National Dean's List?

CalBear2009
Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:37:00 +0000

Everyone who joins Phi Theta Kappa is nominated to the National Dean’s List. These organizations have as much prestige as we give them. In a hundred years the National Dean’s List may very well be considered an honor - if it survives that long. Every idea has to start somewhere. However, with that said, I have seen reports online of people receiving this ‘honor’ who haven’t even been enrolled in a college course in over 30 years!

PTK is accepted as a legitimate honor society now. It has branches at most community colleges across the country. I bet that wasn’t the case 70 years ago (at least not nationally).

But, take a look at who is involved with the National Dean’s List… The parent company is Balfour. This is the same company that manufactures rings and diplomas (as well as fraternal jewelry and certificates). That immediately raises the question “Is a corporation truly interested in recognizing academic excellence, or is this simply a marketing ploy to sell books, jewelry, certificates?”