MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Fourteen senior student-athlete have been elected to Wesleyan University's Gamma Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa for Spring 2026 – the most prestigious academic honor society in the country. The 14 total inductees ties a department record first set back in the Spring of 2019. They will be honored at an induction ceremony on Saturday, May 23, 2026 at 4 PM in the Memorial Chapel.

Phi Beta Kappa at Wesleyan is limited to 12 percent of the graduating class each year. To be elected, a student must first have been nominated by the department of his or her major, achieved a grade point average value of 93 or above, and has demonstrated curricular breadth by having met the General Education Expectations. Wesleyan's Gamma Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa Society was organized in 1845 and is the ninth-oldest chapter in the country.
 
"We're thrilled to see the induction of 14 of our varsity student-athletes into Phi Beta Kappa," said Wesleyan Director of Athletics Mike Whalen '83. "We're certainly proud of their work on the field but their excellence in the classroom is just another example of how our student-athletes excel in all phases of their Wesleyan experience."
 
Representing Wesleyan Athletics at this spring's induction is: 
  

Name	Team	Major(s)
Pierce Buckner-Wolfson	Men's Crew	Computer Science, Economics
Joe Calo	Men's Hockey	Government
Leila Epstein	Women's Tennis	Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
Asher Israel	Men's Crew	Government
Rosie Leonard	Women's Golf	Education Studies, Psychology
Max Litton	Men's Tennis	Computer Science, Mathematics, Philosophy
Daniel Lurie	Men's Hockey	Economics, Government
Virginia Lustenberger	Women's Track & Field	Neuroscience and Behavior
Michael Manieri	Wrestling	Economics, Mathematics
Rachel Masterson	Women's Track & Field	Environmental Studies, Psychology
Will Miller	Men's Lacrosse	Economics
Elle Priesing	Women's Lacrosse	Neuroscience & Behavior
Margo Wilson	Women's Lacrosse	Government, Psychology
Sarah Youngberg	Women's Tennis	Economics, Psychology