Phi Beta Kappa and Winthrop Scholars
Phi Beta Kappa, founded in 1776 at the College of William and Mary, is the oldest national honor society in the United States. The Connecticut College chapter, Delta of Connecticut, was established in 1935. Membership is restricted to students in their senior year. There are two elections annually: in the fall semester, based on students’ academic records through the end of the junior year, and in the spring, based on their academic records through the first semester of the senior year. Students elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa in the fall of their senior year are designated Winthrop Scholars, a distinction instituted in 1928 as a means of recognizing the highest level of scholarship and academic promise.