The Phi Beta Kappa Society
DELAWARE VALLEY ASSOCIATION
PHI BETA KAPPA DELAWARE VALLEY ASSOCIATION
Upcoming Events
Book Club - "West with the Night" - Thu. Apr. 10, 7:00 pm; virtual; no charge.
John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum, Philadelphia, PA - private guided bird walk; optional post-walk group lunch. Sat. April 26, 9:00 - 11:00 am; in-person; no charge. Rain date: Sat. May 3.
Movie Club - "Everything Everywhere All at Once" - Thu. May 8, 7:00 pm; virtual; no charge.
Hagley Museum, Wilmington, DE - private guided indoor/outdoor tour; optional post-tour group lunch. Sat. May 31, 10:30 am; in-person; fee.
Book Club - "Portrait of a Thief" - Thu. June 12, 7:00 pm; virtual; no charge.
4th Annual "Dinner with PBK Friends", White Dog Cafe, Haverford, PA. Tue. June 17, 6:30 pm; pay-for-your-own.
Trenton Thunder baseball game with pre- and post-game special events, Trenton, NJ. Sat. July 19; gates open 4:30 pm for stadium Happy Hour; 6:00 pm game start; fireworks to follow game. In-person; ticket fee. Registration requested by June 27 to pre-order tickets.
News Briefs
PBK's Meet for Dinner and a Chamber Music Concert
On March 14, 2025, Steve Tillery led a group to hear a concert by the Elias String Quartet from Great Britain, who performed the final string quartets of three masters of the genre. Haydn’s unfinished D Minor Quartet, Op. 103, Britten’s distinctive Quartet No. 3, Op. 94, and Mendelssohn’s F Minor Quartet, Op. 80, at the Perelman Theater in the Kimmel Center. Many of the group had earlier enjoyed dinner together for good conversation before the concert at nearby Jasmine Rice Rittenhouse Thai restaurant.
PBK's Tour Permanent Collection at the Woodmere Art Museum
On February 22, 2025, President Bill Howard led a group of PBK's and guests for a very informative 90 minute private guided tour of the permanent collection of the Woodmere Museum in the Chestnut Hill area of Philadelphia. Woodmere is regional "treasure", dedicated to "telling the story of Philadelphia's art and artists", including regional artists, and is housed in a National Register of Historic Places 19th century estate mansion, with a sculpture garden as well. Many participants then additionally enjoyed an optional post-tour group lunch for more good conversation at historic (1743) Brittingham's restaurant in nearby Lafayette Hills.
PBK's Enjoy Tour of University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology Africa Galleries.
On November 9, 2024, PBK's enjoyed a private guided tour of the Penn Museum's reimagined Africa galleries, led by Penn archaeology graduate student, Chris Lamack. The galleries celebrate the richness and diversity of Africa, from art and language, to spiritual practices and family systems, tracing the journey from maker to museum to consider why, where, and how objects were made, as well as how they were used in daily life, on special occasions, or in religious ceremonies, and why they were meaningful to the cultures that produced them. Following the tour, PBK's enjoyed a group lunch in the Penn Museum Cafe for more good conversation.
Phi Beta Kappa Assn. of the Delaware Valley 2024 Key Connections Event
On October 17, 2024, recent PBK inductees enjoyed great conversation and trivia Quizzo with other PBK members from the SE PA, So. Jersey, and No. Delaware region at PBK Delaware Valley's annual Key Connections event, held this year at the Victory Brewing Company's pub restaurant on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Center City Philadelphia. Hosted by our PBK Delaware Valley's Young Professionals Advisory Committee (YPAC) co-chairs, Shea Sandifer & Carissa Petzold, the event consisted of a meet & greet happy hour with appetizers and drinks, followed by an hour for dinner and team Quizzo trivia in small impromptu teams, with PBK logo mugs for prizes. This successful event gave recent PBK's an opportunity to meet each other as well as meet established PBK Delaware Valley members for a great evening of networking and career connections.
Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar at Saint Joseph's University
On October 7-8, 2024, the Phi of Pennsylvania Chapter at Saint Joseph's University hosted Tammie Kernodle, PhD., Distinguished Professor of Music at Miami University of Ohio, for campus engagement and a free public lecture on 10/8, "All Rhythm But None of the Blues: Black Music, Black Women and the De-Mythologizing of Post-Racial America". Professor Kernodle's research is focused on African American music, gender studies in music, and race in American popular culture. She is the author of the biography Soul on Soul: The Life and Music of Mary Lou Williams, which chronicles the six-decade career of the jazz pianist/arranger and educator; served as Associate Editor of the three-volume Encyclopedia of African American Music and on the Editorial Board for the revision of the New Grove Encyclopedia of American Music; and was the President of the Society for American Music. The lecture was co-sponsored by the SJU Department of Music and the SJU Phi Beta Kappa chapter.
