Similarly, seniors in the top fifth of the class are scholastically eligible. Character is much harder to judge, but must be done, as it is a constitutional requirement.
Character is more than basic honesty.
It includes unselfishness, school spirit, civic-mindedness, generosity, willingness to share and to help others and serve the engineering profession, ability to work with others in teams, absense of arrogance, respect for other students and for faculty, and just plain kindness. Different chapters use a variety of methods. The Vanderbilt chapter notifies all scholastically eligible students of their scholastic eligibility and asks them to indicate their interest in Tau Beta Pi and to submit information on their outside activities, especially service activities, and their non-technical interests. The chapter may also query faculty and staff about candidates whom they don't know personally. Administrative offices will be checked to see if candidates have had serious discipline problems.