Honor societies in the United States are treated as rank organizations. They recognize excellence in various academic and athletic disciplines and offer distinguished honors to the students that show themselves to be worthy of them. To be accepted is to be honored, literally.
How Honor Societies Work
Usually, honor societies began by asking people to join based on their rank in schools. Their scholastic ranks or their GPAs mattered a great deal in the beginning. This would include students in the top of their classes and would include those with GPAs up to 3.8 and 4.0. Some of these strict rules are still followed and grade point averages are still given preference.
The initiation ceremony for such societies would include training programs or familiarization with certain customs and codes of honor. It was custom for many societies before and even today to be invitation only and some would allow for unsolicited invitations as well. Also, a member of one honor society would ostensibly be considered exclusive and not allowed to join any other society as a result. This would illustrate the illustriousness of the honor bestowed upon him.
Honor societies also bestowed certain garb on their members in order to differentiate them from the rest. These could include stoles, scarves, cords, tassels, medallions, academic robes, regalia, etc.
Through the ages, these customs have either been diluted or been revised in order to include more and more people within the societies. They have remained extremely exclusive in terms of the students they accept when it comes to grades and athletic ability. However, their standards and practices have undergone revision when it comes to diversity and inclusivity etc.
You can find out more about the Honor Society Foundation.
Here are a few of the oldest societies in the US and their customs.
Phi Beta Kappa is the oldest honor society in the US and was formed in December of 1776. It was founded in the College of William and Mary. It is more than two and a half centuries old and is dedicated to the liberal arts and sciences. Its mission statement reads, “To celebrate and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences.”
The society currently has nearly 500,000 members and has become one of the most prestigious societies in the US. Phi Beta Kappa still upholds its convictions to bring together outstanding students in order to further the cause of liberal arts and sciences.
The society is widespread today across nearly 10% of American Higher learning institutes and about 10% of these schools are related to arts and sciences. Every year, graduate students from the fields of both arts and sciences are invited to join and elected within the senior year. The process for selection still remains very stringent and strict, allowing nearly 2% of the class to attend or even join the society.
The society was founded by students which frequented the Raleigh Tavern, which was a tavern near the campus of William and Mary and was one of the largest taverns in colonial Virginia. The debates that occurred there centered on topics that ranged from politics to academia, and there were even oratory debates. Even though these were not far removed from what they discussed in school, members felt like they could speak more freely in the environment that was outside school grounds.
However, soon after they decided that they would meet in their very own society and designated a place for these meetings. During the initiation of 1779, the society pledged that they would communicate here without reserve and reflect on various objects. You could speculate and the freedom of enquiry would be safe within these walls.
Tau Beta Pi is a much different society than Phi Beta Kappa since it focuses particularly on engineering. However, it does compete with Phi Beta Kappa in the sense that it is the second oldest honor society in the US. It emphasizes considerably on academic achievement like the former but also marks, within its students, professional integrity as well as personal responsibility in many subjects.
It was formed in 1885 when the need for a society for purely technical students came about. The Phi Beta Kappa society members were thinking of restricting their membership to students who were in the liberal arts, hence in the late 19th century, the head of the mining department at Lehigh University came up with the idea that an engineering-focused society should be formed.
The colors of Tau Beta Pi are white and seal brown, which incidentally also happen to be the colors of Lehigh University. The official badge is a watch key which is in the shape of the bent of a trestle. It’s called the Bent and is revered as a symbol of excellence in engineering.
There are 248 chapters of the society around the US and 6 other chapters which hitherto remain inactive.
Sigma Xi is the third oldest honor society in the US and was founded in 1886 on the campus of the University of Cornell. The society was founded by a junior faculty member and a small number of graduate students. The members were elected on the basis of research achievements as well as potential to carry out research on technical subjects.
The colors of the society as blue and gold and the symbol of the society is a gold key with the symbol Sigma carve out atop the symbol Xi. The society is different to the two mentioned before in that its scope is international and that it offers certain prizes to its students on the basis of their research.
The William Procter Prize, which is named after a member of the society who endowed the award in 1850, is given to members who have made great contributions to research as well as the ability to communicate its significance to the scientific world.
There are thousands of honor societies around the world and they all strive to put forward the academic and athletic prowess of their students.