Rosty SorokaAt the end of the school year, some students may receive letters asking them to pay $90 to join the Golden Key International Honour Society. But who are they, and what do they do?
Golden Key is a non-profit organization that offers international and chapter scholarships to its members, participates in service events, and provides its members with opportunities to develop leadership skills through conferences. In order to receive an invitation to join, undergraduate students must place in the top 15 per cent in their program. To accept the invitation, students must pay a one-time $90 fee. The University of Alberta chapter has around 1,300 to 1,400 current student lifetime members.
Golden Key was founded in 1977 in Atlanta, Georgia. In the past, it has come under fire for aggressive marketing and lavish corporate spending. Their corporate sponsorship program, which allowed for partners to contact students for internships, also put members on mailing lists for products like credit cards and auto insurance.
UAlberta Golden Key chapter co-president Yesmine Elloumi said the local chapter is registered under Student Group Services (SGS), meaning it comes under the same scrutiny as any other student groups on campus. She called the criticisms of lavish spending “outdated,” stating that the Canadian director for Golden Key, Ian Sankey, told her that his office couldn’t afford a holiday lunch for staff this year due to tight budgeting.
“Just because other universities don’t have a proper functioning chapter that doesn’t mean it applies to all universities,” Elloumi said.
Elloumi says the local chapter is mostly focused on leadership and service. They run events like blood drives, and donate to local causes through fundraising events like Pints for Puppies, with proceeds going towards the Edmonton Humane Society. The chapter also holds networking events like grad school speed dating, where undergraduate and graduate students are paired up to discuss grad school opportunities at the university. Elloumi stressed that these events are not exclusive to Golden Key members and that scholarships are the only member-exclusive part of Golden Key.
“All of our events and initiatives are not member-specific,” she said. “You don’t have to be a member to be involved in planning or to be involved in participating.”
Financials
According to Elloumi, the chapter receives no funding from the university. Instead, their budget comes directly from membership fees, which are a one-time payment of $90. For annual funding that goes towards events and service projects, Elloumi said the chapter receives $12 of chapter funding per new member from Golden Key headquarters plus an additional $2. Since the chapter gained 444 new members this year, it received $5,382 in annual funding and $890 in chapter scholarships.
In 1999, The Ubyssey reported that Golden Key spent less than 5 per cent of its total expenditure on scholarships. According to Golden Key’s 2015 Annual Report, $764,973.82 (U.S. dollars) was spent on scholarships, just below 11 per cent of their total expenditure for the year. The Golden Key website claims that 88 per cent of their funds are spent on programs, while the rest covers administrative costs.
Seeking out members
Golden Key sends out letters to the top 15 per cent of undergraduate students in their programs. In an email, Trevor Buckle, an associate director of Education Abroad at the U of A and a U of A Golden Key chapter advisor, said that since the university follows the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP), they cannot share student information with Golden Key. Instead, as per an agreement made between the university and Golden Key, the Office of the Registrar runs a query to identify the top 15 per cent in each program. This information is then sent to a secure third party which mails out the letters on behalf of Golden Key. Student information is then deleted by the third party.
“Since Golden Key has no personal student information for new members, the membership form is completely blank when a student goes to the Golden Key website to join,” Buckle wrote. “Golden Key will only be able to access the information that a student has voluntarily submitted on the membership form.”
Why students join
When third-year business student Andrew Nestea received an invitation to join the Golden Key International Honour Society, he remarked how it “was nice to be recognized for all (his) hard work.” While he was excited to receive the invitation, he “was a little bit confused on what (Golden Key) was,” as he had never heard of it. He said his primary reason for joining was to put it on his resume.
Elloumi said that while it may be tempting to join Golden Key in order to gain a flashy line on their resume, students shouldn’t join for that purpose.
“(It) isn’t meant to be an impressive line on your CV,” she said. “Joining… is more for gaining funding, connections, and executing meaningful projects for members, campus, and the community.”
Correction: A previous version of the article stated that Golden Key was never accepted into the Association of College Honors Societies, however The Golden Key International Honour Society was admitted into ACHS in 2005 and remained a member up until December 2013 when Golden Key voluntarily withdrew from that organization. The Gateway regrets this error.
