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57-563: One of the core values of the organization is to reflect the diversity of the United States by "providing a full spectrum of resources and services to the communities" being served. Originally established as the Task Force on Gay Liberation , part of ALA's Social Responsibilities Round Table (SRRT), the group was coordinated by Israel David Fishman in 1970, then by Barbara Gittings the following year. Among its earliest endeavors,

114-496: A Latin motto (perhaps "Fraternitas, Humanitas, Cognitioque"). A second Latin-letter fraternity at William & Mary, the P.D.A. Society, was publicly known as "Please Don't Ask". John Heath , chief organizer of the Phi Beta Kappa, according to tradition earlier sought but was refused admission to the P.D.A., though he may instead have disdained to join it (much later, his friend and fellow student William Short wrote that

171-618: A Masonic lodge also met at this tavern, but the Freemasons gathered at a different building in Williamsburg. (Some of the original members of Phi Beta Kappa did become Freemasons, but later in life). Whether the students organized to meet more freely and discuss non-academic topics, or to discuss politics in a Revolutionary society is unknown. The earliest records indicate only that the students met to debate and engage in oratory, and on topics that would have been not far removed from

228-432: A Phi Beta Kappa event. The topic of the lectures should be an important philosophical issue of current interest, and the lectures should offer contrasting (not necessarily opposing) views on that topic. Honoraria for the symposiasts are funded at an adjusted rate based on the current size of the endowment. Previous winners have won as much as $ 25,000 each. The Mary Isabel Sibley Fellowship is awarded annually, alternating in

285-759: A celebration of queer stories and authors, Rainbow Book Month was originally established in 1992 by the Publishing Triangle as National Lesbian and Gay Book Month . In 2015 the GLBTRT assumed oversight of the event, renamed GBLT Book Month . Efforts to increase the visibility of queer library materials include promoting the Rainbow Book and the Over the Rainbow Books lists, marketing on social media , and providing tools to library workers. In 2020

342-608: A more loosely coordinated lobbying association of four of the nation's oldest and most prestigious honor societies, called the Honor Society Caucus . Its members include Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi , Sigma Xi , and Omicron Delta Kappa . The symbol of the Phi Beta Kappa Society is a golden key engraved on the obverse with the image of a pointing finger, three stars, and the Greek letters from which

399-704: A quarterly subscription-based journal that accepts essays on literature, history, science, public affairs, and culture. The Phi Beta Kappa Book Awards are the Ralph Waldo Emerson Award , the Christian Gauss Award (named for Christian Gauss ), and the Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science . The Book Awards are given annually to outstanding scholarly books published in the United States. Winning works, which are drawn from

456-477: A stipend of $ 20,000. The Walter J. Jensen Fellowship for French Language, Literature, and Culture aims to help educators and researchers improve education in standard French language, literature, and culture and in the study of standard French in the United States. Established in 2001 by Professor Walter J. Jensen (ΦΒΚ, UCLA), the fellowship is awarded for at least six continuous months of study in France and carries

513-457: A stipend originally set in 1995 at $ 10,000, to be adjusted for inflation. The stipend for 2016 was $ 15,500. The Romanell-Phi Beta Kappa Professorship is awarded annually to scholars in the field of philosophy, without restriction to any one school of philosophical thought. The professorship recognizes not only distinguished achievement but also the recipient's contribution or potential contribution to public understanding of philosophy. Since 1956,

570-702: Is a mandatory initiation fee (between $ 50 and $ 95, as of 2005), which is sometimes covered by the inductee's university. Membership in Phi Beta Kappa is typically limited to students with very high grade point averages (GPAs), at least 3.8 out of a 4.0 scale. In 2001, a quorum of PBK alumni voted to raise the GPA cutoff: though all chapters set their standards for induction, they were now instructed to be much more selective in terms of GPA. Since its inception, 17 U.S. Presidents , 42 U.S. Supreme Court Justices, and more than 136 Nobel Laureates have been inducted members. Phi Beta Kappa has 293 chapters. Chapters are approved at

627-404: Is the best-known of those addresses, but there were dozens of others at schools such as Bowdoin, Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard, Union, and Yale. As the first collegiate organization of its type to adopt a Greek -letter name, the Phi Beta Kappa is generally considered a forerunner of modern college fraternities as well as the model for later collegiate honorary societies. Ironically, it was partly

