72 CSB and SJU students to be inducted into Phi Beta Kappa April 23

Seventy-two students from the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University have been accepted into the Theta of Minnesota Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa at CSB and SJU.

The students will be formally inducted into the chapter during a ceremony at 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 23, at Pellegrene Auditorium, SJU. The public is welcome to attend the induction ceremony and a short reception following the ceremony at the Great Hall, SJU. An invitation-only dinner for Phi Beta Kappa members and guests will take place following the reception.

Noreen Herzfeld, professor of computer science and theology at CSB and SJU, will deliver the keynote address. SJU president and Phi Beta Kappa member Michael Hemesath will present welcoming remarks, and CSB president and Phi Beta Kappa member MaryAnn Baenninger will speak during the ceremony.

A total of 60 seniors and 12 juniors were selected by faculty members at CSB and SJU who are members of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest academic honor society, which was founded in 1776. There are 46 students from CSB and 26 from SJU in this year's group.

The basic criteria for selection are a grade-point average (3.75 for juniors, 3.65 for seniors) and a liberal arts major. The selection committee also looked at the breadth and depth of the student's program and other achievements, such as a thesis or other research.

This is the fifth group of students who have been inducted into the chapter. Delegates from more than 200 chapters and associations of Phi Beta Kappa voted to establish the chapter at CSB and SJU on Oct. 2, 2009, during their Triennial Council in Austin, Texas.

The CSB and SJU chapter was the eighth Phi Beta Kappa chapter established in Minnesota and was named 'Theta' after the eighth letter of the Greek alphabet.