Honor Societies

ALPHA CHI
Dennis M. Organ

ALPHA MU GAMMA
Franklin I. Triplett

ALPHA OMEGA ALPHA
Edward D. Harris Jr.

ASSOCIATION FOR WOMEN IN COMMUNICATIONS
Mary Kay Switzer

ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGE HONOR SOCIETIES
John W. Warren

BETA PHI MU
Judith J. Culligan

DELTA KAPPA GAMMA SOCIETY
Carolyn Guss

DELTA SIGMA RHO–TAU KAPPA ALPHA
Herold T. Ross

KAPPA DELTA PI
Michael P. Wolfe

KAPPA OMICRON NU
Dorothy I. Mitstifer

LAMBDA IOTA TAU
Bruce W. Hozeski

PHI BETA KAPPA
Meaghan E. Mundy

PHI DELTA KAPPA INTERNATIONAL
George Kersey Jr.

PI KAPPA LAMBDA
George Howerton

PI SIGMA ALPHA
James I. Lengle

RHO CHI
Robert A. Buerki

SIGMA XI
Meaghan E. Mundy

TAU BETA PI
Meaghan E. Mundy

ALPHA CHI

A college honor scholarship society, Alpha Chi promotes academic excellence and exemplary character among college and university students and honors those who achieve such distinction. As a general honor society, Alpha Chi admits students from all academic disciplines. A member institution, which must be a regionally accredited, baccalaureate-degree-granting college or university, may invite to membership no more than the top ten percent of the junior and senior classes. Membership recognizes previous accomplishments and provides opportunity for continued growth and service. As the society's constitution states, Alpha Chi seeks to find ways to assist students in "making scholarship effective for good."

Founded on February 22, 1922, by five Texas institutions of higher learning, Alpha Chi was first called the Scholarship Societies of Texas, then the Scholarship Societies of the South (1927), and finally Alpha Chi (1934) when the decision was made to become a national society. By 1955 there were only thirty-six active chapters, all in the south except for two chapters in Nebraska and Massachusetts, but in the 1960s expansion was rapid. By the end of 1971, Alpha Chi had installed chapter number 120 and restructured itself under a new constitution. Growth was strong through the next three decades, with more than 300 active chapters in almost every state by 2000 and an organizational structure of seven geographic regions.

Alpha Chi, legally chartered by the state of Texas, is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit entity with headquarters in Searcy, Arkansas, on the campus of Harding University, one of its member institutions. Its paid staff includes a half-time executive director who is an academic and two full-time professionals over-seeing day-to-day operations. The executive director is appointed by the society's governing board, the National Council, made up of twenty-two faculty and students elected by the general membership at regional and national conventions; eight council members are faculty elected at large; the remaining members are seven faculty and seven students elected by their respective regions. The council meets annually, as does the executive committee consisting of the council's president, vice president, and secretary and the executive director. The regions also elect an executive committee consisting of a president, vice president, secretary-treasurer, and student representative. Campus chapters are served by an official faculty sponsor, who is appointed by the institution's president, and by student officers elected by the local membership.

In addition to undergraduate members, who are nominated by the faculty of member institutions, Alpha Chi elects a limited number of honorary members annually. These typically are faculty and administrators of institutions with Alpha Chi chapters or other individuals with acceptable academic credentials who have given special support to Alpha Chi chapters, to the organization as a whole, or to the cause of scholarship in general. After members receive their baccalaureate degrees, they also may choose to maintain an ongoing relationship with the society by paying an annual fee for "active alumni" status. Such members receive invitations to the annual conventions and the society's publications. These publications are the Recorder, issued twice yearly (one issue authored by undergraduates and the other, by alumni and others associated with the society); and the Newsletter, a bulletin issued three times yearly. Undergraduate members receive these publications through chapter sponsors. The society also publishes a handbook for chapter operations. In 1997 Alpha Chi published Scholarship and Character: Seventy-Five Years of Alpha Chi, written by Robert W. Sledge, a long-time leader.

In addition to recognizing students for their academic achievement, Alpha Chi also offers numerous opportunities for their further growth. The society sponsors a competition for scholarships and fellowships totaling more than $50,000 yearly, mostly at the national level but also at the regional and local levels. Another program involves student scholarly and creative presentations at national and regional conventions. The 2001 national convention, which drew more than 500 students and faculty, featured the work of about 200 students from a wide range of fields. Many local chapters also sponsor programs on campus to promote scholarly activity, and engage in service projects benefiting the campus or the community, often with an academic focus, such as tutoring programs. Finally, students' involvement in leadership at all levels of the society's operation makes Alpha Chi distinctive among similar honor societies and provides excellent opportunities for members to develop their talents beyond the classroom.