Skip To Content
Phi Beta Kappa

Phi Beta Kappa at Spelman

Spelman College Phi Beta Kappa Chapter

Epsilon of Georgia

"Philosophy (wisdom) is the Guide of Life."

Epsilon of Georgia is the Spelman College chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

Efforts to establish a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa at Spelman College began with a preliminary application in 1976 followed by preliminary applications in 1985 and 1994. The 1994 preliminary application was approved and full application was made on September 28, 1995 by the Phi Beta Kappa Group.

After a rigorous application process, which included the submission of a 157-page General Report and a three-day site visit, Spelman was granted a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa on September 27, 1997 at the Thirty-Eighth Triennial Meeting of the Phi Beta Kappa Council in Chicago. The chapter, Epsilon of Georgia, was installed on February 10, 1998 by David Levering Lewis, Ph.D., Martin Luther King, Jr. University Professor of History, Rutgers University.

Phi Beta Kappa Comes to Spelman

Lewis remarked, "I should like to believe that Phi Beta Kappa's coming to Spelman is fatefully symbolic and represents a milestone in the progress of the life of the mind and of the 'love of learning' (Phi Beta Kappa's motto, indeed) among that half of humanity to whom the nation must turn increasingly for the mediation and attenuation of that patriarchal, racist, sexist and aggressive past that it so urgently needs to escape."

The chapter's first initiation ceremony was held April 28, 1998, to induct its first group of 44 undergraduate members. Since then, more than 500 members have been inducted into the Epsilon of Georgia chapter.

Phi Beta Kappa History   |   Membership Criteria

Phi Beta Kappa 2022 Initiates

Meyah Barnes
Nailah Barnes
Jordan J. Barrant
Erica Bellamy
Alexis Brooks
Blanca Burch
Alexandria R. Chargois
Chayla Cherry
Ashli Chicks
Mckenzie E. Clarke
Ambria Coakley
Stephanie Crawford
Audra Davison
Taylor Dews
Jamila Eatman
Alana M. Edmond

Gabrielle Evans
McKenzie Gillison
Lauren Godwin
Abigail C. Gordon
Ananda I. Griffin
Grace Hall
Maya Hill
Ashley Hodo
Darshai D. Hollie
Kiara Huff
Maya Hill
Ashley Hodo
Darshai D. Hollie
Kiara Huff
Jittian Jackson
Kelsea D. Jackson
Christina J. James
Deborah Jeffries
Jasming Jones
Quintera Knight
Phalyn LaBranche
Ayannah Lang
Kiara Lewis
Chloe M. Merriweather
Sadica Murphy
IsoRe Nelson
Coriyanna Osbourne-Willis
Ayiana Robinson
Rachel Ruffin
Diop Russell

 
Princess Sampson
Lauryn L. Sanders
Maya L. Sautsbury
India A. Simmons
Joya Sims
Bradteigh Smith
Kiara C. Starling
Taylor Talley
Kirin H. Turner
Alexandria N. Warner
Ming J. Washington
Asja Woodard

Faculty Initiates 

Michelle Hite, Ph.D.
Na'Taki Osborne Jelks, Ph.D. MPH, C'95

Previous Induction Ceremonies

Members

Charter Members

  • Estelle Archibold (Finley)
  • Sylvia Bozeman
  • Michael Burns-Kaurin
  • Barbara Carter
  • Alonzo Crim
  • Bryan Derrickson
  • Etta Falconer
  • Beverly Guy-Sheftall
  • Donna Akiba Harper
  • Derrick Hylton
  • Nancy Mukundan
  • Anne Warner
  • Daryl White

Foundation Members

  • Pamela Gunter-Smith
  • Harry Lefever
  • Arturo Lindsay
  • Audrey Forbes Manley
  • Paul Roy Martinez
  • Gloria Wade-Gayles

Alumnae Members

  • Marian Wright Edelman
  • Evelynn Hammonds
  • Sylvia Lewis Hylton
  • Selena Harper McLaurin
  • Mona Taylor Phillips
  • Jann Primus
  • Cynthia Neal Spence
  • Pamela Stegall

Honorary Members

  • Mary Schmidt Campbell
  • Peter Chen
  • M. Bahati Kuumba
  • Christine Sizemore
  • Beverly Daniel Tatum
  • Erica L. Williams