Honor Societies
Your achievements deserve recognition.
Honors societies at the Mount allow us to honor the hard work and academic achievements of students in majors and programs across the college community. Students receive academic cords to wear at Commencement recognizing these accomplishments. Several honors societies also host events for members throughout the year to foster camaraderie and shared love of the subject.
Honors societies represented at the Mount
Alpha Chi is a National Honor Society for full-time juniors and seniors of all disciplines. The purpose of the organization is to promote and recognize academic excellence and exemplary character. Among other requirements for admission, a student must rank in the highest 10% of the class. The New York State Kappa Chapter of Alpha Chi was established on this campus in 1981.
Alpha Sigma Lambda is the National Honor Society for students in continuing higher education. It was established at the Mount in the spring of 1982. Alpha Sigma Lambda is dedicated to the advancement of scholarship and recognizes the high scholastic achievement of the adult student, in light of the competing interests of home and work on the academic life of the non-traditional student. Members are elected from the highest 10% of those eligible in the sophomore, junior, and senior classes and from among alumni who graduated as non-traditional students with honors from Mount Saint Mary College.
Beta Beta Beta is the National Biological Honor Society; it was established at the Mount in 1975. Active membership in the Lambda Theta chapter is open to Biology majors who have completed the first semester of their sophomore year and attained a cumulative average of 3.0 or better in all courses in Biology. Active membership is considered to be evidence of superior scholastic and professional achievement. Associate membership is open to all students interested in the life sciences. The society strives to stimulate scholarship, promote biological research, and disseminate scientific knowledge.
Chi Alpha Sigma was established to recognize college student-athletes who excel in both the classroom and the field. Chi Alpha Sigma honors student-athletes who receive a varsity letter in their sport, achieve junior academic standing or higher after their fifth full-time semester, and earn a 3.4 or better cumulative grade point average.
Chi Rho Iota Criminology Honor Society seeks to develop a community of young scholars dedicated to enhancing their understanding of the causes, prevention, control, treatment, and responses to crime and delinquency. The society also strives to use the Mount’s mission of service to help its members become more well-rounded and effective scholars and practitioners in the many areas of Criminology.
Delta Mu Delta is the National Honor Society for Accounting and Business Management and Administration majors. The Epsilon Iota Chapter was established at Mount Saint Mary College in 1990. Membership is accorded to junior and senior students with a 3.4 cumulative grade average. Delta Mu Delta strives to recognize eligible students who have distinguished themselves scholastically.
Gamma Sigma Epsilon is a National Honor Society in Chemistry. The Kappa Epsilon chapter was established at the Mount in 1999. The purpose of the society is to recognize outstanding academic achievement in Chemistry and to increase interest, scholarship, and research in the discipline. Students who have completed a minimum of 16 credits in Chemistry with a cumulative average of at least 3.0 both overall and in Chemistry courses are eligible for membership.
Kappa Delta Pi is the International Honor Society in Education. The Sigma Tau Chapter was established at the Mount in 1992. Kappa Delta Pi promotes excellence in, and recognizes outstanding contributions to, education. The society endeavors to maintain a high degree of professional fellowship among its members, quicken professional growth, and honor achievement in educational work. Active membership is open to upperclass and graduate students who have completed the appropriate number of credits with the required scholastic average. Membership is open to Mount alumni and faculty.
Kappa Mu Epsilon is the Honor Society in Mathematics. The Pi Chapter was founded at Mount Saint Mary College in 2007 to promote interest in Mathematics among undergraduate students. Chapters are located in colleges and universities of recognized standing that offer a strong Mathematics major. The chapters’ members are selected from students of Mathematics and other closely related fields who have maintained standards of scholarship, have professional merit, and have attained academic distinction.
Lambda Pi Eta is the Communication Arts Honor Society of the National Communication Association. The Phi Pi Chapter was established at Mount Saint Mary College in 2007. Eligibility for membership is open to students in Communications majors who have completed a minimum of 12 credits in the major while maintaining a GPA of 3.0 and GPA in the major of 3.25. Phi Pi recognizes scholarship in communication studies, promotes and encourages professional development, provides for opportunities to discuss ideas in the fields of communication, and provides opportunities to be of service to the community.
Phi Alpha Theta is the International Honor Society of History. It was established at the Mount in the spring of 1993. Phi Alpha Theta is a professional society, the purpose of which is to promote the study of History through the encouragement of research, good teaching, publication, and the exchange of learning and ideas among historians. All students who have completed the required number of History courses and are maintaining high standards in their college studies are eligible.
Psi Chi is the National Honor Society in Psychology, established at the Mount in the spring of 1994. Psi Chi's purpose is to encourage, stimulate, and maintain excellence in scholarship of the individual members in all fields, particularly in psychology, and to advance the science of psychology. The mission of Psi Chi is to produce a well-educated, ethical, and socially responsible member committed to contributing to the science and profession of psychology and to society in general. Eligibility for membership is open to students in the Psychology major who have completed a minimum of 15 credits in the major while maintaining a GPA of 3.0 and GPA in the major of 3.0.
Sigma Delta Pi, the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society, is a non-profit organization incorporated in the State of South Carolina, a member of the Association of College Honor Societies and partners with the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, Estudio Internacional Sampere, the Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Estudios Norteamericanos Benjamin Franklin, the Universidad Veritas, the International Association of Hispanists, and the North American Academy of the Spanish Language. The honor society was founded at the University of California, Berkeley in 1919.
Sigma Tau Delta is the International English Honor Society that confers distinction on outstanding students majoring or minoring in English. The Alpha Mu Upsilon Chapter at Mount Saint Mary College promotes excellence and a spirit of fellowship in the study of language and literature.
Sigma Theta Tau is the International Honor Society of Nursing. The Mu Epsilon Chapter was chartered in 1989. The purpose of Mu Epsilon is to recognize superior achievement and leadership, to foster high professional standards, to encourage creative work, and to strengthen commitment to the ideals and purposes of the nursing profession. Eligibility in Mu Epsilon is determined by several criteria including grade point average, leadership qualities, scholarship, and contributions to the nursing profession. Membership in Mu Epsilon is by invitation to upperclass Nursing students, faculty, and community leaders in Nursing.
Tau Upsilon Alpha is the National Honor Society for Human Services. The purpose of Tau Upsilon Alpha is to honor academic excellence; to foster lifelong learning, leadership and development; and to promote excellence in service to humanity.
Upsilon Pi Epsilon is the International Honor Society for the Computing and Information Disciplines. A student must be a candidate for an undergraduate degree in Information Technology, Cybersecurity, or Game Programming, and must have completed at least forty-five semester hours for undergraduate credit, including 15 MSMC semester hours in courses toward the major. Further, the student must have a major grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.4 and an overall grade point average of 3.0.