Type Honor Society Colors Blue, White and Red | Emphasis French Publication Newsletter | |
Founded 1906
University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, CA) Motto Probaínomen Diakritoi Philogálatoi | ||
Pi Delta Phi (ΠΔΦ) is the National French Honor Society for undergraduate and graduate students at accredited public and private colleges and universities in the United States.
Contents
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 after World War II when the it received the official endorsement of the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) in 1949. The society was admitted to membership in the Association of College Honor Societies in 1967. It currently numbers more than 380 chapters established at representative public and private colleges and universities in almost every state, as well as chapters in Paris and Aix-en-Provence.
Purpose
The purpose of the Society is:
(1) to recognize outstanding scholarship in the French language and francophone 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.
Organization
The Society's Executive Board, composed 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. The Society awards scholarships for summer study in France and Québec to Regular undergraduate members of active chapters.
Membership
Regular members include undergraduate and graduate students at the sponsoring institution who are nominated in recognition of their academic achievement in French. Undergraduate or graduate candidates do not need to be French or French Studies majors or minors to be nominated for membership. The eligibility requirements for all undergraduate students are: completion of at least one course of upper division French (i.e. beyond the intermediate-level series of courses); 3.0 GPA in French, 3.0 GPA overall, AND rank in the top 35% of their class; and sophomore (second year) standing. Graduate students who are not already members of Pi Delta Phi are eligible for regular membership. The eligibility requirements for all graduate students are: completion of 2 graduate courses in French; and minimum 3.5 GPA in graduate coursework.
Honorary members include: the French faculty of the sponsoring institution who are not already members of Pi Delta Phi; members of the faculty at large who are not already members of the Society; undergraduate and graduate students who do not meet the above requirements for regular membership; college or university alumni who did not become members while attending the sponsoring institution; and diplomats, community and business leaders, and others who have demonstrated support of French language, and/or of the cultures and literatures of the French-speaking world.
Chapters
A list of all of the chapters of Pi Delta Phi is available on the organization's website.