An initiation ceremony was held on Saturday, Sept. 18, for members of the Class of 2022 who have been elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa.

Eight members of the Class of 2022 have been elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa. An initiation ceremony was held on Saturday, Sept. 18; though initiated this fall, these students were elected on the basis of their standing through their junior year at Sewanee. Six of the eight students were initiated; the remaining two members-elect are away from campus this fall and will be initiated next semester.

The morning ceremony, held in the University Archives, was scheduled during Family Weekend so that the students’ families might attend the ceremony. It was followed by a reception with the members of the chapter and with other faculty members invited by the students.

Congratulations to Sewanee’s newest Phi Beta Kappa members:

  • James Forrest Collins, biochemistry major, Gainesville, Florida 
  • Allison Leigh Jones, psychology major, Mission Hills, Kansas 
  • Hanna Marie Judycki, economics major, Austin, Texas 
  • Mason Scott Liles, economics major, Waxhaw, North Carolina 
  • *Lucy Jordan Smith, biology major, Mountain Brook, Alabama 
  • Cade Edward Sterling, biochemistry major, Chattanooga, Tennessee 
  • *Szonja Hanna Szurop, art history major, Budapest, Hungary 
  • Mary Caroline Watkins, history major, Sterling, Massachusetts 

*These students have been elected, but were away for the initiation; they will be initiated next semester.

Election to Phi Beta Kappa is perhaps the most prized honor a college student can receive. Students who have demonstrated exceptional academic excellence become eligible for election after completing at least six consecutive semesters. Phi Beta Kappa was founded in 1776 at the College of William and Mary; the Sewanee Chapter, Beta of Tennessee, was established in 1926.

Additional students in the Class of 2022 will be elected to Phi Beta Kappa and initiated during the second semester. Each year the Sewanee chapter elects a total of approximately 10 percent of the senior class to membership in Phi Beta Kappa. Two percent of the class generally is elected at the beginning of the first semester, on the basis of six semesters' work; additional members are elected at the beginning of the second semester and during Commencement Weekend.