Honor Society

Phi Alpha Theta Honor Society

Phi Alpha Theta, the prestigious national history honor society, was established in 1921 and currently has 839 chapters at colleges and universities across the United States. VMI’s Alpha-Gamma-Mu chapter dates back to 14 May 1986.

To be inducted as a full member of Alpha-Gamma-Mu, you need to meet the following qualifications:

  • at least 12 semester hours (four courses) in History, earned in the classroom, online or through AP or transfer credits (or a combination thereof),
    and earned a minimum of 3.10 GPA in the hours completed while in residence at VMI,
    and an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher.

If you do not meet the requirements for full membership yet, you can still join Alpha-Gamma-Mu as an associate member.

Induction into our chapter as a full member includes a lifetime Phi Alpha Theta membership, a membership certificate, 1-year subscription to the journal The Historian, and access to a range of chapter activities, notably:

  • Movie pizza gatherings with guest speakers and discussion nights.
  • Visits to local archives.
  • Conference participation at Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference and the Society of Military History.
  • Applied history trips to Washington D.C. to meet historians of the Pentagon, the Smithsonian, and/or the Defense Intelligence Agency.

If you are interested in our chapter and would like to join, please contact the faculty advisors: Maj. Schroepfer (schroepferle@vmi.edu) or Maj. Ramsey (ramseymf@vmi.edu) or the CIC’s: Liam Loughlin (loughlinlm24@mail.vmi.edu) or Riley Malone (malonerk25@mail.vmi.edu). 

 

UPCOMING CONFERENCE: The History Departments at the Virginia Military Institute and Southern Virginia University will co-host the 2024 Phi Alpha Theta State Regional Conference on 13 April, 2024. The conference will take place at the Center for Leadership and Ethics on the VMI campus in Lexington, Virginia. Visit the department's conferences page to learn more.


P.A.T. News:

Phi Alpha Theta CIC Chris Cocoris ’23 attended the PAT Regional Conference 1 April 2023 at the University of Lynchburg where he presented part of his honors thesis, “Suppressing the Red Tide: Greek-British-American Counterinsurgency Efforts Against Communist Insurgents During the Third Phase of the Greek Civil War, 1945-1949.” Cocoris won first place for the best paper in world history!

Chris Cocoris ’23 presents part of his honors thesis and wins first place

 

 

VMI: Forging 21st Century Leaders