BATON ROUGE, La. — Six local residents recently were elected to membership into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines.

The honorees include Joseph Bovasso of Cranford, at Ithaca College; Marissa Feehan of Clark, at Kean University; Kaitlyn Harms of Clark, at The College of New Jersey; Jobin Mathew of Westfield, at Kean University; Julia Miller of Westfield, at Kean University; and Daniel Rizzo of Westfield, at Kean University.

They are among approximately 20,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni to be initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year. Membership is by invitation only and requires nomination and approval by a chapter. Only the top 10 percent of seniors and 7.5 percent of juniors are eligible for membership. Graduate students in the top 10 percent of the number of candidates for graduate degrees may also qualify, as do faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction.

Phi Kappa Phi was founded in 1897 under the leadership of undergraduate student Marcus L. Urann, who had a desire to create a different kind of honor society: one that recognized excellence in all academic disciplines. Headquartered in Baton Rouge, La., the Society currently has chapters at more than 300 select colleges and universities in the United States, its territories and the Philippines. Its mission is to “cultivate a community that celebrates and advances the love of learning.” For more information, visit www.phikappaphi.org.