• Dr. Gene Fitch (left), vice president for student affairs and president of the UTD chapter of Phi Kappa Phi, "tapped" students for the honor society. "I feel ill-prepared right now. I did not get ready this morning. It's an honor, though," said biomedical engineering senior Richa Patel (second from right).

Top students at The University of Texas at Dallas were surprised in their classes recently when faculty and administrators “tapped” them, inviting them to join Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest, largest and most selective collegiate honor society for all disciplines.

This fall, 667 seniors and juniors were invited to join the UT Dallas chapter, up from 532 a year ago.

“Phi Kappa Phi provides significant financial opportunities for students through scholarships and fellowships. We are proud to extend an invitation to these exceptional scholars. Their participation in this prestigious honor society will enable them to join a community of scholars and strengthen their ties to the University,” said Dr. Gene Fitch, vice president for student affairs and president of the UT Dallas chapter of Phi Kappa Phi.

The honor society is open to upperclassmen and graduate students who meet a set of eligibility requirements. Graduate students who have completed at least 18 graded graduate credit hours at UT Dallas with a minimum of a 3.8 GPA must be nominated by their program chairs.

For undergraduates, the UT Dallas chapter chose the top 7.5 percent of juniors and the top 10 percent of seniors across each school. Undergraduates must have completed at least 72 hours of coursework with 24 credit hours at UT Dallas.

Francisco Delgado, an electrical engineering senior who transferred to UT Dallas a year ago, said he was surprised but grateful to be honored in front of his peers in his Ethics in Engineering class.

“I’m wearing flip-flops and shorts. No one told me this would happen,” Delgado said. “But it was very nice to be recognized. It’s nice to know that my hard work has paid off.”