Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest academic society, is an undergraduate honors organization that recognizes excellence in the liberal arts and sciences.

Rachel Branson and Joe O’Brien both won Liberal Arts Scholar Awards from Phi Beta Kappa this year. These awards recognize student work that engages, translates, and bridges academic disciplines and/or crosses traditional academic boundaries.

In the fall, Rachel and Joe will attend graduate school. Rachel will pursue a Ph.D. program in comparative literature at the University of Oregon, and Joe will pursue a master’s in studio art at Emily Carr University of Art & Design in Vancouver, British Columbia.