Delegates from across Alabama will gather in Troy University ’s Trojan Center Jan. 22 to attend the Gamma Beta Phi Society’s 2005 Alabama State Convention.
The Society, chartered in Spartanburg , S.C. in 1964, is a national honor and service organization for students in colleges and universities in the United States . It’s non-secret, non-profit and co-educational. In Alabama , Gamma Beta Phi chapters are organized at Troy University ’s Troy , Dothan and Montgomery campuses, at the Troy University School of Nursing, the University of Alabama and the University of North Alabama .

This year’s convention will begin at 9 a.m. in the Trojan Center and will continue through the afternoon. A highlight of the convention will come when the Distinguished Chapter Awards are presented by Gamma Beta Phi National Executive Director Margaret McCauley and State Advisor Mary Griffin, director of Troy University ’s Upward Bound program.

State officers are President Jennifer Howell, Troy University , Vice President Brenda Patterson, Troy University Dothan,Secretary Amber Collins, University of Alabama , and Treasurer Tina Hudgins, Troy University Montgomery.
A slate of new state officers will be elected during the convention.
Gamma Beta Phi has chapters all across the United States , from the Virgin Islands to Hawaii . It regularly inducts over 10,000 academically strong students who share its mission of promoting education and providing service to their colleges and communities. Chapters are managed locally by elected officers and college advisors, and loosely organized into states or regions. Annually, chapter representatives may attend both a state or regional conference, usually a Fall event, and the National Convention, held each Spring. (In the past decade, National Conventions have been held in locations such as Nashville , San Antonio , and New Orleans .) Currently, there are approximately 40,000 active student members of Gamma Beta Phi, and their numbers and commitment to the Society's ideals continue to grow.

The name of the organization is derived from the initial letters of the three Greek words for education, life, and friendship. It signifies that education and friendship constitute the basis of a full and happy life. The motto of Gamma Beta Phi is Progressus per Eruditioneum (progress through education), and its watchwords are Scholarship, Service and Character.