PBKACA IN A NATIONAL NETWORK

Phi Beta Kappa was founded on December 5, 1776, at the College of William and Mary. Since then, Phi Beta Kappa has evolved to become the nation's leading advocate for the liberal arts and sciences at the undergraduate level.

The Society's distinctive emblem, a golden key, is widely recognized as a symbol of academic achievement.

Phi Beta Kappa elects over 15,000 new members a year from 270 chapters across the United States.

Phi Beta Kappa has over 50 associations - groups made up of Phi Beta Kappa members - in cities across the U.S. They support the ideals of the Society through academic, social, and community-based programs.

The Phi Beta Kappa Association of the Chicago Area (PBKACA) is one of these associations. It has a tax-exempt, not-for-profit status. It is allied with the National Society but is independently organized and separately managed by an all-volunteer team elected by its members. It programs and services are supported by member dues and contributions and it receives no financial support from the National Society. All Phi Beta Kappa alumni are eligible to join, and upon payment of their local dues are entitled to the established rights of membership.

PBKACA is linked with allied Midwestern Phi Beta Kappa associations and chapters via a regional organization. These groups from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio together constitute the Phi Beta Kappa East Central District body. Historically, the primary occasion at which these groups have interacted has been via an assemblage as delegates to the Triennial conventions, the governing meetings of the Society described at the national website. Additional contacts between these meetings every three years are a possibility, and as a means to build closer ongoing ties, a District website is online. Further information from District groups is available at http://pages.ohio.edu/pbk-ecd/.

Inquiries related to activities of the National Society, such as receipt of its publications The Key Reporter and The American Scholar, proof of status of an individual's initiation in Phi Beta Kappa, criteria for election into Phi Beta Kappa, purchase of commemorative items such as the Phi Beta Kappa key, etc., should be directed to the National Headquarters in Washington, DC. Contact information is available at the national website, http://www.pbk.org.