Stanford has selected 229 inductees for its 2026 Phi Beta Kappa (PBK) class, with 157 students from the class of 2026 and 36 students from the class of 2027. An induction ceremony for the 2026 inductees will be held on the Friday before commencement.

PBK is the nation’s oldest academic honor society and recognizes students for undergraduate academic accomplishments. Stanford’s chapter, the second in California, was established in 1903. PBK members include notable figures in history, including W.E.B Du Bois, Theodore Roosevelt, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Helen Keller.

Since then, 10% of each graduating class is elected by the University based on “excellence of study across the liberal arts and sciences.” One-fifth of the chosen students are selected in their junior year, and the rest in their senior year. In total, 193 students of the class of 2026 were inducted into PBK, with 36 selected in their junior year. 

Elected students receive opportunities to apply for internships within PBK and graduate scholarships.

“It’s lovely to be joining the nation’s oldest and most historical honor society,” said Sita Antel ’26 M.A. ’27, a 2026 inductee. “I was very shocked and surprised.”

To Antel, her PBK induction is especially meaningful as it represents “my four years of mainly humanities scholarship at Stanford, which is a school not necessarily known for its humanities or social sciences as much as it should be.”

PBK aims to select students who showcase “academic distinction” within their major and across three distinct academic domains: humanities; social sciences and natural sciences, engineering and mathematics. 

Several inductees credit Stanford’s Ways of Thinking/Ways of Doing (Ways) requirements for pushing them beyond their intended fields. 

“Because I was interested in so many different things, I naturally fulfilled them. It was affirming that I was getting the breadth that I came to Stanford for,” said Susanna Newsom ’26, a 2026 inductee. She pointed to the ecology-focused Bing Overseas Studies (BOSP) Australia program, mechanical engineering classes and marine biology classes at Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station as helping her explore new fields.

“I love taking things outside of Psych or my minor, which is creative writing. That’s been the joy of Stanford for me, taking advantage of all of the little niches that it has to offer,” Newsom said. 

Grier Stretch ’26, another 2026 inductee, echoed Newsom’s sentiment on Stanford’s emphasis on exploration, and used her time studying abroad with the BOSP Madrid program to take courses distinct from her major, including art history, drawing and Spanish culture.

“I was very much undecided in my major, and so I really took the first two years to fully explore. That included everything from natural sciences to social sciences to ultimately settling on bioengineering,” she said.

The University automatically considers all students for PBK eligibility, reviewing their GPAs and breadth of coursework. To be considered, students must have received a letter grade of B- or better in at least three Stanford courses in each of the three academic domains.

Elections to the society are held annually during spring quarter, and selected students are notified in the middle of May. As such, the announcement came as a surprise to many.

“I was actually still in bed when I received it,” said Antel. 

Inductees join a cohort of roughly 20,000 students selected each year from over 290 institutions across the country. PBK also provides alumni associations that stretch internationally.

“Wherever I end up in medical school or life beyond, it’ll be a way to connect with students from other universities and also possibly connect with students from Stanford beyond Stanford,” Stretch said.

However, for her, PBK may allow for new connections right before she leaves the farm.

“When I looked at the list of other inductees, there were definitely names that I didn’t know, so I feel like it would be a nice way to get to know more members of my class,” said Stretch. 

The Daily has reached out to the Stanford chapter of PBK for comment.