Protecting Students
Phi Theta Kappa’s Lawsuit to Protect Students
Message to Our Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Community About Our Lawsuit With HonorSociety.org
Many of our members, potential members, PTK Advisors, community college partners and other friends of the organization have asked about our lawsuit against HonorSociety.org. This page is intended to provide you an update on the lawsuit and some other recent events that some of you may have become aware. All of PTK’s actions have been designed to protect community college students from what it perceived were the unfair business practices of Honor Society and its leadership. Unfortunately, that effort has only been met with what can only be described as groundless, and at times, vicious, attacks against PTK and its executive team.
Those attack efforts have been held to be false and misleading and enjoined by a federal judge in Mississippi twice now. And the bad actor, Honor Society, has been held in contempt of the federal court’s most recent injunction entered in August 2024. The federal judge has agreed with us that what Honor Society.org is doing is legally wrong, but I want to elaborate on that further.
PTK's Lawsuit to Protect Students
In April 2022, PTK initiated a lawsuit against Honor Society.org for, among other things, trademark infringement and false advertising (see: https://www.ptk.org/phi-theta-kappa-sues-las-vegas-company-for-trademark-infringement/). HonorSociety.org is a for-profit enterprise that goes by the name, “Honor Society”, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Honor Society was marketing (and still is marketing) itself as an “honor society”, despite having no selection criteria at all, including requiring no minimum level of academic or leadership achievement (GPA or otherwise).
Honor Society markets itself to community college students using the same branding scheme (i.e. “trade dress”) as PTK, which PTK believed was leading students to join Honor Society thinking they were joining PTK. In fact, PTK was seeing this first-hand, because students who mistakenly joined Honor Society would contact PTK to complain about Honor Society’s commercial practices thinking it was PTK that had perpetrated that misconduct. This confusion persists to today because Honor Society has refused to change its marketing and membership solicitation practices.
Here is only a very small sample of inquiries and complaints to PTK from students believing "Honor Society" to be PTK.
Confused student charged over $900 by Honor Society thinking it was PTK
Confused Honor Society student requesting to cancel membership from PTK
Confused Student who joined both Honor Society and PTK thinking they were the same
Confused Student requesting refund from PTK for Honor Society merchandise
Confused Honor Society student requesting to cancel membership from PTK
Confused Honor Society student requesting help to log into ptk.org
Confused student charged $180 dollars by Honor Society and finding out they are not PTK
Confused student charged over $200 by Honor Society and believing the charges were from PTK
Request from a former member of Honor Society asking PTK to protect students from Honor Society
Honor Society markets itself to community college students using the same branding scheme (i.e. “trade dress”) as PTK, which PTK believed was leading students to join Honor Society thinking they were joining PTK. In fact, PTK was seeing this first-hand, because students who mistakenly joined Honor Society would contact PTK to complain about Honor Society’s commercial practices thinking it was PTK that had perpetrated that misconduct. This confusion persists to today because Honor Society has refused to change its marketing and membership solicitation practices.
Honor Society's Cyberbullying of PTK
In February 2024, PTK and Honor Society nearly reached a settlement agreement. However, when those discussions fell through, Honor Society secured new counsel and since that time has engaged in a highly aggressive strategy our legal team has described as “scorched earth” litigation tactics. These have included the assertion of what PTK believes are unfounded and meritless counterclaims against PTK.
Honor Society’s approach in this case has not been limited to merely meritless allegations in the lawsuit. Honor Society and has also engaged in harassing and misleading extra-judicial conduct that included an online survey about PTK which it sent to hundreds of thousands of community college students, and the use of generative artificial intelligence to create overnight 5,000+ websites containing the same meritless allegations within their counter lawsuit. They have threatened board members and former employees, and promised incentives to others to help bring PTK down.
In response to these tactics, PTK has been forced to go to federal court not once, but twice, to secure the extraordinary remedy of preliminary injunctive relief. In both instances, the federal judge agreed and ordered Honor Society to immediately cease and desist making its false and misleading allegations. In both instances, PTK prevailed, and Honor Society lost. In the federal court’s first order, the federal judge found the referenced survey to be "malicious” and designed to harm PTK. In the most recent injunction, the federal judge condemned the use of generative AI to malign PTK on a massive scale, particularly given the web pages’ deceptive and misleading nature. At the conclusion of his order, the federal judge identified Honor Society’s Executive Director, Michael Moradian, as a "petulant cyberbully" for his misconduct. Moradian later disregarded the federal court’s order, resulting in a contempt ruling and a fine of $1,000 per day for every day Honor Society remained non-compliant with the injunction.
In a recent opinion from the federal court granting PTK injunctive relief against Honor Society, the federal district judge Carlton W. Reeves wrote:
“It appears that Honor Society wants to punch PTK in the mouth at every opportunity. But the totality of its online behavior paints a picture of a petulant cyberbully fixated on destroying a competitor, rather than a boxer abiding by the rules of his sport.”
Undaunted, Honor Society’s aggressive tactics against PTK continue, with community college students across the nation being relentlessly bombarded with spam emails, misleading surveys, and petitions—all part of a coordinated effort to interfere with legal proceedings and to weaken Phi Theta Kappa and its position in the lawsuit by targeting and discouraging students from joining.
