The following sketch of the history and ideals of Phi Beta Kappa, and the requirements for election to it, is printed annually in the CRIMSON for the benefit of undergraduates, especially Freshmen.

Founded at William and Mary College, in 1776, the Phi Beta Kappa Society is the oldest Greek letter fraternity in America. The Harvard chapter is the first of Massachusetts and was established in 1779. Among the noted members of this chapter have been Ralph Waldo Emerson 1821, James Russell Lowell '38, Charles W. Eliot '53, Le Baron Russell Briggs '75, Abbott Lawrence Lowell '77, and Theodore Roosevelt '80.

Chance for Scholars to Meet

The underlying purpose of the society is to gather together those men in each class who lead in scholastic attainments, and also by the example and activity of this group of scholars to raise the intellectual tone of the whole undergraduate body. The criterion of election is always the candidate's scholarship, the ascertainment of which has come to be undertaken in accordance with a definitely formulated elective system.

Under the present system about forty men are chosen from each class. The olive ecology consists of the eight Seniors elected as the "Junior Eight" in the previous year. At the beginning of each year the college office sends to this group the names of the 12 highest Juniors and the 44 highest Seniors, exclusive of those already members; from these names eight Juniors and 22 Seniors are chosen. Thus, during the year, the society is composed of 30 men from the Senior class and eight, the so-called "Junior Eight", from the Junior class. Later in the year five more Seniors may be elected; these men are those whose records for the first part of their college career may have been marred by sickness or other good causes not affecting their good character, but who have done such excellent work that their fitness for membership cannot be questioned. At the close of the Senior year the society may choose not more than five additional men who have been successful in the award of prizes and academic distinctions, and whose worth is attested to by the professors under whom they have studied.

Standard Varies with Classes

By reason of its obviously competitive basis, the standard necessarily varies a little with the different classes; but a man who makes first group once, or second group two or three times is usually eligible for membership. He must of course be a candidate for the bachelor's degree, either A.B. or S. B.

The element of choice left to the society after the college office has handed in its list, permits recognition to be accorded to the number of courses taken by a candidate, their comparative difficulty, and the progress along a general plan made by a candidate.

There have been frequent misunderstandings in the past as to what principles the society follows in considering each candidate's fitness. The chief exercise of the society's right of selection is the effort to standardize the sets of grades under consideration, and in every possible way to eliminate all unfairness arising from a merely quantitative estimate of marks.

Intellectual achievement in outside activities is always given due weight, although the danger of personal bias makes this evidence less reliable. But a student's activity in extra-curriculum pursuits is not regarded as making up for deficiencies in his scholarship rating at the Office.