There’s money out there for the taking! It’s just waiting to be awarded to smart, talented students like you. Imagine: Money to travel. Money to conduct research. Money to create art. Want to hear more? Check out just 3 of the dozens of Golden Key […]
It’s that time of year! The time of year when we get lots of questions about the Golden Key Scholarships. Why? Because the scholarship deadline for members is quickly approaching! Be sure to get your scholarship applications in by 15 December 2018! Not yet a […]
Question: What’s in it for me?
Answer: Scholarships!
Ask any Golden Key member to name the top three benefits of membership, and you’re likely to hear one answer over and over: scholarships. Cash money for travel and study. For graduate students and undergrads. For making dreams come true and ambitions a reality.
Golden Key members earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarship funds each year. Awards of $1,000, $5,000 or $10,000 can be yours. Join by December 15, 2018 to qualify for Golden Key scholarships being awarded in 2019.
Here’s another question: Who wins these awards?
Answer: Golden Key members throughout the world.
Check out these Golden Key legends who’ve made the most of their scholarship money. We think you’ll agree, they’re rock stars. Next round, we want to see YOU in the spotlight.
Be in it to win it! Join Golden Key by 15 Dec 2018.
$10,000 Scholarship Winner
Patrick McCauley
Astrophysicist and PhD Candidate
Golden Key International Honour Society Scholar
Patrick McCauley wanted to study the sun, “our amazingly beautiful star,” as he calls it. It was Patrick’s ambition to work with the world’s leading solar storm researchers at the University of Sydney, a goal that seemed almost impossible. That is, until he applied for the Golden Key Graduate Scholar Award—and won. With $10,000 in hand, Patrick enrolled in the PhD program at the prestigious Australian university. Today, he studies solar radio bursts using a Murchison Widefield Array, a massive telescope project developed at the university. Patrick is in his element and doing his part to change the world, conducting research and creating a solar storm exhibit n for the Sydney Observatory. “The sun is endlessly fascinating,” he exults. We think Golden Key members are endlessly fascinating too.
$5,000 Scholarship Winner
Patricia Hanley
Marine Biologist and Aquatic Science Tech
Golden Key International Honour Society Scholar
When it comes to lobster, Patricia Hanley can never get enough. She doesn’t eat them—she studies them. As an Aquatic Science Technician at Fisheries and Oceans Canada, an organization that safeguards Canada’s waters and fisheries, Patricia collects data and performs preliminary analyses that senior scientists rely on. With her $5,000 in cash, Patricia is doing her part to change the world. “By studying the species in its natural habitat, I’m helping to protect Canada’s waters from the negative impact of humans and invasive species. And I’m doing it with science. How great is that? I feel like I was born to do this.”
Roundup of Winners Around the World.
Patrick and Patricia are two of the MANY members around the world who have earned the Golden Key scholarship spotlight. Here’s a list of the Golden Key members who won well-earned cash awards. Stay tuned for the list of 2018 winners.
We want to see YOU on this list, too. First step: Become a member.
Be in it to win it! Join Golden Key by 15 Dec 2018.
Here’s why you should go for Gold and become a Golden Key Member. *2018 Membership Deadline is 15 December 2018! Did you get an invitation to join the Golden Key International Honour Society? Congratulations and well done! That invitation is proof of your talent and […]
To honor the legacy of Nelson Mandela, the Golden Key Chapter at Stellenbosch University (located in South Africa) worked in partnership with Matie Community Service, a non-profit organization of the university, to host the annual Toasties for Tummies event. Toasties for Tummies is an initiative that […]
The Canadian Golden Key Leadership Summit, also known as CANCON, was held in Montreal this year February 23-25, at the Marriott Chateau Champlain. The summit was co-hosted by the Concordia University and McGill University chapters.
About 125 students, alumni, and chapter advisors came in from across Canada and the U.S. and we even welcomed one member from Australia. For those that arrived early enough on Friday, CANCON started off with a team scavenger hunt around Montreal. Groups headed off with their clue sheet in hand to explore the city and get some great pictures and videos of themselves completing the tasks to earn points for their team.
The opening session was held in the famed Caf’ Conc’ theatre in the hotel that was designed to look like the French theatres of old.
The keynote speaker on Friday night was one of the McGill chapter’s honourary members, renowned human right lawyer and former McGill University professor, Julius Grey.