PTK strongly encourages students and other constituents to ignore these unsolicited emails, as they contain only the litigation position of our courtroom adversary.
Honor Society Has Recruited Agents to Act on Its Behalf
PTK is aware that students are being repeatedly spammed with emails and surveys containing false allegations of sexual harassment, financial mismanagement, favoritism, and employee mistreatment. We have strong reason to believe that these efforts are being carried out by individuals closely associated with and working alongside Honor Society’s “Executive Director”, Michael Moradian.
These baseless ‘calls to action’—framing their attacks as efforts to ‘protect women’ and ‘support employees’—are nothing more than a deceptive strategy to manipulate public perception and discourage students from being part of PTK. We strongly encourage all recipients to ignore these messages. PTK remains committed to addressing these falsehoods through the proper legal channels and holding those responsible accountable.
Honor Society’s Claims Against PTK
In March 2024—two years after PTK filed its lawsuit—Honor Society brought new counterclaims against PTK that challenge PTK’s marketing materials for students and chapters. For example, Honor Society claims that PTK’s representations concerning scholarship numbers, class rank and being the “official” honor society for community colleges are all false. PTK stands firmly behind its public statements and the methodologies used for the data included on our website and in our student invitations.
For over a century, Phi Theta Kappa has proudly fulfilled its mission to recognize and promote academic achievement among community college students. Last year alone, the Phi Theta Kappa Foundation awarded nearly $2.5 million in competitive scholarships to its members—many of whom are at risk of dropping out due to financial and personal barriers. Nearly half of our members receive Pell Grants, and over 30% are the first in their families to attend college.
Beyond the scholarships awarded directly by PTK, we collaborate closely with colleges and universities to connect our members to hundreds of millions of dollars in additional scholarship opportunities, easing the financial burden of higher education. For many students, an invitation to PTK is the first formal recognition of their academic success—a moment of validation and encouragement that can change their educational trajectory. We stand by the methodology used in our most recent scholarship study, which you can review here: Scholarship Study.
PTK has been highly successful in helping our members access funding and educational opportunities they might not have otherwise been able to afford. Community college students are often overlooked, facing significant economic barriers to continuing their education at four-year institutions. PTK is one of the few organizations solely dedicated to providing these students with critical resources and financial support. We take great pride in the work we do to create positive outcomes for the vulnerable student populations we serve.
We also stand firmly behind our academic standards and the caliber of our members. Across our 1,200+ chapters, PTK members consistently rank in the top 10% of enrolled students based on academic performance (See methodology here: Membership Study). Our membership and recruitment data tells us the average GPA for those who receive an invitation to join PTK is 3.5. For those who accept membership, the average GPA is 3.76. Over 1/3 of our members have a 4.0 GPA. PTK has never requested or facilitated the lowering of academic standards. In fact, throughout our 106-year history, the academic standards established in our Constitution have remained unchanged.
Our membership reflects our marketing practices. This chart outlines the percentage of PTK members annually who fall within various GPA ranges.
| Year | 3.0-3.24 | 3.25-3.49 | 3.5-3.74 | 3.75-4.0 |
| 2018 | 1.1% | 9.6% | 35.5% | 53.8% |
| 2019 | 1.6% | 10.3% | 33.8% | 54.3% |
| 2020 | 1.8% | 11.2% | 30.5% | 56.6% |
| 2021 | 1.7% | 10.7% | 28.8% | 58.8% |
| 2022 | 1.7% | 10.7% | 28.0% | 59.6% |
| 2023 | 1.9% | 10.6% | 28.6% | 59.0% |
| 2024 | 1.8% | 11.3% | 28.5% | 58.3% |
PTK has also long been recognized as the “official” honor society for community colleges in the United States. PTK first received this recognition from the American Association of Community Colleges in 1929. Since then, PTK has long been recognized by community colleges across the country as the general honor society for their school or campus. Those schools identify to PTK students that are eligible for membership, and partner with PTK to invite them to join.
Despite the overwhelming evidence that these statements by PTK are truthful, Honor Society and others that it has recruited continue to make the same baseless allegations time and time again.
Conclusion
The research on student success is clear; students who actively engage with their coursework, faculty, and peers are more likely to thrive in college. Phi Theta Kappa chapters are designed to foster these connections, providing students with meaningful opportunities to collaborate, lead, and create positive change on their campuses and in their communities.
Despite the attacks, PTK remains steadfast in its mission to recognize and support students. We eagerly await the federal court’s decision on the pending motions for summary judgment on claims against PTK, as well as the requested sanctions against Honor Society for its further misconduct in the lawsuit, including alleged perjury and witness tampering. PTK looks forward to the June trial, where we will disprove their baseless claims and fully expose Honor Society’s unfair business practices.
About Phi Theta Kappa
PTK (www.ptk.org) is an international, non-profit, academic honor society that recognizes and supports high-achieving students at associate-degree-granting institutions. PTK’s mission is to celebrate academic excellence and provide students with leadership, scholarship, career preparation, and service opportunities that prepare them for success beyond the classroom—a mission they have proudly pursued for more than a century.