Pi Delta Phi

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Pi Delta Phi is the French National Honor Society for undergraduate and graduate students at accredited public and private colleges and universities in the United States. The society was admitted to membership in the Association of College Honor Societies in 1967.

Pi Delta Phi was founded as a departmental honor society for French at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1906. After twenty years as a local chapter, Pi Delta Phi declared itself the National French Honor Society and chartered the Beta Chapter at the University of Southern California in 1925, and the Gamma Chapter at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1926.

The society expanded slowly during the next fifteen years, but enjoyed renewed interest and growth during the 1940s and 1950s . It currently numbers more than 330 chapters established at representative public and private colleges and universities in almost every state, as well as chapters in Paris and Aix-en-Provence.

1 Purpose
2 Organization
3 Membership
4 Chapters
5 External links
6 See also
7 References

[edit] Purpose

As stated in the by-laws, the purpose of the Society is:

(1) to recognize outstanding scholarship in the French language and its literatures,

(2) to increase the knowledge and appreciation of Americans for the cultural contributions of the French-speaking world, and

(3) to stimulate and to encourage French and francophone cultural activities.

[edit] Organization

The Society's Executive Board, comprised of elected regional Vice-Presidents, is chaired by an elected President who appoints the Executive Director and Newsletter Editor. All Board positions are volunteer. The official publication of Pi Delta Phi is the Newsletter.

[edit] Membership

Regular members include graduate and undergraduate students who are nominated in recognition of their academic achievement in at least one semester or quarter of upper division French, with a minimum GPA of 3.00 in French and rank in the top 35% of their class. Graduate students who are candidates for an advanced degree in French are eligible for regular membership.

Honorary members include: the French faculty of the sponsoring institution; members of the faculty at large; and diplomats, community and business leaders who have demonstrated a strong support of French language, culture and Francophone literatures.