In an after summit survey, one attendee wrote “I think that Julius Grey shared an important message regarding leadership, especially in terms of being afraid to speak up about ideas that might go against mainstream ideology”.
After the opening session, everyone headed out to a networking social event at Thursday’s Bistro Pub nearby. It was a short walk and fun to see the group out exploring Montreal together. The networking event was held in a section of the restaurant reserved just for our group. A special thanks to the Concordia University chapter for organizing the Friday night networking event.
Saturday morning started off with a wonderful speech from Dr. Karl Moore. Dr. Moore is a professor at McGill University and he discussed introvert and extravert characteristics in leaders. His presentation was a great start to the morning. Karl is quite an extravert himself and had a wonderful way of engaging the audience during his presentation.
One attendee wrote in a post summit survey “I absolutely loved listening to the presentation of Dr. Karl Moore. He was an energetic personality that had the attention of the room the entire hour. I found his content extremely relevant and took an immense amount of notes. I found myself actually understanding more about myself from the qualities and behaviours he addressed with an extrovert.”
We then started up the workshop sessions where attendees could choose from three options for each of the three sessions. A variety of speakers presented throughout the day including a doctor discussing med school, a McGill professor talking about how he almost became an astronaut, an etiquette specialist teaching attendees about business and culinary etiquette, a presenter working with attendees on their personal brand, the McGill chapter advisors discussing learning styles of gifted individuals, a representative from Dans La Rue which is a service organization dedicated to helping the homeless in Montreal, and many more inspiring speakers.
One attendee wrote ““My favourite moment at the 2018 CANCON Montreal Summit was the Dans La Rue workshop. It truly changed my life.”
After the workshop sessions, we all gathered again in the Caf’ Conc’ theatre for a group sharing session. The attendees formed small groups to share ideas about what works at their chapters, challenges they have come across, great service project ideas, and to connect with other chapters to possible collaborate with each other. Each group then sent up a representative up on stage to share what their group had discussed and any recommendations they had for everyone. It was great to see so many connections made and to hear about all the wonderful events and service initiatives that the chapters are organizing across Canada and beyond.
We moved right into our closing session where Juno Award winning singer Kellylee Evans shared her story of being struck by lightning and what she has learned about herself through her long recovery. She also delighted the crowd by singing two songs on stage that had everyone captivated. She even got the GK members to sing along for part of one of the songs, which was a lot of fun. The closing session was very uplifting and Kellylee was a great speaker.
In a post summit survey, one attendee wrote “Funny, informative, touching, engaging. Couldn’t have asked for a better way to close out the weekend”. Kellylee is an honourary member of the Carleton University GK chapter.
After a little time to get ready, everyone gathered in the hotel lobby to walk over to Crescent Street where we had our big group dinner at Wienstein & Gavino’s. The food was very good and everyone seemed to have a good time chatting with each other and making more GK connections. After dinner, some people headed out to explore the Montreal nightlife and others headed over to the Montreal Festival of Lights, an outdoor festival that was going on not too far from the summit hotel.
On Sunday morning, a number of chapters met with Golden Key’s Canadian director to go over their plans for the rest of the year. Most people heading off back home on Sunday but few stayed an extra day to further explore the wonderful city of Montreal.
Overall, the summit seemed to have been very well received by the attendees.
Some of the comments from attendees about their overall experience at CANCON:
“I really liked the emphasis on, not only allowing opportunities to network, but teaching members *how* to network. I really liked the session that explained the different ways that introverts and extroverts operate as leaders and by extension how this affects the way that they network. Not only that, the conference allowed for these two types of networking to be explored. The conference was great in giving attendees the opportunity to network both with and without guidance.”
“Being able to connect with other chapter executives and the chapter sharing session were the most useful as they allowed discussion of common chapter issues. This allowed for collaboration between chapters to discuss potential solutions to common problems.
“Excellent session content, enthusiastic participants. Fun side-activities.”
“I found that I truly understood what Golden Key was really about this weekend. I love it.”
Congratulations to the Concordia and McGill chapter executives for helping to organize a wonderful summit. All your hard work throughout the many months of preparation is very much appreciated.
Looking forward to CANCON 2019!
For more detailed descriptions of the various speakers, please visit www.gkcancon.com. The CANCON 2018 information will stay up on the website for a little while.
