KU chapter of Phi Beta Kappa announces 2020, 2021 initiates

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas Alpha chapter of Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society recently inducted 153 new members in a joint ceremony for 2020 and 2021.

David Slusky, president of KU’s Phi Beta Kappa chapter and associate professor of economics, presided at the virtual ceremony in May. The national secretary and CEO of Phi Beta Kappa, Frederick Lawrence, was a guest speaker. Jennifer Harrison, vice president of the chapter and director of the Business Leadership Program and the Jack Dicus Business Honors Program; Dietrich Earnhart, professor of economics and chapter historian, and Anne Wallen, secretary-treasurer and director of the Office of Fellowships, welcomed and congratulated the new initiates. Students received certificates and signed the register by appointment to allow for social distancing.

Sarah Crawford-Parker, director of the University Honors Program, was inducted as an honorary member of the chapter and gave an address on the value of the liberal arts and sciences.

Sam Steuart, a 2020 graduate and 2019 inductee, and Laura Phillips, a 2021 graduate and 2020 inductee, gave the student responses on the Phi Beta Kappa value of friendship.

Election to Phi Beta Kappa recognizes a student’s high academic achievement while pursuing a broad and substantive liberal arts curriculum. To be eligible for consideration for membership, students must be graduating seniors with a minimum grade-point average of 3.65 on a 4.0 scale, or be juniors with a minimum 3.9. Anonymous transcripts of candidates are reviewed holistically by a committee of Phi Beta Kappa faculty and staff members. For 2020, 47 seniors and 20 juniors were initiated. For 2021, 58 seniors and 28 juniors were initiated.

Elected members are listed below:

Seniors 2021:

• Hailey Amro, Clive, Iowa
• Karla Arana Vasquez, Pittsburg
• Ilexa Axelrod, Overland Park
• Ashleigh Bickford, Excelsior Springs, Missouri
• Taelyr Blehm, Russell
• Jessica Blom, Lenexa
• Andrew Brabant, Whispering Pines, North Carolina
• Rebecca Brodine, Overland Park
• Casey Butler, Norman, Oklahoma
• Abigail Byrd, Olathe
• Jaya Chakka, Collinsville, Oklahoma
• Nyla Chaudhry, Lawrence
• Emily Curl, Ulysses
• Claire Davis, Kansas City, Missouri
• Uma Desai, Overland Park
• Ashley Devore, Ulysses
• Emily Doffing, Wichita
• Arianna Fallahian, Overland Park
• Mira Felzien, St. Peters, Missouri
• Zach Fesen, Hutchinson
• Yoshiaki Fujita, Urayasu, Chiba, Japan
• Sarah Glaser, Eagan, Minnesota
• Gabriela Guerrero, Lawrence
• Grace Hermes, Bucyrus
• Cheyenne Hillman, Wichita
• Leslie Hoey, Labadie, Missouri
• Faith Hofaker, Logan
• Brittany Huang, Demarest, New Jersey
• Noah Johnson, Humboldt
• Catherine Johnston, Overland Park
• Daegan Kingery, Overland Park
• Hayley Koontz, Benton
• Ryan Lane, Highlands Ranch, Colorado
• Ye Joo Lee, Halstead
• Frank Lin, Kansas City, Missouri
• Sarra Ann Mahoney, Meriden
• Laura Malagon-Palacios, Garden City
• Natalie Martens, Shawnee
• Naomi Mendoza, Olathe
• Jen Meysing, Canton
• Sarah Milgrim, Prairie Village
• Carmen Miller, Lamar, Missouri
• Mary Mylar, Salina
• Kara Neely, Olathe
• Amu Nuney, Overland Park
• Sara Oberg, Hartville, Missouri
• Katherine Patz, Tulsa, Oklahoma
• Abbie Pfannes, Louisburg
• Katherine Price, Lawrence
• Ian Rogers, Reedsburg, Wisconsin
• Shimon Rosenblum, Lawrence
• Hunter Schneider, Pittsburg
• Isabelle Sears, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Branum Sherrill, Stuttgart, Germany
• Sierra Sparbanie, Manhattan
• Wil Ullmann, Wichita
• Jaden Wilcoxson, Clay Center
• Annabelle Wilder, Overland Park
• Heting Zhu, Xian, China

