A society where students can help the community may seem like a dream, but it is already a reality.
Phi Theta Kappa is a national honors society that is involved with the community.
According to professor Jason Stratton, the adviser for the club, there are about 800 students at Bakersfield College who qualify to be in this club, but there are currently just 100 members and only about a dozen are active.
Phi Theta Kappa is open to all students who have gotten at least a 3.5 GPA and completed at least 12 units. The application fee is $50, and members must continue to pay $5 a semester after that to remain in the society.
Students who do not meet the requirements can be honorary members and participate in club activities, but they would still have to pay $10 and would not be nationally recognized.
Stratton wanted to make it clear what the Greek letters meant. “We are a Greek letter honors society. We are not a fraternity and sorority.”
The limited number of participants has not kept the club from participating in Relay for Life and planning community improvement projects, but according to Stratton, more members would make it possible for them to participate in national conferences and the Phi Theta Kappa debate team. Locally, more members would help the club get involved in mentoring at local schools.
According to Justin Salter, president of BC’s Phi Theta Kappa, the society is planning to come to BC on a weekend to clean up the campus in order to “make sure our campus stays beautiful.”
“I’m shocked that there are so many organizations at BC that so many students don’t know about,” said BC student Juliet McCardle.
McCardle, who meets the requirements to be in the club, didn’t know about it and felt that many students could benefit from this society. “I feel bad that there are all these organizations people don’t know about.”
“As far as looking to transfer, [Phi Theta Kappa] really opens up doors,” said Salter. He went on to say that there are many benefits from being in this society, including various scholarship opportunities, giving back to the community, and the opportunity to interact with peers.
According to Salter, students interested in joining are welcome to come to the meetings and see what Phi Theta Kappa is all about.