Brad Rainey, Golden Key’s Executive Director, Reflects on What Golden Key Has Become in 40 Years . . . and What Its Future Holds.
Have you been invited to join Golden Key International Honour Society? Or would you like to join?
Back in 1977, a group of students had a vision for a new kind of campus organization – an honor society that would empower high–achieving students to become future world leaders. As soon as discussions began, Golden Key began to evolve into the organization that it has become today. The philosophy was floated that students become leaders by serving others, by taking responsible roles in campus organizations, and by joining groups of like-minded, community–minded students.
The importance of scholarships and awards to help high–potential students fulfill their promise was recognized. The students drafted a constitution and bylaws and incorporated Golden Key National Honor Society as a nonprofit corporation. On November 29, 1977, more than 300 students from all fields of study, races, religions and life experiences were inducted into the first Golden Key chapter at Georgia State University.
In the earliest days of Golden Key’s development, the Board of Directors of the Society consisted primarily of student founding members. Serving at that time were James W. Lewis, Michael MacLauchlan, James G. Lewis, Brad Rainey and Alfred Simon. Brad Rainey, who serves as Golden Key’s Executive Director today, recalls that while big ideas were being discussed, something else was happening too – an organization was being born where highly ethical practices, transparency and commitment to students were already palpable. He also says that those same values still are deeply felt within the organization.
That perception is more than one leader’s opinion. It has been borne out in milestones that marked Golden Key’s 40 years of evolution . . .
Students saw Golden Key’s promise at once, and within a few months of that initial induction ceremony in November 1977, efforts began to open new chapters. By the end of 1978, six Golden Key chapters had been established at the University of Georgia, the University of Florida, and other campuses. Chapters began to engage in service projects in the communities where they were located. The Society hired its first staff people and opened its first office to organize programs of foreign study for members.
Then in 1982, the first annual national Golden Key Conference was held in Atlanta. Members connected, shared service opportunities, and the founding values of Golden Key began to resonate on a deeper level. The value of bringing together members was clear and one year later, the first annual Golden Key Regional Conference took place at Michigan State.
The value of offering financial assistance to students began to take life. By 1984, Golden Key had awarded more than $100,000 in scholarships to members. In that same year, the 50th Golden Key chapter opened at San Diego State University.
In 1985, Golden Key was able to purchase a building to house its national headquarters and a remarkable period of growth began. Corporate sponsors NCR and Peat Marwick came on board and fostered continuing growth.
In 1993, Golden Key opened chapters in Australia. New chapters were established in Malaysia, Canada and other countries and in 2000, the Society changed its name to Golden Key International Honour Society.
Success has followed success. By 2010, Golden Key reached the milestone of having 2 million members. And by 2011, the Society was annually awarding more than $1 million in scholarships to members.
Today, Golden Key International Honour Society is a widely recognized and highly regarded collegiate honor society that prides itself on operating with integrity and transparency at over 400 colleges and universities worldwide.
Golden Key maintains offices in Australia, South Africa and the United States. Its international headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia
Golden Key International Honour Society is governed by an independently elected Board of Directors comprised of highly regarded professionals from universities, businesses and not for profits. These voluntary board members receive no compensation and are legally responsible for ensuring that the Society operates within its charter and in accordance with the various laws and regulations within the jurisdictions where Golden Key operates.
As its 40th year begins, almost 2.5 million high achieving students have joined Golden Key. Many members are Rhodes and Fulbright Scholars. Two Governor Generals of Australia, a former Canadian Prime Minister, astronauts, university presidents and other notables such as Bill Clinton, Desmond Tutu, Bill Ford and Elie Wiesel have proudly accepted honorary membership into the Society.
“We are not resting on our accomplishments,” says Executive Director Brad Rainey. And what accomplishments they are – 40 years’ worth.
Rainey adds, “Golden Key’s values, mission, history, accomplishments, and students have built a robust platform for a bright future of supporting students as Golden Key helps to create the world leaders of the future.”
Are you eligible? Click here to find out!
On our 40th Anniversary, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal gave us the gift of commending our members and recognizing the Society. Thank you to our entire GK family for your hard work and dedication to Golden Key. Click here to see the scanned Proclamation! Here’s to […]
GK SCHOLARSHIPS: Ather Sharif
GK Scholarships: Logan Thornton