Application submitted to join the ranks of 280 liberal arts colleges

On Nov. 1 Simmons submitted their application to the Phi Beta Kappa society to shelter a chapter.
“Now we begin the three year wait for the examination and evaluation of our case in light of all other competitors,” wrote President Helen Drinan in a school-wide email. “We are hopeful.”
Simmons’s application is two years in the making. The application requires a wide range of information, such as enrollment information, curriculum, financials, campus programs, and athletics.
“We have had the opportunity to look at Simmons through the single lens of the role that is played by the liberal arts in a Simmons education,” said Professor Donna Beers, chair of the committee, made of 11 professors.
In the application, the College found that a minimum of 68 % of courses meet the criteria set by Phi Beta Kappa.
Phi Beta Kappa is the nation’s oldest honor society and was founded by five students at the College of William and Mary in 1776. It is a prestigious society and promotes excellence in liberal arts and sciences in colleges.
“Only about 10% of the nation’s institutions of higher learning have Phi Beta Kappa chapters,” according to the society’s website. “We have over half a million members and chapters at 280 American colleges and universities.”
The application for a Phi Beta Kappa chapter is a part of Strategy 2015. It is mentioned in the application of an example of Simmons commitment to excellence.
“The goal is to continuously strengthen the quality of our faculty, curriculum, and student body to enable our students to fully develop their ‘human capacities’,” reads the application.
Of the colleges that are selected for Phi Beta Kappa status, only 10% of graduates are awarded Phi Beta Kappa membership.
Their website boasts 17 U.S. Presidents, 38 U.S. Supreme Court Justices, and 136 Nobel laureates among members.
One of the requirements to become a member is that you must have three-fourths of your college classes be liberal arts courses.
The Simmons application found that around 20% of the Class of 2010 could fulfill this requirement.
Now, the College must wait. The final decision will be made in three years.