Gold Status Achieved by UK’s Phi Kappa Phi Chapter

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 25, 2019) — The University of Kentucky chapter of The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi has achieved Circle of Excellence Gold Status for the 2018-2019 school year, the second highest form of recognition a chapter can receive from national headquarters. While the UK chapter has been recognized as a Chapter of Excellence on several occasions since being officially launched in April 2009, this is the first time it has received Gold Status.

Phi Kappa Phi is the nation's oldest and largest collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. The organization has more than 350 chapters and over 1 million members around the world.

Reacting to the achievement, Patricia Whitlow, director of UK’s Office of Nationally Competitive Programs and president of the chapter said, "I am delighted for the UK chapter to be named a Gold Status chapter and wish to extend my deepest appreciation to Lynn Hiler, who provides tremendous administrative support and deserves a lot of credit for the smooth running and success of the chapter."

The chapter also takes pride in the fact that many of their members are applicants and winners of Phi Kappa Phi awards. A list of the recipients can be found on the UK chapter webpage.

The Circle of Honor awards program recognizes chapters across the country for their work in promoting excellence on their local campus, as well as engaging the community of scholars each year.

Matthew Melton, one of three vice presidents for the chapter at UK, was glad to see the hard work of the chapter pay off.

"I was ecstatic. To receive Gold Status, there are several requirements that must be met, and there are not many chapters that are able to meet all those requirements. To be able to say that the UK PKP chapter has achieved this status is a great feat,” Melton said.

Receiving this status means a chapter has also been active in its community by giving back. The UK Phi Kappa Phi chapter is participating in a nationwide book drive with the National PKP Council of students, where books are being collected and donated to their organization of choice.

The chapter is also starting their own Council of Students on campus to recognize the hard work that their students put into their education, as well as creating their own chapter-led community service activity that will have a positive impact on the city of Lexington.

As the UK chapter has seen success, it looks to build on the work done thus far in order to impact even more people in the community.

"The next step for our chapter is to increase involvement, across all members," Melton said. "We want our members that are being recognized for their academic achievements to have the opportunity to give back to their community in multiple ways." 

The UK chapter of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi is supported by the Chellgren Center for Undergraduate Excellence within Student and Academic Life at UK.