Sweet Briar’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa inducts three mighty 19s

Maya White (from left), Cecilia Mahan and Chanel Friedrich with President Meredith Woo.


On Friday, Sweet Briar College inducted three students into the national honor society Phi Beta Kappa. The ceremony was held in the Browsing Room in Mary Helen Cochran Library.

This year’s inductees are seniors Chanel Friedrich, an economics major of Williamsburg, Va., Cecilia Mahan, a philosophy major and economics minor of Holden, Mass., and Maya White, a government and history double major of Farmville, Va.

Sweet Briar is among less than 10% of U.S. colleges and universities with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter on campus.

Phi Beta Kappa is the nation’s oldest and most widely known academic honor society. It was founded by five students at the College of William & Mary in 1776 during the American Revolution. Since its inception, the society has embraced the principles of freedom of inquiry and liberty of thought and expression.

According to its website, “Phi Beta Kappa celebrates and advocates excellence in the liberal arts and sciences. Its campus chapters invite for induction the most outstanding arts and sciences students at America’s leading colleges and universities. The society sponsors activities to advance these studies — the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences — in higher education and in society at large.”

For more information, visit www.pbk.org.