CORRECTION APPENDED

Twenty-four juniors were accepted last week into the Harvard chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest undergraduate honors society in the United States.

The students represent 18 different concentrations—six concentrate in the natural sciences, 14 in social sciences, and four in humanities concentrations, according to James F. Coakley ’68, the secretary of Harvard’s chapter, Alpha Iota of Massachusetts.

“It is really an honor to be in such a distinguished group of students and alumni,” said Ronald K. Anguas ’08, one of the juniors to be inducted into the society.

The selection process for Phi Beta Kappa members includes three different elections for each class—one in the spring of the junior year, one in the fall of senior year, and a final one right before graduation. The first round elects 24 juniors—dubbed the “Junior 24”—who are then joined by 48 seniors in the fall.

The number of seniors selected before graduation brings the class’ total membership in the society to 10 percent.

Outstanding academic achievement is necessary in order to be selected for membership into Phi Beta Kappa, but the standards differ between the three elected groups.

“The bar is set very high for the junior 24. In the autumn for the senior 48, it is still scarily high, but it is not as high. And then for the people who get elected the spring of their senior year, the bar is set a little lower,” Coakley said.

Students are initially considered for membership in Phi Beta Kappa based on their GPA after five semesters. The number of students nominated in each of the three broad areas—natural science, social science or humanities—is based on the percentage of students enrolled in each concentration within the class. Phi Beta Kappa sets up a quota for each of the fields in order to ensure parity across these categories. Those students with the highest GPAs are then nominated.

But unlike other chapters of Phi Beta Kappa, Harvard uses more than just GPA to select new members from the nominees. Each candidate must get two faculty recommendations, which weigh heavily in the committee’s decision. Coakley said that the committee also looks at course load difficulty and achievement in academic areas outside their concentration.

The GPA necessary for consideration for Phi Beta Kappa varies among the three fields, but students do not have to have a perfect 4.0, according to Coakley.

“Even in the Junior 24, a B is not fatal,” he said.

Students accepted into the society said that grades should not be the only fixation for those hoping to get nominated.

“Don’t make it your goal. Make it a byproduct of your goal, which should be to do the best you can in each class and on every assignment, and to learn as much as you can in the process,” said Curtis K. Chan ’08, an anthropology concentrator and president of the Harvard Breakers, a street dance appreciation group. [SEE CORRECTION BELOW]

The 24 Junior inductees are Ronald K. Anguas, Konika Banerjee, Curtis K. Chan, Yuyin Chen, Megan E. Galbreth, Gaurav Gulati, Lewis D. Hahn, Alexander N. Harris, Kristen K. Hendricks, Seth P. Herbst, Sara K. Heukerott, Ryder B. Kessler, Julius D. Krein, Jeremy Landau, Roger R. Lee, Tiankai Liu, Katy R. Mahraj, Andrew B. Malone, Jason C. Murray, Genevieve E. Orr, Jay S. Reidler, Timothy H. Schmidt, Carolyn A. Sheehan, and Jordan D. Teti

—Staff writer Jamison A. Hill can be reached at jahill@fas.harvard.edu.

CORRECTION: The April 17 news article “Phi Beta Kappa Accepts 24” incorrectly attributed a quotation to Curtis K. Chan ’08. In fact, Ronald K. Anguas ’08, offering advice to those wishing to be inducted into the honors society, said “Don’t make it your goal. Make it a byproduct of your goal, which should be to do the best you can in each class and on every assignment, and to learn as much as you can in the process.”