Phi Beta Kappa, the country's oldest academic honor society, has issued a correction to the Wall Street Journal. It says Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan is a member of the society and was inducted in 2002 at the University of Minnesota. The Journal had questioned whether Flanagan was telling the truth when she said she graduated "Phi Beta Kappa" from the U.
The Journal's story went back to a 2016 Minnesota House committee hearing, where Flanagan said she had graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the university. When the paper contacted her campaign, the staff's first answer made things worse: they said she did not belong to the honor society "due to the cost of membership."
On Wednesday afternoon, Phi Beta Kappa said otherwise. Amber Cox, the society's associate secretary and chief operating officer, said Flanagan "was inducted into the honor society in 2002 at the University of Minnesota." Cox explained how the confusion could happen: "donors may cover student fees," fees are sometimes paid at the last minute, and so "students may not know their fee was paid on their behalf."
Flanagan's campaign said she "remembers being unable to afford the membership fee." It also noted that universities and donors often cover that cost.
Flanagan called the Journal's reporting "inaccurate" and gave a more specific timeline. "I graduated in the spring and have been a member since September, the fall of 2002," she said. She offered to share documentation and described herself as "a real nerd in college." Part of the mix-up came from her graduation program, which didn't list the honor. That makes sense if her induction came in September, months after commencement.
The timing matters. Flanagan is running in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race against Michele Tafoya, and the dispute surfaced with Election Day close. Phi Beta Kappa's statement settles the factual question: she is a member. The campaign's own first answer, though, is the reason this became a story at all.
