Clintonians excel at Ole Miss with Who’s Who, honor society

Special to The Clinton Courier

Caleb Bohannon

Two Clinton students, Caleb Bohannon and Taylor Jones, were among only two hundred and one students honored as the 2023-24 class of Who’s Who Among Students at the University of Mississippi (UM). The honorees were recognized for their achievements during a ceremony at the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts. At press time ahead of UM graduation, Bohannon was pursuing a B.A. in public policy leadership and economics and Jones was pursuing a B.S.E.S. in exercise science.

Bohannon was also recently among the eighty-seven UM students who were inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious undergraduate honors organization in the liberal arts.

Phi Beta Kappa membership is an honor conferred upon fewer than ten percent of each graduating class. Students do not apply for membership but are elected by the chapter after a review of the academic records of each eligible candidate. Election is based on good character and a distinguished record of scholarly performance in courses that demonstrate a broad exposure to the liberal arts, i.e., the fine arts, humanities, languages, mathematics, natural sciences and social sciences, as well as substantial work in areas outside the major.

Taylor Jones

While students are usually selected for membership during their senior year, juniors or graduate students may also be chosen.

“Induction into the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society is very selective and recognizes outstanding academic achievement across the liberal arts and sciences,” said Jonah W. Jurss, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry and 2024 president of the Beta of Mississippi chapter.

“In fact, it is one of only two honors societies that is listed on UM transcripts for students that have earned the distinction. We are proud to have a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa at UM, as only about ten percent of U.S. colleges and universities have a chapter.”

The University of Mississippi chapter of Phi Beta Kappa was chartered on April 6, 2001, and is in an elite group of fewer than 300 colleges and universities in the nation that shelter a chapter.