Danica Kelley Receives Phi Kappa Phi Presidential Scholar Award

2015 Oct 22

Danica Kelley, a senior theatre studies and art history major in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Ithaca College, is the recipient of the John Harcourt Presidential Scholar.

Kelley assists with a theatre program for at-risk youth in the Finger Lakes area and is involved with the Ithaca College chapter of the More Than Me Foundation. Kelley has directed several one-acts (including premiere works by regional female playwrights), and acts as the Executive Director of the Student Auxiliary Safety Patrol. Kelley is a recent recipient of the Peggy Ryan Williams Award for Academic and Community Leadership.

The John Harcourt Presidential Scholar Award is given to a current student at Ithaca College who is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. Founded in 1897 at the University of Maine, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation's oldest, largest, and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Its chapters are on more than 300 campuses in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. Each year, approximately 30,000 members are initiated.

The first requirement of eligibility for a Presidential Scholar Award is that the student be a member of Phi Kappa Phi, which means they were in the top 5 percent academically of their junior class. The student must THEN be selected by a faculty member or administrator for nomination and the award recipients are then chosen from the pool of nominations by Ithaca College's Phi Kappa Phi Executive Committee. The criteria used by this committee include grade point average, academic awards and honors, breadth of study, achievement in outside activities, and service to the profession and/or the community.