Texas Tech Awarded Premier Honor Society

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Phi Beta Kappa awards chapter to Texas Tech

A project 24 years in the making came to an end that many believe will positively change the academic standing of Texas Tech.

Phi Beta Kappa, a premier honor society for American universities, accepted Tech into their ranks, which include only the top 10 percent of universities in the nation, at their triennial meeting Friday in Atlanta. When news of the acceptance reached Lubbock on Saturday, Tech President Jon Whitmore had an announcement made to the crowd at Jones AT&T Stadium to make alumni and students aware of the occasion.

According to their Web site, http//www.pbk.org, Phi Beta Kappa was founded in 1776 at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. The honor society's name is derived from the first three letters of the greek phrase "Philosophia Biou Kubernetes," which serves as the organizations motto, "Love of learning is the guide of life."

Mary Jane Hurst, faculty assistant to the Tech president and a professor of English, led the effort to get Tech accepted into the organization. Hurst, a member of the Miami University of Ohio chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, said it has been an honor to work on the project.

"Texas Tech has filed applications to shelter a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa in five different cycles, but until 2003 we didn't get past the preliminary application," Hurst said. "Everything we've done in this application cycle has been the furthest we've ever been."

With the first application filed in 1982, Hurst said the process helped Tech become a better university. She said many of the advances made earning Tech acceptance into the organization were the result of recommendations made during past application processes, including improvements made to the university library as well as reviving the Honors College program in 1993.

"We've always had excellent students, from the very beginning," Hurst said. "We've now been able to establish that a student can get an outstanding education here. All around the university you can see an increasing number of examples of the increasing academic excellence of this university."

James Brink, vice provost, said he does not want students to underestimate the importance of being accepted into such a distinguished organization.

"This ramps up the credibility of academics at Texas Tech," Brink said. " You say to somebody, 'Of course we shelter a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa,' and it's like saying, 'Of course I wear Armani, don't you?'"

Brink said membership does not just benefit students who become members, but every graduate of the university, past, present and future.

"Every Tech student has benefited from this," he said. "This increases the value of their diploma. It's kind of like being at a school with a Nobel Prize winner or a Rhodes scholar or a national championship football team."

Gary Bell, dean of the Honors College, said seeing Tech become a member of an honorary organization that focuses on liberal arts and sciences is a huge step forward for the growth of the university as an academic institution.

Because the distinction of sheltering a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa is a mark of academic excellence, Bell said he believes the benefits of membership will be widespread throughout the university.

"It puts Tech among the elite schools in the nation," he said. "It's another award of distinction and another incentive for students to come here."

Jane Winer, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said she expects immediate and long-term benefits from membership in Phi Beta Kappa for the university as a whole.

"It immediately raises our profile as an academic institution in the United States," Winer said. "It says that the education we provide our students meets a very high standard as far as liberal arts and sciences departments are concerned."

Brink said the hard work everyone across campus put into making Tech worthy of a Phi Beta Kappa chapter has proved to be worth all the hardships.

"To say that we're joyous and ecstatic about this wouldn't even come close," Brink said. "This has been an arduous process, but with the news we got over the weekend it has been a welcomed and well-deserved end to the process."

Texas Public Universities with PBK Chapters:

Texas - 1905

Texas A&M - 2004

Texas Tech - 2006