Class of 2026 Inductees Welcomed to Phi Kappa Phi (03/16/26)

HIGHLIGHTS

• These honorees are among about 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year. Only the top 10 percent of seniors and 7.5 percent of juniors, having at least 72 semester hours, are eligible for membership.
• The society is the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. The keynote speaker for the event was Jeremy Mims, associate professor of music and director of choral activities.

ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA - Winthrop University's chapter of Phi Kappa Phi inducted new undergraduates, graduate students and faculty members during a March 12 ceremony in Vivian Moore Carroll Hall's Whitton Auditorium.

The society is the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. The keynote speaker for the event was Jeremy Mims, associate professor of music and director of choral activities.

New members from the junior and senior class who accepted the invitation to join were: Iuma Becht, Levi Becht, Jayden Blackmon, William Broome, Kit Crosby, Judith Diaz, Trevor Faile, Noah Goins, Danielle Hanley, Mercedez Hernandez, Ja'Niyah Heyward, Cindy Hinds, Norah Kay, Maira Khan, Ellen Mitchell, Camden Rine, Kevin Taylor, Summer Thomasson and Sydney Yarema.

Graduate students inducted were: Salvador Alvarez, Amber Gould, Rosie Hopkins-Campbell, Alana Jensen, Eric Johnson, Adreanna LeMasters, Anna Pagett, Brandy Pugh, Kelly Stefanski, Rachel Tafoya, Kiana Todman and Silvia Wozniak.

Each dean selected one faculty member to honor, and the chapter honored Nick Grossoehme, dean of the Honors College.

The deans' selections were: Jeremy Lopuch, Richard W. Riley College of Education, Sport, and Human Sciences; Kelly Ozust, College of Visual and Performing Arts; Kent Miller, College of Business and Technology; and Adam Glover, College of Arts and Sciences.

These honorees are among about 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year. Membership is by invitation and requires nomination and approval by a chapter. Only the top 10 percent of seniors and 7.5 percent of juniors, having at least 72 semester hours, are eligible for membership.

Graduate students in the top 10 percent of the number of candidates for graduate degrees may also qualify, as do faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction.

Phi Kappa Phi previously was housed in the Provost's Office but now will be in the Honors College.

Founded in 1897 at the University of Maine and headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Phi Kappa Phi has chapters on more than 300 college and university campuses in North America and the Philippines. Winthrop is one of only six chapters in South Carolina, along with Clemson, The Citadel, College of Charleston, Francis Marion and USC-Upstate.

The organization's mission is: "To recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others."

For more information, contact Maria Linn, director of institutional research and a member of the chapter's executive board, at [email protected].