During these unprecedented times amidst the coronavirus global pandemic, the study of social sciences has been at the forefront. While the entire world has come to a halt to quarantine and social distance to stop the spread of the virus, the quick and drastic change to daily life has introduced a range of challenges that those working social science occupations will be studying for years to come once the dust settles and a new normal life begins.

Founded in 1924 at Southwestern College in Kansas, Pi Gamma Mu is the oldest social science honor society. According to their website, they describe their purpose as “...to improve scholarship in the social studies and to achieve synthesis therein; to inspire social service to humanity by an intelligent approach to the solution of social problems; to engender sympathy toward others with different opinions and institutions by a better mutual understanding; and to supplement and support, but not to supplant existing social science or existing social science organizations by promoting sociability and attendance at meetings.” They also state that their mission is “...to encourage and promote excellence in the social sciences to uphold the ideals of scholarship and service.”

In order to become a member of Pi Gamma Mu, students must have completed a minimum of 37.5 credit hours toward their degree with 20 credit hours of social science classes while maintaining a GPA of B or higher. Eligible applicants must also be in the top 35% of their graduating class.

Social science disciplines that Pi Gamma Mu recognizes include:

• History
• Political science
• Sociology
• Anthropology
• Economics
• Psychology
• International relations
• Criminal justice
• Social work
• Social philosophy
• History of education
• Cultural/human geography

Pi Gamma Mu currently has 150 chapters and over 234,000 members worldwide. You’ll notice graduates wearing royal blue and white honor cords representing “truth and light.” Prominent members include many senators, ambassadors, sociologists, presidents, and supreme court justices from all around the world.

As a reminder, our team continues to operate with a modified business solution, complete with remote and isolated order processing locations. Our goal is to safely deliver honor and recognition gear to schools and institutions to have ready for their students once graduation dates have been reworked. We understand the importance of graduation regalia and what it means to students and faculty and want graduates to mark their accomplishments in a way in which they deserve. No matter what your commencement ceremony looks like this year, our honor and recognition gear means the same and looks just as great!