phi for its contributions.
“The tenth anniversary of this chapter is indeed an occasion to celebrate Phi Kappa Phi and the academic climate at Elon University,” Lambert said. He noted that many Phi Kappa Phi members take part in programs such as Student Undergraduate Research Forum (SURF) and the Fellows programs.
Aja Johnson, a senior math and theater major, was recognized as one of 60 national recipients of a Phi Kappa Phi Graduate Fellowship. Johnson will use the fellowship to help finance her first year of graduate study.
The Elon chapter was also awarded a Phi Kappa Phi Literacy grant. The grant will allow students from the Elon chapter to work with R. Homer Andrews Elementary School in Burlington on an after school literacy project.