Emily McNally of Saratoga Springs Named to Phi Beta Kappa at Saint Michael's College

2012 Apr 16

Emily McNally, daughter of Michael and Nancy McNally of Saratoga Springs, will be inducted into the Saint Michael's College chapter of the national honor society Phi Beta Kappa in ceremonies to be held April 20 on the campus of the liberal arts residential Catholic college, located in the Burlington, Vermont. McNally graduated from Saratoga Springs High School before coming to Saint Michael's.

A senior Spanish and political science double major, McNally is one of 40 Saint Michael's students to be inducted with college officials, faculty, new members and parents of inductees present. The ritual-filled occasion will highlighted by an address titled "Becoming Invisible: Economic History and the Past, Present and Future of Medieval Studies" to be given by Dr. George Dameron, widely published professor of history at Saint Michael's.

Gamma of Vermont, the Saint Michael's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, is only the third chapter in a Vermont institution of higher education. Its formation nine years ago was called recognition of "Saint Michael's standing as a center of excellence in the liberal arts and sciences." The oldest national academic society, Phi Beta Kappa, founded in 1776, is regarded as the pre-eminent American honor society. Dedicated to promoting excellence in the liberal arts, Phi Beta Kappa chapters are allowed to elect a maximum of 10 percent of their institution's graduating class to join each year. Fewer than one percent of college graduates nationwide are admitted, and fewer than 10 percent of colleges and universities are privileged to have Phi Beta Kappa chapters on their campuses.

Saint Michael's election into the organization in August of 2003 brought the total number of chapters at U.S. colleges and universities to 270. Of the 220 Catholic colleges in the country, only 20 have chapters, four of which are in New England: Saint Michael's, Boston College, Holy Cross and Fairfield.

Learn What Matters at Saint Michael's College, The Edmundite Catholic liberal arts college, www.smcvt.edu . Saint Michael's provides education with a social conscience, producing graduates with the intellectual tools to lead successful, purposeful lives that will contribute to peace and justice in our world. Founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, Saint Michael's College is located three miles from Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns. Identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nations Best 376 Colleges, and included in the 2012 Fiske Guide to Colleges, Saint Michael's has 1,900 undergraduate students and 500 graduate students. Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Pickering, Guggenheim, Fulbright, and other grants. The college is one of the nation's top-100, Best Liberal Arts Colleges as listed in the 2012 U.S. News & World Report rankings.