KINGSTON, R.I. – Dec. 12, 2023 – The Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society was founded in 1897 and is one of the most renowned multidisciplinary honor societies in American higher education. More than 100 years after the URI chapter of Phi Kappa Phi was established in 1913, the University of Rhode Island branch has been inducted into the Circle of Excellence, and has received the Gold Honor award.

In April 2023, the URI chapter inducted 32 students into its collective, an honor only extended to those hard-working scholars who rank in the top 7.5 to 10% of their graduating class.

Dr. Bahram Nassersharif, the president of URI’s chapter and a life member of the Phi Kappa Phi honor society since his senior year at Oregon State University, describes the recent recognition of the group as “deeply gratifying.”

In 2013, the chapter went dormant after the retirement of then-President Barbara Newman. In 2022, Nassersharif, a mechanical engineering professor, took the reins and revived the group from its decade-long hiatus. “The national organization was ready to basically end our chapter because of lack of activity,” he says.

According to Nassersharif, the national board of Phi Kappa Phi gives chapters a period of six or seven years of inactivity before they take action to disband them. In 2019, the URI chapter received a letter informing them that “if we did not take any corrective action, we would automatically be delisted as a chapter,” says Nassersharif.

The deadline for corrective action to be taken was May 1, 2022, and the induction ceremony was held on April 30 of that year. Nassersharif and the 75 upperclassmen and graduate student inductees saved their chapter by just a hair, and made possible the induction of 63 more students into Phi Kappa Phi the year after.

“My decision to spearhead the chapter’s revival stemmed from a deep-seated conviction in the value of academic honor societies like Phi Kappa Phi,” says Nassersharif. “I felt it was imperative to ensure that this esteemed chapter did not fade into obscurity.”

After being selected by Provost Barbara Wolfe to reinvigorate Phi Kappa Phi, Nassersharif was charged with appointing faculty officers. The vice president of URI’s chapter is Megan Echevarría, a professor of Spanish and film studies. The chapter secretary is professor of philosophy Doug Reed, who was initially inducted into Phi Kappa Phi when he was in attendance at URI himself in 2004.

According to Nassersharif, Provost Barbara Wolfe and University President Marc Parlange have been extremely helpful in the revitalization of Phi Kappa Phi at URI.

The Circle of Excellence was created in 2018 and since its inception, has expanded to include 325 campuses across the U.S. and territories in the Philippines. As of this year, 74 chapters of Phi Kappa Phi have been recognized through their induction into the Circle of Excellence, but only 33 of the selected chapters were also issued the Gold Honor Award.

The induction of the chapter into the Circle of Excellence, with a Gold Honor Distinction, will be specially recognized on Phi Kappa Phi’s website. In honor of its matriculation to a higher echelon of academic excellence, the URI chapter of Phi Kappa Phi will have a personalized logo designed for them to be used in chapter communications.

Additionally, chapter officers and campus administration will receive a commendation letter from the collegiate honor society itself that expresses how the URI chapter goes above and beyond.

Recipient chapters of the Gold Honor are selected based on how they score on an evaluative assessment that is intended to measure the degree to which a chapter abides by the society bylaws, holds annual initiations, maintains regular attendance at chapter training events, and continually submits a nominee for the Phi Kappa Phi’s fellowship program, standards that are recognized by the national body as indicators of the chapter’s overall health and organization.

Only those chapters who score between 95 to 99% on this evaluation are eligible to receive the Gold Honor Award and must already be a part of the Circle of Excellence.

According to Nassersharif, “There are many other honor societies at URI, but none of this caliber.”

This story was written by Samantha Melia, a senior journalism and political science major at the University of Rhode Island and an intern in the Department of Marketing and Communications.