UK Chapter of Phi Kappa Phi is Growing

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 11, 2012) — The University of Kentucky Chapter of Phi Kappa Phi recently attained Merit status and welcomed a new class of honorees in ceremonies held in the UK Student Center.

Founded 114 years ago at the University of Maine, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation's oldest, largest, and most selective all-discipline honor society. Its chapters are on more than 300 campuses in the United States, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. UK's chapter, chartered in the spring of 2009, is one of only 31 chapters who received 'Merit' recognition from the society's headquarters in Baton Rouge, La., during the past year.

Recent UK Chapter highlights which led to the Merit designation include:

• Jenna Brashear of Beaver Dam (Ohio County), Ky., former undergraduate student vice president of the UK Chapter, was awarded a $5,000 Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship from the national organization to continue her educational pursuits.
• Amanda Fickey of Red Star (Letcher County), Ky., former graduate student vice president of the chapter who is a Ph.D. candidate in geography at UK, earned a Love of Learning Award from national headquarters.

As part of the recent ceremonies, UK Board of Trustees member and author Rev. C.B. Akins, Sr.; UK Alumni Professor in the Colleges of Nursing and Public Health and faculty associate at the Markey Cancer Center Ellen J. Hahn; and UK Associate Professor of English and director of African American and Africana Studies Frank X. Walker were inducted into Phi Kappa Phi together with a number of outstanding undergraduate and graduate students.

Membership is by invitation only to the top 10 percent of seniors and graduate students and 7.5 percent of juniors. Faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction also can qualify.

"This latest class of inductees further strengthens the prestige of Phi Kappa Phi on the campus," said UK Chapter President Emmett "Buzz" Burnam, director of recruitment, diversity initiatives for undergraduate admission and the registrar's office.

The list of UK students honored at the recent induction ceremony: Mathew Aaron Acra; Macy Ann Allen; Mary Rebekah Arnett; Emily Caroline Barr; Kathleen Claire Barrette; Andrea Suzanne Bartlett; Emily Board; Jennifer Lynn Brogie; Liang Chen; Kate Townsend Creasy; Ashlee-Nicole King Crump; Jay LeRoy Crutcher; Megan Marie Danzl; Virginia Frances Deaton; Joshua Ryan DeVore; Robert Smith Emmitt; Nathan Estes; Courtney L. Ford;

Kristin Noell Gibson; Jessica Greenberg; Seth Elliott Grider; Alisha Mishelle Hamilton; Nyrene Ahmed Haque; Matthew Hassen; Marie Paige Higginson-Rollins; Marcus Alan Hincks; Jessicah Cheyenne Hohman; Gavin Taylor Howington; Jacob Andrew Hughes; Sarah Lynn Jacobs; Marquiana Rebecca Jusma; Lindsay Marie Kampfer; Angie Keedy; David Andrew Kline; Nicholas Ledgerwood; Kelli Ann Long; Megan Kathleen Martin; 

Luke Aaron McAnally; Jamie Christine Moline; Stephanie L. Murphy; Timothy James Nichols; Crystal Norgren; Elizabeth Haydon Nunnelley; Jonathan Otto; Ashley Elizabeth Parks; Kristina Fugitte Pattison; Rachel Lauren Peters; Dinesh Poudyal; Benjamin Gary Powell; Christine Elizabeth Riveire; Laura Paige Robinson; Salam Omar Salman; Joshua Daniel Schlueter; Carley Schroering; Clay Stanley; Mitchell Andrew Strohmaier; 

Karen Rose Thompson; Kevin Andrew Thompson; William O'Brien Walker; Andrew Miles Wheeler; Jeffrey R. Witt; Hong Xu; Heather Marie Yonutas; and Dana Noel Youtsey.

Phi Kappa Phi has bestowed nearly $13 million since the inception of its awards program in 1932. Today, around $800,000 is awarded annually to qualifying members and non-members through graduate fellowships, undergraduate study abroad scholarships, member and chapter awards, and grants for local and national literacy initiatives. The society's mission is “to recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others.”

For more information on the UK Chapter of Phi Kappa Phi, call Lynn Hiler at (859) 257-6894, or e-mail: clynnhiler@uky.edu. To contact the national organization, call (800) 804 9880, or visit www.PhiKappaPhi.org.