Academic Organizations

Act On Your Education

Some classes and some academic pursuits inspire students to do more than just learn the class material. Academic departments sponsor these groups so students have opportunities to deepen their education outside the classroom through meetings, on-campus activities, off-campus events, and real-life applications of what they’ve learned.

A faculty member from the sponsoring department serves as advisor to the group, but leadership is assumed by the students. Members are usually only students in that department, but the groups are open to all interested in the subject.

Our Academic Organizations

• Chiron Society: The Chiron Society was founded to provide opportunities for students majoring in education to participate in professional development activities, such as, attending conferences, and arranging for speakers or authors to present on campus, and to participate in community service activities.
• Christopher Dawson Society: The Dawson Society is a Student Government student club associated with the Humanities and Catholic Culture major. The aim of the Society is to provide out-of-class fellowship by holding lectures, including the annual Christopher Dawson lecture, energizing discussion groups, and organizing cultural trips to various metropolitan areas such as Pittsburgh. Society members are HCC majors and all those affiliated with Franciscan University who share a love for Humanities and Catholic Culture.
• Classical Society: Would you like experience teaching the second declension to high school students? Have you longed to reenact the Battle of Marathon with a room full of fifth graders? Or do you want to go to graduate school in theology, philosophy or classics? The FUS classical society offers students the opportunity to teach high school Latin, as well as give special presentations to area elementary and junior high school students on a range of classical themes. We also host several guest lecturers each year from prominent philosophers and theologians. These lectures are informative AND a great way for students to network with potential future graduate advisors. Upcoming visitors include: Robin Darling Young, Catholic University of America, Theology Dept. on Greek Patristics; Luc Brisson, CNRS, Paris on ancient embryological debates.
• Computer Science Club: The Computer Science Club seeks to promote the professional and personal development of computer scientists through programming contests, socials, and invited speakers.
• Fine Arts Society This society has been formed for the purpose of further educating the students of Franciscan University through exposure to the fine arts. We will endeavor to provide opportunities for the student body to attend cultural/fine arts events off campus (primarily in Pittsburgh, PA) and promote on-campus fine arts events. Find out about upcoming Fine Arts Society Events.
• Gemelli Society: The Gemelli Society was founded in 1964 to assist psychology, mental health and human services, sociology, and social work majors in their development in these human sciences. The society provides programs with visiting academicians, addresses by professional human services personnel, films and community services. The group is named in honor of the Franciscan friar physician, philosopher, theologian, and psychologist, Agostino Gemelli.
• Instruments of Peace: The Instruments of Peace is a club for Franciscan University of Steubenville Social Work Majors within the Gemelli Society. The purpose of the club is to allow social work students to organize in their interests, to provide support to one another, to provide educational and professional development activities, to promote an identity as a social worker and to participate in community service activities.
• Kappa Delta Pi: Kappa Delta Pi is an international educational honor society. The Tau Upsilon Chapter was chartered on March 13, 1994. Outstanding undergraduate and graduate students are invited to join at the end of each semester. Members engage in service activities and learning seminars to enhance their education.
• Mathematics Club: The Mathematics Club was founded to provide opportunities for students interested in mathematics to participate in various math-related academic and social activities. The club hosts guest speakers, organized astronomical observing sessions, promotes chess ladder leagues, and similar activities.
• Phi Alpha Honor Society: Phi Alpha is the national honor society for social work students, faculty, and practitioners. The purposes of Phi Alpha Honor Society are to provide a closer bond among students of social work and promote humanitarian goals and ideals. Invited members have attained excellence in scholarship and achievement in social work.
• Philosophy Club: The Philosophy Club is a forum in which students learn to philosophize by discussion, argument, and debate among themselves with the guidance of a professor from the Philosophy Department. The club also hosts guest speakers in philosophy and related disciplines.
• Political Science Association: The Political Science Association enables interested students to probe and discuss political issues outside the classroom, to learn about career possibilities in politics, government, and law, and to build camaraderie among their fellow students in political science. Activities include lectures, career nights, panels, and discussions on current issues, trends, and philosophical questions about politics, as well as social gatherings and trips to visit governmental institutions. Membership is open to all students interested in politics regardless of major.
• Psi Chi: Psi Chi is the national honor society in psychology. Membership in Psi Chi recognizes high scholastic achievement and interest in psychology. Undergraduates who are elected to Psi Chi are majors in psychology and related degrees who rank in the highest 35 percent of their class and who have demonstrated exceptional ability to conduct independent psychological research.
• St. Thomas More Society The St. Thomas More Society seeks to provide support and preparation for those interested in a career in law by cultivating high ethical principles together with an understanding of the legal system based on the natural law as interpreted by the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. Membership is open to all students regardless of major with the aim of encouraging fellowship among its members through lectures, movies, mock trials, and common prayer, as well as attendance at events and visits to institutions of legal significance.
• Sigma Beta Mu (Biology) The purpose of the biology club is to nurture and promote interest in the life sciences. This club supports members in the study of science and service to the University. Activities include discussions, movies, and field trips. Membership is open to persons interested in broadening their perspectives within the subdisciplines of biology as well as those interested in the health professions, conservation, and wildlife. Meetings are held as needed, usually in one of the biology laboratories.
• Sigma Tau Delta Sigma Tau Delta is the International English Honor Society. Its central purpose is to confer distinction upon students of the English language and literature. The Society strives to (1) provide cultural stimulation on college campuses and promote interest in literature and the English language in surrounding communities (2) foster all aspects of the discipline of English, including literature, language, and writing, (3) promote exemplary character and good fellowship among its members, and (4) serve society by fostering literacy.
• St. John Bosco Society The St. John Bosco Society was formed in 2005 to foster “communion” among catechetics students by providing opportunities for networking, socializing and continuing catechetical formation outside of the classroom.
• Enactus Enactus is a world-wide organization devoted to the support of the free enterprise system on college campuses. Each year students from Franciscan University of Steubenville compete with students from other colleges and universities on the basis of programs they have developed for a better understanding of the free enterprise system. The programs are judged each spring by business leaders, and the winning teams participate in a national competition.
• The Troubadour