Juniors 2021

• Diego Acosta, Kansas City
• Halle Arnold, Leawood
• Aylar Atadurdyyeva, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
• Emily Binkley, Overland Park
• Neelie Browne, Olathe
• Christina Carrington, Topeka
• Agustina Carvallo Vazquez, Asuncion, Paraguay
• Ava Cormaney, Lawrence
• Marilyn Curtis, Olathe
• Kailey D'Ambrosia, Englewood, Colorado
• Emma Fornelli, Emporia
• Savannah Glaves, Easton
• Sarah Grindstaff, Columbia, Illinois
• Rachel Hall, Lenexa
• Michaela Harding, Olathe
• Joseph Hartung, St. Louis
• Mason Hussong, Norman, Oklahoma
• Emma Johnson, Chanhassen, Minnesota
• Claire Kirchner, Fayetteville, Arkansas
• Hiroko Kobayashi, Tokyo, Japan
• Natalie Lamb, Lenexa
• Brooklynn Mainard, Harrisonville, Missouri
• Hannah Nuest, Hutchinson
• Fernanda Reyes, Wichita
• Evan Schrader, Overland Park
• Leah Stein, Dodge City
• Erin Sturd, Overland Park
• Chloe VanBecelaere, Pittsburg
• Kaci Zarek, Norfolk, Nebraska

Seniors 2020:

• Azeez Baig, Leawood
• Saif Bajwa, Overland Park
• Elsa Bernauer, Leawood
• Mitchell Biggers, Greenwood Village, Colorado
• Winona Brand, Minnetonka, Minnesota
• Nolan Brey, Fairview
• Tyler Cargill, Wichita
• Grace Claman, Salina
• Sean Coffey, Lincoln, Nebraska
• Haley Cooper, Wichita
• Abby Dieter, Maple Grove, Minnesota
• Annabel Dolan, St. Louis
• Sophia Dominguez-Heithoff, Parkville, Missouri
• Steven Duke, Rocklin, California
• Yuan Fang, Xingtai, Hebei, China
• Alix Fisk, Topeka
• Jess Halla, Lee's Summit, Missouri
• Olivia Hansen, McPherson
• Odalis Hernandez, Emporia
• Maria Teresa Herrera, Overland Park
• Katherine Hughes, McPherson
• Rachel Johnson, Omaha, Nebraska
• Margaret Kilday, Livermore, California
• Henry Kircher, Prairie Village
• Rylie Koester, Hoisington
• Brooke Lapke, La Motte, Iowa
• Mackenzie Lawrence, Overland Park
• Morgan List, Yorkville, Illinois
• Ally Lowden, Wichita
• Audrey Meacham, Shawnee
• Kate O'Keefe, Prairie Village
• Paola Ramírez Peña, Wichita
• Ashley Ries, Grand Island, Nebraska
• Kasey Sadler, Parkville, Missouri
• Maranda Scheller, Emporia
• Mikayla Schmitz, Olathe
• Katherine Schroeder, Larned
• Olivia Shaffer, Lee's Summit, Missouri
• Gwendolyn Sibley, Garnett
• Emily Simmons, Spring Hill
• Shelby Stauch, Lawrence
• Christa Stenzel, Shawnee
• Chelsea Stitt, Ottawa
• Jennifer Straub, Bucyrus
• Catalina Wedman, Harper
• Emily Weiss, Baldwin City
• Anneliese Wilmsen, Ballwin, Missouri
• Max Woodbury, Topeka

Juniors 2020:

• Raegan Billinger, Hays
• Saron Demeke, Shawnee
• Amelia Dunlap, Lawrence
• Ross Fitzpatrick, Overland Park
• Alissa Gilmer, Lenexa
• Arman Hadjian, Overland Park
• Alexis Harms, St. Joseph, Michigan
• Andrew Hartnett, Fairway
• Aroog Khaliq, Overland Park
• Sarah Knisely, Overland Park
• Emily Kubica, Omaha, Nebraska
• Liam Magathan, Meriden
• Eleanor Matheis, Lawrence
• Laura Phillips, Perry
• Elaine Pope, Overland Park
• Isabel Aranzazu Pulido Ruiz, Queretaro, Mexico
• Molly Reed, Lawrence
• Kelsey Rolofson, Grover, Missouri
• Sydney Schranz, Raytown
• Ryan Sieben, Overland Park
• Logan Stuart, Coralville, Iowa.

Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest national academic honorary society, was founded Dec. 5, 1776, at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. KU’s Alpha chapter, founded in 1890, was the first chapter west of the Mississippi and is one of 280 Phi Beta Kappa chapters nationwide. About 10 percent of institutions of higher learning in the United States have Phi Beta Kappa chapters.