Pi Sigma Alpha

Butler Political Science students are invited to apply for membership in Sigma Gamma, the Butler chapter of the national honorary society of Pi Sigma Alpha during the Spring semester.  Sigma Gamma was chartered in 2001 and has inducted more than 100 students since its founding.
 To be eligible, you must have completed at least one-half the credits required by their institution for the baccalaureate degree; you must have completed at least ten semester-credits of work in political science including at least one upper-division course, with an average grade of B or higher in those courses; you must also have achieved an overall GPA placing you in the top one-third of their whole class (e.g., junior or senior class).  If you appear to meet this criteria, you will receive an invitation to apply for membership.  Please contact Dr. Su-Mei Ooi, sooi@butler.edu, the chapter advisor, for further information. 

What is Pi Sigma Alpha?

Pi Sigma  Alpha is a national political science honor society based in Washington D.C.  Its chapters are established  in colleges and universities of accredited and recognized standing which offer a prescribed minimum program in political science.  PSA is a prestigious organization that both encourages interaction among political science students and recognizes their achievements.  Pi Sigma Alpha has 840 chapters across the United States and Canada and inducts more than 8000 members nationally.

History

Pi Sigma Alpha was founded in 1920 at the University of Texas, Austin for the purpose of bringing together students and faculty interested in the study of government and politics.  Professor C. Perry Patterson was an early leader of the first chapter and served as national president of PSA from 1920 until 1932.  The success of the honor society at the University of Texas prompted other institutions to apply for chapters, with the Universities of Oklahoma and Kansas establishing chapters by 1922.  In March of that year the society held its first national convention at the University of Oklahoma.  Growth in the honor society was gradual throughout the twenties and thirties and accelerated after the Second World War.  There is at least one college or university with a PSA  chapter in every state and the District of Columbia and, as of 1995, the U.S. territory of Guam.  More than 300,000 individuals have been inducted.