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684-767: Is the guide of life”. Greek was chosen because it was the language of science in Roman times . Later, in May 1777, a new sign of recognition was devised: "A salutation of the clasp of the hands, together with an immediate stroke across the mouth with the back of the same hand, and a return with the hand used by the saluted". This new complex of gestures was created to allow the mutual recognition of members "in any foreign country or place." Further chapters appeared at Union College in 1817, Bowdoin College in 1825, and Brown University in 1830. The original chapter at William & Mary

741-737: Is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded at the College of William & Mary in Virginia, in December 1776. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, and to induct outstanding students of arts and sciences at select American colleges and universities. Since its inception, its inducted members include 17 United States presidents , 42 United States Supreme Court justices, and 136 Nobel laureates . The Phi Beta Kappa Society had its first meeting on December 5, 1776, at

798-575: The ACHS on December 30, 1925 . Its participation was short-lived, with the decision to withdraw and operate again as an independent society made just over a decade later, effective December 15, 1937 . In the 1960s, Vanderbilt University professor Donald Davidson claimed that Phi Beta Kappa was under the influence of Communists. In 1988, the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa officially changed its name to The Phi Beta Kappa Society , recalling

855-647: The American Philosophical Association . The associated Lebowitz Symposium is presented annually at a divisional meeting of the American Philosophical Association. The prize was established in 2013 by Eve Lewellis Lebowitz in honor of her late husband, Martin R. Lebowitz, to provide significant, tangible recognition for excellence in philosophical thought. The Symposium program consists of a pair of lectures to be delivered at an annual APA division meeting and

912-525: The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia by five students, with John Heath as its first President. The society established the precedent for naming American college societies after the initial letters of a secret Greek motto. The group consisted of students who frequented the Raleigh Tavern as a common meeting area off the college campus. A persistent story maintains that

969-681: The Gay Community Services Center , returning to New York in 1973 where he became licensed in Swedish massage . In 1989 he was photographed by Robert Giard for his series Particular Voices; the photograph is currently stored in the Yale University Library with Giard's papers. For some time, Fishman ran a mail order vitamin store in Brooklyn. In 1995, Fishman gave a speech at the 25th anniversary of

1026-638: The Radical Faerie Movement . Fishman was active in the Park Slope Food Cooperative , serving in various leadership positions, including President, between 1998 until his death in 2006. In 1974, Fishman met his longtime partner, Carl Navarro, at the West Side Discussion Group, a regular gathering of gay men. In 2006, they celebrated their 32nd anniversary. After Fishman participated in

1083-638: The Stonewall Book Award in 1971, recognizing titles of exceptional merit relating to LGBTQ+ life. The first award was given to Patience and Sarah by Isabel Miller . In 2008 the GLBTRT compiled the inaugural Rainbow Book List of recent titles for children and teens. The effort expanded in 2010 to a list of Over the Rainbow Books , annual bibliographies of titles of interest to LGBTQ+ adults. Both lists assist librarians selecting materials for their local collections. Observed annually in June as

1140-601: The Stonewall Book Award -Barbara Gittings Literature Award and the Stonewall Book Award-Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award. After Upsala College denied Fishman tenure in 1973, he went on 6 months of sick leave. Fishman credited his activism in the TFGL with the decline of his librarian career. Disillusioned by library science, he left the profession. Fishman briefly moved to Los Angeles , California to work and study at

1197-467: The 2001 documentary Trembling Before G-d , he was reunited with his family, including his elderly father with whom he had not spoken for decades. Fishman died on June 14, 2006. The ALA honored him with a resolution at their annual conference. A memorial service was held on October 22, 2006, at the Union Temple in Brooklyn. Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society ( ΦΒΚ )

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1254-474: The British attempt at reclamation of the sovereign American colonies, including Virginia, there was a temporary closure of the College of William & Mary and disbandment of Phi Beta Kappa in early 1781. Elisha Parmelee, an alumnus of Yale College and Harvard College , passed through Williamsburg and took charters from the Phi Beta Kappa to establish branches of the society at these schools. A second chapter

1311-485: The P.D.A. "had lost all reputation for letters, and was noted only for the dissipation & conviviality of its members"). The new society was intended to be "purely of domestic manufacture, without any connection whatever with anything European, either English or German." The founders of Phi Beta Kappa declared that the society was formed for congeniality and to promote good fellowship, with "friendship as its basis and benevolence and literature as its pillars." Before

