Dec. 17, 2002

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.-Five University North Carolina student-athletes have been inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest collegiate honors society in the U.S. All seniors, they participated in induction ceremonies on Nov. 25 for 155 UNC students.

Recognized for their oustanding academic achievement were Natalie Halbach, a gymnast from Plymouth, Minn.; Laura Hays, a fencer from Raleigh; Kara Kerscher, a rower from Cincinnati, Ohio; Jordana Werner, a coxswain on the rowing team from Plantation, Fla; and Malaika Underwood, a volleyball player from San Diego, Calif.

For more than 200 years, election to membership in Phi Beta Kappa has been a recognition of academic excellence achieved in the course of completing an education in the liberal arts and sciences at the undergraduate level. Famous members include Alexander Graham Bell, Ralph Waldo Emerson and 15 former U.S. presidents.