In a ceremony at the College president's house last night, the 20 seniors with the highest grade point averages were inducted into Dartmouth's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, a national honor society.
Phi Beta Kappa -- which has awarded America's top college students for over 200 years -- invites the top 10 percent of each graduating class to be members, but sends early invitations to students who are ranked in the top 20 at the end of their junior year.
The grade point average of the top 10 percent of the class from the three previous years determines the cut-off GPA for Phi Beta Kappa every year. For the Class of 1998, the required GPA has been set at 3.74.
Included among the academic elite are seniors Mary Brown, Robyn Brown, Lazar Dimitrov, Tiffany Downing, David Ellingrud, Danielle Flanders, Marni Fox, Kirsten Henschel, Emily Hodgson, James Horowitz, David Hung, Vishesh Khemani, Dominic Lanza, Erica McAuliffe, Michael Ross, Tina Rutar, Andrea Stern, Alison Vaughan, Adam Weinstein and Keith Zorn.
Rutar, a biology major, said Phi Beta Kappa never was a specific goal and she always took Dartmouth one class at a time.
Rutar said she was amazed over her early induction.
"I think it's pretty incredible because while I've been at Dartmouth, I've met a lot of super-motivated, amazing people and freshman year I didn't consider myself someone who could compete with that group of people," she said.
McAuliffe, also a biology major, said she was honored to be inducted into the society.
"I was actually sort of surprised that I was in the top 20 of my class," she said. "Everyone is so talented."
Although he said he was not surprised by the invitation this fall, Dimitrov said, "I take courses I'm interested in and learn as much as possible, and I'm gratified to have good grades." Dimitrov is an economics and mathematics double major.
Brown, a comparative literature major, was not expecting the invitation and was thrilled by the honor.
For Brown, in terms of academics, Dartmouth has been extremely rewarding and satisfying. "Dartmouth made me think in a whole new way," she said.
Hung, an economics major, saw Phi Beta Kappa as a goal in the spring of 1997.
"I just hoped if I did really well in the spring, I would have a shot at it," Hung said.
Hung said although he was "definitely happy, I wasn't blown away or anything. I wouldn't have been devastated if I hadn't gotten it."
The remainder of the Class of 1998 will have to wait until the end of Winter term before they know whether they are eligible for society membership. Students whose cumulative GPA meets the minimum requirement after Spring term will be inducted into the society at that time.
