Phi Beta Kappa Elects 48 Additional Members

Forty-eight seniors were elected to Phi Beta Kappa in the second round of elections for the Class of 1997, the College announced yesterday.

Newly-elected member Sally J. Wolf '97 said being chosen is obviously a great honor.

"It's nice to receive recognition for three-and-a-half years of hard work," she said.

The 48 seniors were selected as members of the Alpha-Iota Chapter from 111 applicants, according to Rebecca L. Waltman, administrative assistant to the dean of the College.

"The Registar's Office sends over a list based on a GPA cut-off, and we invite those students to apply," Waltman said.

Three selection committees, one each for the humanities, social sciences and the natural sciences, take into account a student's GPA along with two letters of recommendation, Waltman said.

"Decisions are made on the breadth and depth of their studies," she said.

Twenty-four seniors were elected to Phi Beta Kappa last April, and another election will precede Commencement.

At the end of the three elections for a each class, about 10 percent of the class is elected.

The Alpha-Iota Chapter was formed in July 1995 when the Harvard and Radcliffe Phi Beta Kappa chapters were merged.

In April, 14 men and 10 women were elected from the Class of 1997. The apparent disparity in the number of men and women elected has been noted by some students.

Alpha-Iota Chapter President James T. Engell '73, who is also professor of English and Comparative Literature, downplayed the importance of any gender gap at this stage of the elections, saying that the male-female ratio in June will approximate the ratio of the graduating class. He also said that the selection process is "gender blind."

Mark R. Freeman '97 was also happy with his selection, but said it would not affect his life in any major way.

"Basically, all it does is give me an opportunity to buy an expensive key," he said.

"That and list it on my law school applications," he added.

The students who were elected are Zahir Asmal, Melissa E. Fuchs, Bruce L. Gottlieb, Janna J. Hansen, Jerry Y. Hsu, Megan L. Peimer, David A. Sobel and Nicholas Stavropoulos from Adams House; Ryan J. Bradley, Elizabeth A. Davis, Chong-Min Hong, Andrew S. Jacobs, Moon K. Lee, Daniel C. Ramirez and Wolf from Cabot House; Brian A. Lanman, Guy Maytal and Duy T. Nguyen from Currier House; Kathryn E. Shea from Dudley House; Alison V. Davis from Dunster House; Roy Astrachan, Ross D. Blank, Christopher P. Herzog, Luba A. Kobrinsky, James A. Parson and Nicholas R. Szumski from Eliot House; Katherine L. Bertone from Kirkland House; William W. BurkeWhite, Michael E. Ginsberg, Amy Ozols, Dana A. Remus, Sapna Sadarangani, Jiri Vanicek and Matthew J. Waterbury from Leverett House; Charlene S. Ahn, David W. Chiang, Willow D. Crystal, Ivan Chun Kit Ho and Joyelle H. McSweeney from Lowell House; Brent R. Doran and Phanwadee Khananusapku from Pforzheimer House; Joung W. Hwang, Velin Y. Mezinev and Matthew C. Stephenson from Quincy House; Freeman, Adam B. Kirsch and Carlton F. Larson from Winthrop House