Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: O n the afternoon of February 25, 2025, my email pinged with the news that Psi Chi had welcomed our 900,000th member.Reaching a milestone of this magnitude compelled me to reflect on how we arrived at this moment. Faculty Advisors Are the Blood of Psi ChiPsi Chi is a collection of chapters at colleges and universities around the globe.Chapters thrive when faculty advisors approve qualified applicants, mentor chapter officers, and support chapter activities.Our current database holds over 4,978 chapter advisors, with the earliest record from 1959.Print materials before that indicate hundreds more advisors.I am overcome with gratitude when considering the time and talent thousands of faculty advisors have given Psi Chi.As I have said before, Psi Chi would not exist without faculty advisors' commitment to their students' success. Members Are the Body of Psi ChiMembers find lifetime value in Psi Chi through being recognized for their academic achievement, sharing their passion for psychology, developing leadership skills through their chapter activity, pursuing opportunities to present and publish their scholarly work and share intellectual insights, and having access to awards, grants, and scholarships.Psi Chi members build community through chapters and professional networks, and we are extending our efforts to strengthen community for alumni members. Leaders Are the Backbone of Psi ChiPsi Chi is fortunate to have leaders committed to ensuring the Society's best possible future.The Board of Directors provides critical support and structure through governance.Although the makeup of the Board of Directors (or National Council, as it was known prior to 2009) has changed over the years, 165 Societyelected members have served with 15 of them devoting over 5 years.Regional Vice-Presidents are also responsible for Psi Chi programming at regional conventions, which directly impact thousands of students and faculty.Directors of our Advisory Committees help us better serve our global partners, ensure that we strive for inclusive excellence, support our chapters, and drive Psi Chi's purpose to advance the science of psychology. Supporters Are the Breath of Psi ChiThousands of people sustain and energize Psi Chi by generously sharing their time and talent as Board members, faculty advisors, committee members, convention speakers, contributors to Psi Chi media, and reviewers for awards, grants, scholarships, convention abstracts, and journal submissions.Our partners, including the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science, broaden Psi Chi's impact.Hundreds of donors and sponsors have philanthropically supported Psi Chi, allowing us to offer more awards and grants, support more scholarships (Inez Beverly Prosser; Christian Ladd Hall), and provide membership assistance to more academically qualified students. Headquarters Staff Are the Beating Heart of Psi ChiIn a storybook coincidence, Psi Chi's new Merchandise and Membership Coordinator, Hunter, processed the 900,000th member on the day he joined our Headquarters team.Psi Chi's mission-driven Staff-a third of whom have been with us for over 10 years-has expanded to 15 members.Although Psi Chi benefitted from administrative assistance since its inception, Psi Chi welcomed its first Secretary/Treasurer, Lucile Forer, in 1953 (or 54).Our archives, housed at the Cummings Center for the History of Psychology, tell the story of how Executive Secretary and Director Ruth Cousins and Kay Wilson, who served Psi Chi for a combined 44 years from 1959 to 2003, spent countless hours processing members and directly supporting chapters.Subsequent Executive Directors, Virginia Mathie and Martha Zlokovich, expanded Psi Chi's global reach.Over the years, dozens of Staff members have increased Psi Chi's impact through supporting chapters and members, maintaining multiple outlets for communication, advancing our technology, championing fiscal sustainability, and strengthening our culture of philanthropy.As the current Executive Director, I could not ask for a more dedicated team.As we celebrate the milestone of 900,000 lifetime members, I am humbled by the thousands of people who have supported Psi Chi through the years, making it one of the largest honor societies in the world.Maybe there is another storybook moment in our future-someone during Psi Chi's 100th anniversary year in 2029 could become one in a million.
Source: Eye on Psi Chi Magazine
Institution: University of Central Arkansas
Language: English
Subfield: General Health Professions
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4408930568