Randolph announces 2019 Phi Beta Kappa inductees

Eleven members of the Class of 2019 have been inducted into the Randolph College chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honor society.

The inductees were:

Marie Michele Abowd

Elisabeth Jane Ayars

Austin Thomas Collier

Michaela Abriel Hockenberry

Rebecca Elizabeth Lesnak

Madeleine Bridget Peters

Kaitlyn Michelle Reep

Mekenzie Lynn Schmitt

Blayne Kayleigh Stine

Mengjin Sun

Arnav Upadhyay

In 1916, Randolph-Macon Woman’s College received the first Phi Beta Kappa charter granted to an independent woman’s college in the South, and the Delta Chapter of Virginia was officially installed the following year.

Founded on December 5, 1776, The Phi Beta Kappa Society is the nation’s most prestigious academic honor society. It has chapters at 286 colleges and universities in the United States, 50 alumni associations, and more than half a million members worldwide. Noteworthy members include 17 U.S. presidents, 39 justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, and more than 130 Nobel Laureates. The mission of The Phi Beta Kappa Society is to champion education in the liberal arts and sciences, foster freedom of thought, and recognize academic excellence.