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While many are shocked and surprised when they receive a Phi Beta Kappa Society induction email, Trevor G. DePodesta ’25 thought the announcement was a scam.

“I had to call the Office of Undergraduate Education to make sure it was a legitimate email before I clicked the links and opened it,” DePodesta, who studies Ethical Human-AI Interaction, said.

“Embarrassingly, the first thing I did is Google ‘What is Phi Beta Kappa,’” DePodesta added. “I spent the time doing a quick scroll of the website and understanding what I had just been invited to.”

DePodesta is one of the 130 students inducted into the Harvard College chapter of PBK, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honor society. The “Final Seniors” elected on Friday join 72 of their classmates who were inducted over the past year. The announcement comes less than one week before the Class of 2025 is set to graduate.

Talia G. Levitt ’25 was at work on her medical school applications on the 10th floor of Smith Campus Center when she suddenly got an email notifying her of her induction. While she said she was “not expecting” to be invited, she felt “honored” by the induction.

“I was very excited. I was very surprised,” Levitt said.

Levitt, a Chemistry concentrator with a secondary in Global Health and Health Policy, said her studies have allowed her to take “a really wide variety of courses.”

For Chelsea Wang ’25, a double concentrator in History and Economics, her first instinct after receiving the email was calling her friend, who is a member of the Senior 48.

“I was kind of surprised,” Wang said. “The first thing I did was call my friend who — one of my best friends — was a member of the Senior 48, and so she was the first person I called to tell her about it.”

“I’m very grateful and kind of shocked,” Wang added.

Nahla C. Owens ’25 said she was “super surprised” to receive the email as she was relaxing with her friend after finals, adding she feels “very honored” to be included in the society.

“Everyone here is so brilliant and amazing,” she added. “To be honored alongside them was just super cool, and I’m very grateful.”

Owens is a Social Studies concentrator with a secondary in Mind, Brain, and Behavior. Still, she said that her “primary focus has been leadership and decision-making studies.”

For Jarell Cheong Tze Wen ’25, a Mathematics concentrator, induction into PBK has been something that he’s “waited for quite a while now.”

Cheong Tze Wen applied for the Junior 24 election, when students were required to submit applications for the Junior 24 and Senior 48 cohorts. Harvard’s PBK chapter eliminated applications for the 2024-25 academic year in a pilot program to make the process more fair.

“It was a little sad when I didn’t get in that time. But it’s good that — slightly more than a year from then — things finally worked out,” Cheong Tze Wen said.

Min K. Ko Ko ’25 was riding the T when he received the email, and he said his “celebration was a little muted” by the mundane surroundings.

“But I was really happy, and I immediately reached out to friends and my partner,” he added. “It was a good moment.”

Ko Ko is a Social Studies concentrator with a secondary in Astrophysics. He said that during his time at Harvard he “really dabbled in a lot of different departments.”

Anais D. Colin ’25, a Neuroscience concentrator had just welcomed her mom for the upcoming graduation festivities when she found out.

“I just turned around to her, I was like ‘Oh my gosh, I’m Phi Beta Kappa,’” Colin said.

“I think I just felt very excited and very grateful,” she added. “It feels obviously awesome to be celebrated for accomplishments throughout college.”

—Staff writer Chantel A. De Jesus can be reached at chantel.dejesus@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @c_a_dejesus.