University of Missouri-St. Louis Chapter of Phi Kappa Phi Wins Book Drive Competition

Baton Rouge, LA (05/22/2018) — The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society, today announced the University of Missouri-St. Louis chapter as a winner of its fifth annual book drive competition. UMSL was selected as a winning chapter for being one of three chapters to collect the most books during the competition.

As part of their book drive, the UMSL chapter collected more than 2,100 books for Koch Elementary and Westview Middle School.

"We are grateful to the national Phi Kappa Phi Book Drive for having given our chapter a meaningful focus for community service. Our drive benefits children in a special tutoring program for families of ex-offenders, helping them share the Phi Kappa Phi 'love of learning,' said Dr. Jeanne Morgan Zarucchi, president of the UMSL chapter. "We could never have anticipated the overwhelming level of support shown by the members of our campus community, including current students, alumni, faculty, and staff members, who reached out to their own networks of family and friends to collect a grand total of 2,159 books this year. Being named as a national winner for a fourth year in a row is truly an honor that we share with all of our generous donors."

As a winning chapter, UMSL will have the option to receive a Little Free Library to place at a location of their choice or a waived registration fee to attend Phi Kappa Phi's upcoming biennial convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The book drive competition, held between February 1 and April 30, saw participation from 21 Phi Kappa Phi chapters across the nation with a total of more than 11,800 donated books. Established in 2014, Phi Kappa Phi created the event as a way to promote literacy in the communities and campuses served by its chapters.

Phi Kappa Phi's annual book drive competition has donated more than 45,000 books to organizations both locally and abroad since its creation. Organizations that have received donated books as part of the competition include schools, libraries, hospitals, correctional centers, tutoring and mentoring programs, shelters and more.

To learn more about Phi Kappa Phi, visit www.PhiKappaPhi.org.

About Phi Kappa Phi
Founded in 1897, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Phi Kappa Phi inducts approximately 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni annually. The Society has chapters on more than 300 select colleges and universities in North America and the Philippines. Membership is by invitation only to the top 10 percent of seniors and graduate students and 7.5 percent of juniors. Faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction also qualify. The Society's mission is "To recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others." For more information about Phi Kappa Phi, visit www.PhiKappaPhi.org.