Honoring Academic Achievement: PLU Joins Theta Alpha Kappa

The United States has many scholastic honor societies. They have been a tradition in higher education since the end of the nineteenth century. These societies recognize academic excellence, and each of them is denoted by a unique combination of three Greek letters. The honor society for the study of religion is Theta Alpha Kappa (TAK).

TAK was first established by Professor Albert Clark in 1976 at Manhattan College and has grown to more than 300 chapters nationally. It is the only national honor society dedicated to recognizing academic achievement in the fields of Religious Studies and Theology.

In April 2015, the Department of Religion at PLU was granted membership into TAK. This affords the department the privilege of inducting students who meet the criteria of high scholastic achievement required for membership.

An induction ceremony is held at the end of each academic year. Those students inducted into TAK receive not only the recognition of their peers and professors, but also a membership pin to wear at graduation and in the future.

Membership in TAK also grants PLU’s Department of Religion the privilege of honoring select students for their academic work. In Spring 2016, Haley Gredvig (PLU ’17) received the Undergraduate Achievement Award, which is conferred on a chapter’s most outstanding undergraduate student.

We look forward to inducting many students in the future and honoring their academic achievements!

by Agnes Choi