The Bright Cast of Thought Good afternoon, Faculty, Students,
parents, members of the University, the Laredo, and the South
Texas community. Today we open a promising new era in the life
of Texas A&M International University as we meet to form our own
chapter of Phi Kappa Phi and to induct our first members.
Founded in 1897, Phi Kappa Phi recognizes, honors, and
encourages superior scholarship in all academic disciplines. By
recognizing and honoring scholars, Phi Kappa Phi stimulates
academic excellence throughout all fields of study. In our life
together as a learning community, “scholar” is surely one of our
most essential yet elusive terms. Both within and without the
University scholars today often emerge somehow detached from
life, living in a tower of ivory muddle. In their words and in
their lack of action, modern scholars often resemble Hamlet,
“Sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought.” Can we perhaps
re-imagine the scholar in brighter hues? What does it mean to be
a scholar? What are the characte