Academic Honor Societies

Puget Sound provides many opportunities to recognize student achievement through membership in academic honor societies, including Mortar Board, Phi Eta Sigma, Phi Beta Kappa, and Phi Beta Phi.

Mortar Board

This national honor society, which recognizes college seniors for their achievements in scholarship, leadership, and service, creates opportunities for continued leadership development, promotes service to colleges and universities, and encourages lifelong contributions to the global community.

Mortar Board began in 1918 as the first national organization honoring senior college women. When the society opened its membership to men in 1975, it maintained its ties to its founders and heritage by changing the preamble to its constitution to include a stronger commitment to the advancement of the status of women. Since 1918 more than 22,000 college seniors have been initiated into Mortar Board.

Phi Eta Sigma

Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society has been in existence since 1923, and recognizes academic achievement in freshmen. Students with at least a 3.5 GPA as freshmen are eligible for membership. The Puget Sound chapter was established in spring 2006, to follow the great leadership of the SPURS National Honor Society. We continue to promote academic excellence and service to the campus and community.

Phi Beta Kappa

University of Puget Sound is one of five private colleges in the Northwest granted a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s most distinguished and selective academic honor society. Founded in 1776 at The College of William and Mary, it is the nation’s oldest undergraduate honors organization. It takes its name from the initial letters of its motto, Philosophia Biou Kubernetes, “Philosophy (the love of wisdom) is the guide of life.” The objectives of liberal learning encouraged by Phi Beta Kappa include not merely knowledge but also intellectual honesty, tolerance, and a broad range of intellectual interests. The society’s distinctive emblem, a golden key, is widely recognized as a symbol of academic achievement.

The chapters elect members from candidates for degrees in the liberal arts and sciences, usually from the upper 10th of the graduating class. In addition to an outstanding record of academic achievement, the stipulations for eligibility adopted in 1952 require that candidates have done at least three-quarters of their work in an area of the liberal arts and sciences, as well as demonstrate a knowledge of mathematics and a foreign language.

Phi Kappa Phi

The national Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi had its beginnings at University of Maine in 1897. It was known then as the Lambda Sigma Eta Society and, later, as the Morrill Society, in honor of the sponsor of the congressional act that provided for land-grant colleges. In 1900 it was transformed into a national society by action of a committee composed of the presidents of University of Maine, University of Tennessee, and Pennsylvania State College (now Pennsylvania State University). The society was renamed Phi Kappa Phi from the initial letters of the Greek words forming its adopted motto: Philosophia Krateito Photon, roughly translated as “Let the love of learning rule humanity.”

The national Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi recognizes and encourages superior scholarship in all academic disciplines. Chapters are granted to institutions that provide the means and atmosphere conducive to academic excellence. Admission to the society is by invitation and requires approval by a chapter in accordance with the bylaws of both the chapter and the national society. Both require superior scholarship and good character as criteria for membership.
(Source: The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, 1998)