Golden Key Canterbury

Golden Key is a global organisation
Golden Key Canterbury is one of 400 Chapters worldwide. It focuses on three pillars: Academics, Leadership, Service.
Recognising academic success
Golden Key Canterbury plays an important role at UC by recognising the academic achievement of UC students. Golden Key Canterbury was established in 1999 and now has over 5,000 members. It is a UCSA affiliated club.
Congratulations invitees!
Invitations are sent to students' email addresses. If you didn't receive an invitation and believe your GPA puts you in the top 15%, you can check your eligibility on the Golden Key website.
Opportunities for community service
Beyond academic recognition, Golden Key provides members with opportunities to give back to the community, and engage in both professional and personal development. All Golden Key Canterbury community service and professional development events/initiatives are organised by the student executive, elected at the Annual General Meeting held in October. Our largest ongoing Golden Key Canterbury events include:
- Primary School Mentoring Programme
- Annual High School Youth Forum
All Golden Key Canterbury events and initiatives are open to all UC students to participate in.
Benefits for Golden Key members
There are some special scholarships, travel opportunities, internships and support only available to Golden Key Canterbury members, and these are advertised on the international website.
Search the Scholarship listings on the Golden Key International website.
Become a Golden Key member
Membership to Golden Key Canterbury is by invitation only. Each year, the top 15% of UC students receive an invitation in the mail. The top 15% is based on standardised GPA scores across all Colleges. Please note you must have completed the equivalent of one year of full-time study before you can be invited to join Golden Key Canterbury.
2017 International Summit Travel Grant recipient – Sidney Wong
This year I was given the opportunity to travel to the Palms Resort and Casino, Las Vegas to attend the Golden Key International Summit. I’m currently studying towards a Master of Linguistics at UC, and I’m the current treasurer for the local chapter of Golden Key. I joined Golden Key in my second-year, and since then every year I’ve become more involved with the activities and events. The theme of the summit this year was “viva your life, viva your purpose, viva Las Vegas”, and it was chosen to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Golden Key since it’s foundation in Atlanta, Georgia.
I have never been to the United States, let alone Las Vegas, which is why this trip has been an eye-opening experience for me. Not only was the summit a celebration of academic success, it was a fantastic opportunity for me to further develop my core values as a student and as a life-learner. Seminars hosted by world-renowned guest speakers, such as motivational speaker Justin-Jones Fosu and comedian James Robilotta, were organised by Golden Key to further develop my leadership and service potential.
The highlights from this trip included the 40th Anniversary Gala Celebration on the 52nd-storey rooftop function room overlooking the Las Vegas Strip, and networking with like-minded and motivated students from all over world such as the United States, Canada, South Africa, and Australia. Further to this, being able to hear from incredible individuals such as Michael Crossland talking about resilience in the face of adversity hit me hard at home considering the challenges we have faced at the University of Canterbury.
Need more information?
To find out more, or to contact a Golden Key Canterbury student representative, please check us out: