History

In order to serve the needs of the psychology majors on the Staten Island Campus of St. John’s University, Dr. Miguel Roig and Dr. Carolyn Greco-Vigorito submitted a request to the Psi Chi National Office to establish a separate chapter of Psi Chi for Staten Island students in January, 1991. The final notification letter of acceptance from Psi Chi's National Office was dated March 19th, 1991. About a month later, our first induction ceremony took place. As of this academic year, we have inducted over 200 students. Many of those students have gone on to work in the field of psychology and have pursued advanced graduate degrees. Others have made significant achievements that have made our chapter very proud. For example, many of our Psi Chi members have presented their research at regional and national conferences in Psychology such as the Eastern Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, and the Association for Psychological Science, and some have won research awards for their presentations. And, of course, we can claim that one of our members, Michele Logosso, was the 400,000th member to be inducted into this very prestigious honor society in 2001. We are very proud of all of our students and we look forward to their continued achievements in the field of psychology.


Major programs hosted by Psi Chi, such as graduate school and career planning workshops, have been going on yearly since the chapter’s establishment.  Psi Chi also plans academic lectures and socials to which all members of St. John’s University are invited. Psi Chi also programs events and holds meetings with the Psychology Club.  The Psychology Club does not have academic GPA requirements for membership, which is the major difference between the two groups. Psi Chi and Psychology Club are separate organizations under St. John’s Student Government, Inc., however, Psi Chi and the Psychology Club still co-sponsor events together. Psi Chi and Psychology Club meet several times per semester and notification of meeting times is sent to all students in advance.