Vestavia Hills Residents Tapped For Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society

AUBURN, AL - Three former Vestavia Hills students have been initiated into the Phi Kappa Phi honor society at Auburn University. Phi Kappa Phi is the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines.

Taylor Coe, Katelyn Pickard and William Webb were tapped into the society this week, and are among approximately 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni to be initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year. Membership is by invitation only and requires nomination and approval by a chapter. Only the top 10 percent of seniors and 7.5 percent of juniors are eligible for membership. Graduate students in the top 10 percent of the number of candidates for graduate degrees may also qualify, as do faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction.

Phi Kappa Phi was founded in 1897 under the leadership of undergraduate student Marcus L. Urann who had a desire to create a different kind of honor society: one that recognized excellence in all academic disciplines. Today, the society has chapters on more than 300 campuses in the United States and the Philippines.

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Some of the organization's notable members include former President Jimmy Carter, NASA astronaut Wendy Lawrence, novelist John Grisham and YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley. Each year, Phi Kappa Phi awards nearly $1 million to outstanding students and members through graduate and dissertation fellowships, undergraduate study abroad grants, funding for post-baccalaureate development, and grants for local, national and international literacy initiatives.

Image via Phi Kappa Phi