Speakers Program

A core part of Phi Beta Kappa’s mission is to foster and promote excellence in the liberal arts and sciences. The Society fulfills this mission not only by honoring outstanding college students with election to Phi Beta Kappa but also by supporting a number of advocacy programs to spread the message about the benefits of a liberal education. (www.pbk.org)

In an effort to fulfill Phi Beta Kappa’s mission to support the liberal arts, the Theta of Indiana chapter has created the Phi Beta Kappa Speakers Program. The purpose of the program is to provide funds to departments, programs, groups, or individuals to co-sponsor speakers who focus on any topic that contributes to students’ liberal arts education. Our goal is to provide co-sponsor funds to smaller organizational units without other major funding; we will not co-sponsor major program speakers with significant budgets (e.g., Woods Series, Diversity Series, Visiting Writers’ Series).

People who are interested in co-sponsorship of talks should identify a resident member of the Theta of Indiana chapter of Phi Beta Kappa who is willing to serve as the PBK liaison for the event. The liaison is charged with bringing a proposal to the PBK officers. The proposal should contain the following information:

  • Department/program/group/individual coordinating the speaker visit.
  • Speaker name and credentials.
  • Title of talk.
  • Intended audience.
  • How the speaker will promote the liberal arts and the values of PBK among members of the Butler and/or Indianapolis community.
  • Budget request (maximum request of $250 and no more than 50% of the total cost of the event; please include total cost of event and other sponsors of event).

The PBK officers will evaluate proposals as they are submitted, and will provide timely feedback. We will fund as many proposals as the budget allows; when the budgeted funds are used up, we will not be able to provide any additional sponsorship for the remainder of the academic year.

Conditions of co-sponsorship: Theta of Indiana chapter of Phi Beta Kappa will be listed as a sponsor on all publicity for the talk. The PBK liaison will provide the PBK officers with a brief report after the event (attendance, quality of talk, amount of budget request used).