After a series of failed attempts, Loyola faculty who are members of the Phi Beta Kappa Society once again find themselves unable to solicit a chapter of the prestigious academic fraternity on campus – this time, due to the recent American Association of University Professors (AAUP) censure and an inability to satisfy a requirement imposed by the society.

Chemistry professor Lynn Koplitz, who has corralled fellow PBK faculty and led efforts to shelter a chapter – an opportunity that arises only once every three years – since 1995, said that continuing these efforts would be “a useless exercise.”

“I’ve communicated to other members of PBK who are on campus, and we agree that it would be a colossal waste of our time to even put together an application at this point . . . we are no longer actively seeking a chapter,” she said.

The fact that Loyola’s full-time arts and sciences teaching faculty does not contain the 10 percent of PBK members required by the national fraternity is one obstacle the university faces. This 10 percent, according to guidelines on creating new chapters, creates an “adequate and stable nucleus for organizing a new chapter and efficiently conducting its activities.” The number of Loyola PBK faculty currently amounts to 14 – only eight of whom teach in the College of Humanities and Natural Sciences – and doesn’t meet the 10 percent requirement.

Koplitz said that although it isn’t explicitly stated, this standard is more than just about conducting chapter business.

“Unofficially, it’s a gauge of the quality of your faculty,” she said.

Because PBK also requires that institutions potentially having chapters take “due precautions to prevent issues of governance . . . from subverting the integrity of the institution’s dedication to liberal education,” the AAUP’s recent censure raises a red flag.

The AAUP added Loyola to its censure list this June for its decisions following Hurricane Katrina, when top administrators terminated 17 tenured and tenure-track faculty and thus allegedly violated the AAUP’s policy on academic freedom and tenure, as well as the university’s own policies.

As part of the initial application process, PBK requires that a representative from the interested group submit a letter certifying that no negative academic action, such as a censure, has been taken against the university in the previous 10 years. The AAUP censure would immediately invite speculation about Loyola.

“(PBK) wants to know that you have real faculty governance, shared governance, between the faculty and administration, and something like the AAUP censure says loud and clear . . . the administration at this campus does not respect, and does not follow, tenure and academic freedom,” said Koplitz on the implications of the censure. “That will stop our application in its tracks.”

Since 1995, Koplitz and Loyola’s other PBK members have worked to solicit a chapter, only to be thwarted by the society’s stringent standards or by unforeseen circumstances that ultimately cost them the charter. After submitting three applications that failed to get past the first application round, the group – then 25 members strong – confidently prepared to apply again in 2003. But in October of that year, former university president Bernard Knoth resigned as allegations of sexual abuse from 1986 surfaced. With the university’s name tarnished, the group decided to withhold its application.

“We were poised to submit that application but decided not to. It’s a very long process, and it just didn’t seem like a good idea,” she said. “Frankly, we got some indirect advice to wait. At best, three years hence, when we’d actually come up for consideration officially, we’d have a new president.”

But before that time came, Katrina hit. In an attempt to stabilize the university financially, administrators created “Pathways.” The plan, among other things, calls for a PBK chapter under its Student Learning section. But it seems Pathways is part of the reason why Loyola will not earn one. The plan’s resonating effect on the university culminated in June’s AAUP censure.

As the person who has spearheaded this series of efforts, Koplitz is emotional as her vision of a Loyola PBK chapter fails to come into fruition.

“It makes me very sad for the students. There are so many wonderfully talented, bright, accomplished, deserving students here who should be members of PBK,” she said. “They should have that pat on the back and that congratulations and that very nice feather in their caps. They deserve it, and they will not be able to get it here.”

As the oldest Greek collegiate organization and honor society in the country, the PBK Society has become of the most well-known and prestigious academic fraternities. Membership in the selective society is known as one of the highest honors for an undergraduate.

Individual chapters invite college seniors who are candidates for a bachelor’s degree in the liberal arts and sciences. Standards vary among institutions, but PBK chapters generally choose only 10 percent of such students.

Koplitz feels that an on-campus chapter of this prestigious society would not only give Loyola added academic clout, but it would also recognize hard-working students.

“(Having a PBK chapter) tells you that it’s a quality institution that offers quality undergraduate programs, particularly in the liberal arts and sciences,” she said. “I’m not sure the total number of chapters that exist right now . . . but I believe that it’s less than 10 percent of eligible institutions in the country. In that way, you are part of a 10 percent higher echelon in terms of PBK’s judgment of the liberal arts education that’s being provided. So it’s a mark of excellence.”

As for trying again in the future, Koplitz believes it’s a possibility – however, she will not be leading the efforts.

“I’ve been at Loyola for 20 years. I’ve been leading this effort since 1995,” she said. “I will not be leading the effort (in the future).”

Even if Loyola faculty want to facilitate the application process again, some believe that it will be a while before they will be able to do so.

John Sebastian, English professor and PBK member, says that much will have to change before the university becomes a realistic prospect.

“Loyola has to do some serious and better recruiting of PBK members,” he said. “Hopefully we can rebound from our situation, but we’ve got a long way to go.”

But for now, while neighbor schools Tulane and Louisiana State University maintain active PBK chapters, Loyola still remains without one.

“Tulane is the Alpha chapter, that means they’re the first chapter in the state. LSU’s the Beta chapter,” Koplitz said. “We wanted to be the Gamma chapter, but that’s not going to happen.”

Lauren LaBorde can be reached at [email protected].