Anthropology student earns Phi Beta Kappa Nomination

Eloise Blatherwick graduated with Biological Anthropology concentration in Spring 2020

Joshua Zaffos

Student holding a pick at field school study site — Eloise Blatherwick at the Paleontology Field School, Summer 2019, in the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming.

Eloise Blatherwick (ANTH, ’20) is among a select group of Colorado State University College of Liberal Arts students who has been nominated and accepted to join Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest undergraduate honor society, this spring.

Blatherwick, from Centennial, Colorado, graduated this spring with a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology with a concentration in Biological Anthropology and a second major in Languages, Literatures, and Cultures with a German concentration. Blatherwick studied abroad in Germany during her undergraduate career and also took part in Anthropology and Geography’s Paleontology Field School in Summer 2019.

Founded in 1776, Phi Beta Kappa recognizes undergraduate scholars in liberal arts and sciences across 290 U.S. colleges and universities. Chapters at individual schools typically only nominate a small group of students for new membership each year, meeting a high standard of academic criteria. This includes an outstanding GPA within the top 10 percent of their class and a minimum 9 semester credits of university courses in a single foreign language.

Blatherwick is among just eight initiates into CSU’s Phi Beta Kappa chapter this spring. She cited her participation in the Paleontology Field School in 2019, as a particularly formative and “incredible experience” as a student and person.

“I learned so much and made so many amazing friends that summer,” said Blatherwick. “It’s really exciting and rare to be able to get that kind of research and field experience in undergrad.”

Blatherwick plans to attend graduate school in the future.