Brandeis University Receives Phi Beta Kappa Charter
On this day in 1961, Brandeis University received good news. Less than a decade after accepting its first students, the school had been given approval to start a chapter of the prestigious national honor society, Phi Beta Kappa. To this day, Brandeis holds the record for achieving this goal in the shortest time. Founded in 1947 on a campus inherited from the former Middlesex University in Waltham, the college was named for the late Louis D. Brandeis, the first Jewish justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Its identity would rest, as former university president Jehuda Reinharz said in 1995, "on four solid pillars: dedication to academic excellence, non sectarianism, a commitment to social action, and continuous sponsorship by the Jewish community."
Related Moments
Boston Jews Petition for First Cemetery
Boston Jews Petition for First Cemetery
On this day in 1844, members of Boston's first Jewish congregation petitioned city officials to set aside a corner of an East Boston cemetery for their use. When the city refused, the 40 congregants of...
Abbie Hoffman Dies
Abbie Hoffman Dies
On this day in 1989, Worcester native Abbie Hoffman died from a drug overdose. A hero of the 1960s counter culture, Hoffman once told a reporter, "I never left Worcester." He was 30 when he...
Boston Swears in First Irish-born Mayor
Boston Swears in First Irish-born Mayor
On this day in 1885, Hugh O'Brien, the first Irish immigrant elected mayor of Boston, took the oath of office. A new era was beginning. For several decades, the Roman Catholic Irish had outnumbered the...
