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The Phi Beta Kappa Society is an academic Honor Society with the mission of "fostering and recognizing excellence" in undergraduate Liberal Arts and Science s. Founded at the College Of William And Mary on December 5 , 1776 , it is the oldest such society in the United States . Membership is granted to approximately 1% of college graduates, and today there are 270 chapters and over half a million living members. Since election to the Society occurs on a school-by-school basis, membership standards are not uniform; nevertheless, no member school may induct more than 10% of its graduating class (although most chapters invite a significantly smaller percentage to membership). As such, Phi Beta Kappa is generally considered to be the most selective and prestigious of all college honor societies and election to membership one of the highest honors available to undergraduate collegians. Phi Beta Kappa (ΦΒΚ) stands for ''Φιλοσοφια Βιου Κυβερνητης'' or philosophia biou kybernetes — "love-of-wisdom steerer of life." HISTORY ΦΒΚ began as a men's secret literary, social, and philosophical society at the College Of William And Mary in 1776. The second chapter was established at Harvard University on December 4, 1779, and the third at Yale University on December 8 of the same year. Subsequent chapters were established at Dartmouth College in 1787, Union College in 1817, Bowdoin College in 1825, and Brown University in 1830. Secrecy was abandoned in 1831 during a period of strong anti- Masonic sentiment. As the first collegiate organization of its type to adopt a Greek -letter name, it is generally considered the forerunner of modern college Fraternities as well as the model for later honor socities. Ironically, it was partly the rise of true "social" fraternities modeled after Phi Beta Kappa later that century which obviated the social aspects of membership in the organization, transforming it into the honor society it is today. By 1883, when the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa were established, there were 25 chapters. The first women were elected to the society at the University Of Vermont in 1875, and the first African-American member was elected at the same institution two years later. Each chapter is designated by its state and a Greek letter indicating the order in which that state's chapters were founded. For example, Alpha of Pennsylvania refers to the chapter at Dickinson College (1887); Beta of Pennsylvania at Lehigh University (1887); Gamma of Pennsylvania at Lafayette College (1890); and Delta of Pennsylvania at the University Of Pennsylvania (1892). By 1915, there were 86 chapters at a variety of schools. They included: William & Mary (1776); Harvard (1779); Yale (1779); Dartmouth (1787); Union (1817); Bowdoin (1825); Brown (1830); Trinity College (1845); Wesleyan University (1845) ; Western Reserve (1847); Vermont (1848); Alabama (1851); Amherst (1853); Kenyon (1858); New York University (1858); Marietta (1860); Williams (1864); CCNY (1867); Middlebury (1868); Columbia (1869); Rutgers (1869); Hamilton (1870); Hobart (1871); Colgate (1878); Cornell (1882); Dickinson (1887); Lehigh (1887); Rochester (1887); DePauw (1889); Northwestern (1890); Kansas (1890); Lafayette (1890); Iowa (1892); Minnesota (1892); Pennsylvania (1892); Tufts (1892); Johns Hopkins (1895); Nebraska (1895); Colby (1896); Swarthmore (1896); Syracuse (1896); Berkeley (1898); Haverford (1898); Vassar (1898); Wabash (1898); Boston College (1899); Cincinnati (1899); Princeton (1899); Chicago (1899); Wisconsin (1899); Missouri (1901); Vanderbilt (1901); Allegheny (1902); Colorado (1904); Colorado College (1904); North Carolina (1904); Ohio State (1904); Smith (1904); Stanford (1904); Wellesley (1904); Goucher (1905); Mount Holyoke (1905); Texas (1905); Illinois (1907); Michigan (1907); Oberlin (1907); Ohio Wesleyan (1907); Franklin & Marshall (1908); Grinnell (1908); Tulane (1909); Virginia (1909); West Virginia (1910); Beloit (1911); Denison (1911); Indiana (1911) ; Miami (1911); Washington & Lee (1911); Carleton (1914); Lawrence (1914); Georgia (1914); North Dakota (1914); Pomona (1914); Radcliffe (1914); University Of Washington (1914); Washington University (1914). In 1988, the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa officially changed its name to The Phi Beta Kappa Society.
THE KEY The symbol of the Phi Beta Kappa Society is a gold key engraved with the image of a pointing finger and three stars. These represent the ambition of the young scholars and the three distinguishing principles of the Society: friendship, morality, and learning. On the back of the key are the initials "SP," which stand for the Latin words "''societas philosophiae''." ACTIVITIES AND PUBLICATIONS The Phi Beta Kappa Society publishes a quarterly newsletter called ''The Key Reporter'' which is distributed to all members. It also funds a number of fellowships and academic awards. IGNORANCE OF PHI BETA KAPPA
At private universities and small Liberal Arts Colleges , however, election to Phi Beta Kappa remains one of the highest honors a student can receive, and the few membership offers extended are almost universally accepted. According to the ''Times'' article, the vast majority of chapters report acceptance rates well over 90%. FAMOUS MEMBERS Elected as undergraduates
Honorary members
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