Golden Key International Honour Society

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The Golden Key International Honour Society is an Atlanta, Georgia-based non-profit organization founded in 1977 to recognise academic achievement among college and university students in all disciplines. It is held by some colleges to rival Phi Beta Kappa as among the most prestigious honor societies in the United States. The Society currently has nearly 350 chapters at colleges and universities in six countries: Australia, Canada, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States. In reference to its international presence, the Society chooses to use the spelling "honour" despite its American origins. Golden Key International Honour Society is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies.

Only the top 15% of undergraduate juniors and seniors at a given college or university are invited to join.

The society offers various scholarships and awards to its members, along with a variety of other opportunities, both academic and career.

The cost of a lifetime membership for invited students is $70 USD in the United States, contrast to a membership fee of $55 USD at other United States honour societies such as Phi Beta Kappa.

Contents

1 Honorary members
2 Controversies
3 References
4 External links

Honorary members

Well known honorary members of Golden Key include:

William J. (Bill) Clinton (Former US President)
Bill Cosby (Entertainer)
General Colin L. Powell (RET) (Former US Secretary of State)
Ronald W. Reagan (Former US President)
Frederick W. Smith (Founder and CEO, FedEx)
Elie Wiesel (Nobel Laureate and Author)

Controversies

There have been some claims that the society is little more than an elaborate scam. Articles in UBC student newspaper The Ubyssey have examined the society's finances and scholarship practices. In 2003, the Ubyssey questioned the society's spending practices based on information obtained from its submission to the Internal Revenue Service. Although the society claims to "return 75 per cent of each membership as benefits and services to local chapters and their members [while the] other 25 per cent is used for administrative expenses," the Ubyssey found that in 1997 salaries, management and general expenses totalled $2,997,827, almost 47 per cent of the $6,430,054 in total expenditures [link]. A second article found that Golden Key spent just $289,461 (US dollars) on scholarships, less than 5 per cent of their total expenditures for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1997 [link].

Additionally, The Ubyssey discovered that the organisation had refused to provide the Atlanta Better Business Bureau with its financial statements. According to Valerie Maclean, general manager of the Vancouver Better Business Bureau, this is a secretive tactic highly unusual for a non-profit organisation. There has also been concern over Golden Key's allegedly "lavish practices," including conferences in exotic locations, and high salaries paid to directors, such as $247,600 (US) in compensation paid to director James Lewis in 1997.

Another complaint is that the society refuses to subsidize the membership fee for low-income students. According to a 2005 article by Rob Taylor, writing in SFU student newspaper The Peak,

If the GKS is not a scam, it is still an organisation riddled with a number of problems. Most fundamentally, the GKS refuses to subsidise students unable to pay the $80 membership fee, [citing] the difficulties inherent in trying to prove who is "in need" and who is not. Regardless of their reasoning, this condition means that the student with the highest GPA in the university could be denied access to an Honour Society whose goal is to recognise "academic achievers," while a student with a B+ average in a weak program (who [can afford the fee]), would be allowed entry. This policy also brings into question the broader intentions of the organisation: Are they trying to aid "academic achievers," or are they trying to make a profit?[link].

It is, therefore, interesting to note that most United States Honour Socieities also charge a membership fee - the membership fee for Phi Beta Kappa is $55 USD. The above argument is a complete fallacy as "a student with the highest GPA" may not be extended membership to the Honour Society because of an inability to pay the membership fee, but a student of B+ average who can afford the fee cannot be invited to join in the first place as the GPA based invitation is still set at the high standard for all students. In effect, a 'rich' student cannot take a 'poor' students place because of the constant high GPA requirement. The result is that the Honour Society's membership is made up of just as high GPA achieving students, but just fewer of them.

On the other hand, most members of Golden Key's board are university professors and presidents; these directors are not paid for their services. The society has chapters in as many as 350 universities worldwide, which are set up after consultation with university directors, financial aid offices and presidents. Also, according to Golden Key literature, US Presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel and American Red Cross President Elizabeth Dole "are proud of their association with this dynamic organisation." In addition, Golden Key was awarded a "Daily Point of Light" award by former US President George Bush, and admitted to the Association of College Honor Societies in 2005.

References

[Ubyssey article 1]

[Peak feature 1]

External links

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