2021 Annual Initiation Ceremony

The 2021 MSU Chapter 041 Annual Initiation and Awards Ceremony scheduled virtually for April 8th, was cancelled due to the low registration numbers. However, the chapter had a total of 58 new members join this year.

New Initiates

In accordance with national standards for membership in Phi Kappa Phi, student candidates must have completed 24 semester hours, or the equivalent, at Michigan State University. Students are selected from the upper 10% of the senior class; the upper 7.5% of students with junior standing upon completion of 72 hours; and graduate or professional students who rank in the upper 10% of all enrolled graduate students at Michigan State University.

In addition to students, the Chapter is permitted to elect annually a small number of outstanding faculty, professional staff, and alumni chosen on the basis of academic record, professional achievements, and service to higher education. These persons are nominated by chapter members and, as with the student candidates, are discussed and voted on by the members. The Chapter is also permitted to nominate persons for distinguished and honorary memberships. These prestigious distinctions require the review and approval of the Society's national Board of Directors.

View List of 2021 Student Initiates

2021 Phi Kappa Phi National Graduate Fellowship Nominee

Every year, the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi awards fifty Fellowships of $8,500 each, six at $20,000 each, and two at $35,000 each to members entering the first year of graduate or professional study. Each Phi Kappa Phi chapter may select one candidate from among its local applicants to compete for the Society-wide awards.

Cami Hancock is a senior at Michigan State University’s Residential College in the Arts and Humanities (RCAH), majoring in Arts and Humanities and minoring in Arts and Cultural Management. Her passion for theatre began when she was cast in her first play at age six, and she spent her childhood and teenage years acting in and serving on the crews of over 30 theatre productions in the Lansing, Michigan area. During her time at MSU, she has worked as a marketing intern at Wharton Center for Performing Arts and as a resident assistant in Snyder-Phillips Hall. She also served as the Education Co-Chair for the Women’s Initiative for Leadership Development (WILD), planned two marketing retreats to NYC as the Professional Development Chair of the Wharton Center Student Marketing Organization (WCSMO), and volunteered as a Campus Ambassador for GLAAD. After graduation, she plans to attend Columbia University’s Theatre MFA program in the dramaturgy concentration. Her desire to work in the theatre industry stems from her passion to advocate for representation of women and people of color on Broadway creative teams, as well as her belief that theatre is an art form capable of creating real social change.

Distinguished Membership

A distinguished member is one who has served the Society in an outstanding manner and has shown a sustained record of leadership within the Society. The individual receives a life membership in Phi Kappa Phi and a distinguished member certificate.

Lauren J. Harris

Lauren Julius Harris is a Chicago native and was educated in its public schools. After high school, he attended the University of Illinois, where he earned a B.S., 1961, majoring in psychology, followed by an M.A., 1963, and Ph.D., 1965, in child psychology at the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota.

In 1965, he joined the Department of Psychology at Michigan State University where he is a member of the program in Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience and teaches  developmental psychology. He’s also taught history of psychology, neuropsychology, and psychology of the arts. His research ranges from laboratory studies of cognition, emotion, and laterality of function, to studies in the history of psychology and neuroscience. Throughout, he's been fortunate to have outstanding colleagues and students. He has served on the editorial boards of Developmental Psychology, Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, and Brain and Cognition, and currently is on the editorial boards of Developmental Neuropsychology and Laterality. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Psychological Association. He was inducted into Phi Kappa Phi in 1981 and served as Secretary of its MSU Chapter.

Faculty, Administration, Professional Staff, Alumni Initiates 

The outstanding achievements of these individuals represent the high standard of scholarship, professionalism, and public service that Phi Kappa Phi symbolizes and supports. The Michigan State University Chapter of Phi Kappa Phi is proud to grant membership to them.

Faculty

Jonathan Choti, PhD
Dr. Choti is an assistant professor of African Languages and Cultures in the Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages at Michigan State University, and is the faculty leader of the education abroad program known as “Sustainable Community Development in Tanzania.” He holds a PhD (Linguistics) from MSU and an MA and BA (Linguistics) from Egerton University in Kenya. Dr. Choti is a member of the Association of Contemporary African Linguistics, the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages, African Language Teachers Association, Kenya Scholars and Studies Association, and the Global Association for the Promotion of Swahili. His research interests include the phonology and morphology of Bantu languages, African cultures, second language pedagogy, and gender studies. He is the recipient of the 2019 Donald F. Koch Quality in Undergraduate Teaching Award, the 2020 Excellence Award in Interdisciplinary Scholarship, the 2020-2021 Lilly Fellowship, the 2020 Summer Hub Faculty Fellowship, and the 2021 Open Educational Resources Award.

Alumni

Catherine Bargerstock
Catie Bargerstock earned her dual B.A. in Psychology and Arts and Humanities with a minor in Women and Gender Studies from Michigan State University in 2015. After graduating, she dedicated a year to national community service with AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), where she served as a team leader for the Pacific Region in Sacramento, CA. In AmeriCorps, Catie earned both the President's Volunteer Service Award and the Team Leader Motivator Award for her unit. Catie then moved to Detroit to work with an international nonprofit called buildOn, which empowers urban high school students to serve in their communities and around the world. During her four years at buildOn, Catie engaged students in community service each week, and in international service trips to Malawi and Senegal, annually. In Detroit, she also volunteers and sits on the Board of Directors for an organization working to end sex trafficking in the city called Elli's House. Catie is pursuing her Master’s in Social Work this fall at the University of Michigan.

Krystal Jones

Krystal K. Jones is the Assistant Director of Student Affairs in the College of Nursing at Michigan State University. Krystal earned a Master of Arts in Student Affairs Administration from MSU in 2011.

After graduating, she worked in Residence Life at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas. While at SMU, Krystal was the recipient of the President’s New Employee Excellence Award and was recognized as the “Advisor of the Year” for three years.

In 2016, Krystal accepted a position as an academic advisor in the College of Nursing and was promoted to Assistant Director of Student Affairs in 2019.

In fall 2021, Krystal will begin her doctoral journey in the Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education (HALE) Ph.D. program at Michigan State. She is interested in researching bereaved college-aged adults’ experiences within postsecondary institutions and would like to explore the treatment of mental illnesses among college students caused by complicated grief.