1368-695: The Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Program has offered undergraduates the opportunity to spend time with some of America's most distinguished scholars. The purpose of the program is to contribute to the intellectual life of the campus by making possible an exchange of ideas between the Visiting Scholars and the resident faculty and students. Phi Beta Kappa also sponsors a National Arts & Sciences Initiative, which taps into its cross-country network of members, chapters, and associations to connect with leaders, shares

1425-780: The TFGL's Gay Book Award had become an official award bestowed by the ALA and had been renamed multiple times. That year, it became the Stonewall Book Award-Barbara Gittings Literature Award and the Stonewall Book Award-Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award. Between 1995 and 2004, Fishman sent a collection of his papers to the New York Public Library , including documentation from TFGL and correspondence with people such as Susan Saxe , Robert Austin Sullivan , and members of

1482-693: The TFGL, at that time called the Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Task Force (GLBTF). He stated that the task force has "helped us to use our libraries for the liberation of our brothers and sisters." The speech was included as the essay "How the GLBTF Got Started" in the 1997 anthology Liberating Minds: The Stories and Professional Lives of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Librarians and Their Advocates . The 1998 anthology Daring to Find Our Names: The Search for Lesbigay Library History includes an essay by Fishman called "Founding Father", recounting his experiences in

1539-519: The TFGL. The TFGL took several actions at the 1971 ALA annual meeting in Dallas. At this time, anti-LGBTQ discrimination was widespread in the librarian profession. After librarian Michael McConnell 's job offer at the University of Minnesota was rescinded due to his sexual orientation, Fishman asked the ALA to voice their opposition. The ALA declined to support McConnell, so the TFGL disrupted

1596-527: The TFGL. The volume also includes essays by Gittings and another librarian named Janet Cooper. One reviewer said that the three essays "are unusual in their openness, sharing their wounds which still seem fresh but not festering". Fishman was featured in the 2001 documentary Trembling Before G-d , a film about the experiences of LGBTQ Orthodox Jews. The documentary shows him calling his estranged father and organizing "Big Knish" tours through his former neighborhood in Williamsburg , Brooklyn. By 2002,

1653-519: The Task Force campaigned for changes to the classification of library materials regarding the gay liberation movement . In the case of the Library of Congress Classification , materials had been designated to the scheme (HQ 71) for "Abnormal Sexual Relations, Including Sexual Crimes"; but after receiving the request from the Task Force, the Library of Congress in 1972 reclassified such books into

1710-548: The annual meeting with zap actions. Fishman also introduced an LGBTQ nondiscrimination resolution at the Dallas meeting; an edited version was approved. Additionally, the TFGL held a ceremony at the 1971 ALA meeting to bestow the first Gay Book Award; only 9 people attended. It became increasingly prestigious over the next 15 years, until the ALA officially started bestowing the Gay Book Award in 1986. The award has been renamed multiple times until 2002 when it became

1767-419: The chapter at Dickinson College , founded in 1887; Beta of Pennsylvania, the chapter at Lehigh University (founded later that same year); Gamma of Pennsylvania, the chapter at Lafayette College (1890); and Delta of Pennsylvania, the chapter at the University of Pennsylvania (1892). By 1920, a total of 89 chapters existed at a variety of schools. Phi Beta Kappa was one of six honor societies that co-founded

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1824-563: The class. Some chapters also elect graduate students graduating with Master's or Doctoral degrees who have exceptional academic records. Each chapter sets its academic standards, but all inductees must have studied the liberal arts and sciences, demonstrated "good moral character", and, usually, earned grades placing them in the top tenth of their class. However, at least one school, Princeton University , includes Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) students in Phi Beta Kappa. There

1881-617: The curriculum. In the Phi Beta Kappa Initiation of 1779, the new member was informed, Older fraternal societies existed at College of William & Mary . The F.H.C. Society (nicknamed "the Flat Hat Club "), founded in 1750, is the first collegiate secret society recorded in North America; unlike the newer Phi Beta Kappa, the F.H.C. was a Latin-letter society, its name taken from the initial letters of

1938-486: The date that a particular fob or key was awarded, when in fact it is merely the date of the founding of the society). Only in 1912 was the key made to a uniform standard of size, golden appearance (some are plated), and engraving with the school's name, recipient's name, and date of the award. The Phi Beta Kappa Society publishes The Key Reporter , a newsletter distributed quarterly to all contributing members and biannually to all other members, and The American Scholar ,

1995-501: The editorial decision. Christine Williams, who wrote an essay about the controversy surrounding the cover, concluded that in the mid-90s, the library world was "not an especially welcoming place to gays and lesbians." The group became the Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Task Force (GLBTF) in 1995, then the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table (GLBTRT) in 1999, a name change that endured for twenty years. The Task Force established

2052-721: The fact that somebody is orthodox and queer at the same time. Can't be! In order to match my sanity and my selfhood I had to leave. I had to rebel. I had to throw everything away." — Israel David Fishman Fishman was the Head of Technical Services at the Jewish Theological Seminary library and then Acquisitions Librarian at Richmond College . In 1970 Fishman became the Circulation Librarian at Upsala College in East Orange, New Jersey and

2109-532: The fields of Greek and French. The award may be used for the study of Greek language, literature, history, or archaeology, or the study of French language or literature. Established in 1934 by Isabelle Stone (ΦΒΚ, Wellesley College) in honor of her mother, Mary Isabel Sibley, the fellowship was designed to reward the women in these two fields of study with the experience of studying and living abroad, which Miss Stone did in Greece during her studies. The fellowship carries

2166-433: The fields of the humanities, the social sciences, the natural sciences, and mathematics, must be of broad interest and accessible to the general reader. Each award carries a $ 10,000 prize. The winners were selected from five short-listed titles in each category. The Dr. Martin R. Lebowitz and Eve Lewellis Lebowitz Prize for Philosophical Achievement and Contribution is awarded by the Phi Beta Kappa Society in conjunction with

2223-432: The first African-American member, George Washington Henderson , was elected at the same institution two years later. In 1885, however, Phi Beta Kappa eliminated those majoring in engineering from eligibility. This practice continues today. Each chapter is designated by its state and a Greek letter indicating its position in the order in which that state's chapters were founded. For example, Alpha of Pennsylvania refers to

2280-549: The manner in which the older fraternities (and the Masonic bodies on which the collegiate societies were in part patterned) wore their insignia. Later, the size of the medallion was reduced and men took to wearing the insignia on their watch chains as fobs. Though several stylistic details have survived since the earliest days—the use of the stars, pointing hand, and Greek letters on the obverse, for example—notable differences exist between older keys and current examples. The name of

2337-418: The members, who have been initiated into the S.P. alias Phi Beta Kappa Society." The "key" of Phi Beta Kappa did not begin as a copy of a watch key. The first insignia was a larger, cut-and-engraved silver medallion, essentially a square of metal with a loop cut integrally with the body of the square from the same sheet of silver, to allow for suspension from one or two ribbons worn around the member's neck in

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2394-537: The month-long observance became Rainbow Book Month. Israel David Fishman Israel David Fishman (February 21, 1938 – June 14, 2006) founded the Task Force on Gay Liberation in 1970. In 2002, the American Library Association named the Stonewall Book Award -Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award after him. Israel David Fishman was born on February 21, 1938, in Westerly, Rhode Island ,

2451-553: The name under which the organization had been established in 1776. In 1996, Emily Bernstein of The New York Times reported declining rates of Phi Beta Kappa membership acceptances at the University of Connecticut due to a decrease in social prestige. Citing an article by The Key Reporter , Bernstein claims that this is due in part to increasing numbers of 'first-generation college students, students who do not consult their parents on such matters, and students who have gone to public schools, all of whom are less likely to have heard of

2508-551: The nation's 100 black colleges and universities are members of Phi Beta Kappa " due to a rule that 10 faculty members at a university must be existing members, for which Black faculty would be socially disadvantaged due to a historic lack of admittance into relevant universities. Additionally, they created a list of "Predominantly White But Second- or Third-Tier Colleges and Universities That Have Been Awarded Phi Beta Kappa Chapters," which included Allegheny College and Millsaps College . Today, Phi Beta Kappa participates in

2565-462: The newly created scheme (HQ 76.5) for "Homosexuality, Lesbianism—Gay Liberation Movement, Homophile Movement ". The group became the Gay and Lesbian Task Force (GLTF) in 1986. American Libraries featured the group on the cover of its July/August 1992 issue, drawing both criticism and praise from the library world. Some critiqued the cover as being "in poor taste" and accused the magazine of "glorifying homosexuality", while others voiced support of

2622-429: The obverse has also changed over the years, with never fewer than three, but on some known examples with as many as a dozen (the explanation as to the meaning of the stars in these early cases varies from chapter to chapter). Also, the date of the awarding of the honor is only seen on keys from the second quarter of the nineteenth century onward (some people mistake the date that appears on the fob or key—December 5, 1776—as

2679-410: The recipient was not engraved on the earliest fobs or keys and was not until the first decade of the nineteenth century. The name of the school from which the fob or key came was also not routinely included on the earliest models, and sometimes the only way to trace a key to a particular school's chapter is by researching the name of the recipient against surviving class records. The number of stars on

2736-461: The rise of true "social" fraternities modeled after Phi Beta Kappa later in the nineteenth century which obviated the social aspects of membership in the organization, transforming it into the honorary society it is today. By 1883, when the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa were established, there were 25 chapters. The first women were elected to the Society at the University of Vermont in 1875, and

2793-444: The society takes its name. On the reverse are found the initials "SP" in the script. One official historian of the society, William T. Hastings, and some others believe that the "S" and "P", which stood for Societas Philosophiae , "Philosophical Society", were the original name of the Society and that "Phi Beta Kappa" came only over time to be taken as the name of the society. The heading on the original list of members states, "A List of

2850-569: The society. Earlier, in 1970, Robert Reinhold similarly reported for The New York Times that recipient students at the University of California at Berkeley expressed a mix of distaste and shame about the degree. Other members expressed a lack of satisfaction with the society for its significance. A 1997 article from The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education critiqued the society for under-representation at historically black colleges and universities . The authors wrote that "Only 3 of

2907-460: The son of Minnie C. and Benjamin Fishman. They were Orthodox Jews . His father was an ordained rabbi, although he never practiced as a clergyman. In September 1946, at 8 years old, Fishman entered Yeshiva Torah Vodaath in Williamsburg, New York . At 15 years old he was hospitalized and given electric shock therapy in an attempt to change his sexual orientation . He left Orthodox Judaism and

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2964-479: The value of the arts and sciences through all of life, and advocate for policies that strengthen an arts and sciences education. Phi Beta Kappa has chapters in only about 10% of American higher learning institutions, and only about 10% of these schools' Arts and Sciences graduates are invited to join. Although most students are elected in their senior year, many colleges elect a limited number of extremely select students in their junior year, generally less than 2% of

3021-491: Was a "shift in my consciousness— that I would no longer be afraid —that led me to bring about the birth of this Task Force, this miracle, this incredible tool/weapon for social change and liberation”. The task force's aims included: "the creation of bibliographies, revision of library classification schemes and subject headings, building and improving access to collections, and fighting job discrimination." The following year, Barbara Gittings succeeded Fishman in leadership of

3078-548: Was also an Assistant Professor. In 1970, Fishman attended the American Library Association (ALA) meeting in Detroit and conceived the idea of a gay liberation group within the library profession. He subsequently founded the Task Force on Gay Liberation (TFGL), a section of the Social Responsibilities Round Table and the world's first gay professional association. He later wrote that it

3135-670: Was estranged from his family for decades due to his sexual orientation. Between 1956 and 1965 Fishman worked as office assistant. In 1958, he enrolled in the City College of New York , first as an evening student, and then enrolling full-time. He graduated with a B.A. degree, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa , in Philosophy in 1965. In May 1966, he completed a Master of Library Science at Columbia University 's School of Library Science. "How can you be queer and Jewish orthodox? I have studied too much Talmud to be able to accept

3192-456: Was founded at Yale College in late 1780; a third, at Harvard College in 1781; and a fourth, at Dartmouth College in 1787. Phi Beta Kappa was a secret society to protect its members and to instil a sense of solidarity. The new society was given the motto, Φιλοσοφία Βίου Κυβερνήτη or in Latin letters Philosophia Biou Kybernētēs , which loosely translated to English means "Love of learning

3249-611: Was re-established. In 1831, the Harvard chapter publicly disclosed the fraternity's secrets during a period of strong anti- Masonic sentiment. The first chapter established after Phi Beta Kappa became an "open" society was that at Trinity College in Connecticut, in 1845. University of Alabama established in 1851. In the pre-Civil War period, Society chapters frequently sponsored addresses by distinguished speakers. Ralph Waldo Emerson 's 1837 address at Harvard, "The American Scholar",

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