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Phi Kappa Psi

Phi Kappa Psi (ΦΚΨ), commonly known as Phi Psi, is an American collegiate social fraternity that was founded at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania in 1852.[4][5] The fraternity has over ninety chapters at accredited four-year colleges and universities throughout the United States.[3] More than 179,000 men have been initiated into Phi Kappa Psi since its founding.[3] Phi Kappa Psi and Phi Gamma Delta, both founded at the same college, form the Jefferson Duo.

Phi Kappa Psi

February 19, 1852 (1852-02-19)
Jefferson College
Canonsburg, Pennsylvania

NIC

Active

United States

Conjugati Amicitia,
Vindicate Honore,
Et Ducti Vero,
Vivimus et Vigemus.

"United by friendship,
Sustained by honor,
And led by truth,
We live and we flourish"

The great joy of serving others.

  Cardinal Red
  Hunter Green

The Shield

Addressing Poverty

90[1]

7[1]

5,500[1] collegiate
143,000+ lifetime

Laurel Hall
5395 Emerson Way

Indianapolis, IN 46226
USA

Symbols[edit]

The coat of arms as adopted in 1908 has a sable (black) field, but today it is most often seen as shown in the adjacent infobox.[5] The fraternity's official colors are Cardinal Red and Hunter Green.[5] The badge is a textured bordered shield with a lamp resting on a book at the bottom and an eye surrounded by two stars at the top. In the center of the shield are the Greek letters Φ, Κ, and Ψ.[5]


The fraternity flag is in the proportions of eight and one-half feet wide by six feet high; it was designed in 1916 following instructions from the Grand Arch Council.[15][16]


The colors are the official fraternity colors and the design is three vertical stripes of equal width, a hunter green in the middle, flanked on either side by a cardinal red stripe. A smaller version is available with proportions roughly three and one-half feet wide by two feet high. The fraternity song is "Amici".[17] Its root dates back to the traditional song "Annie Lisle".

Governance[edit]

Executive Council[edit]

The Executive Council of Phi Kappa Psi is composed of the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and six Archons. Since its founding, Phi Kappa Psi has been controlled by undergraduates. This unique system of governance is achieved by a governing body, the Executive Council, which is made up of a majority of elected undergraduates. These undergraduates, known as Archons, represent the six Districts of Phi Kappa Psi, which divide the nation into roughly equal parts based on the number of chapters represented. Archons are elected during meetings of each District during District Councils, held during odd-numbered years. Four alumni also serve on the Executive Council and are elected at Grand Arch Councils, held during even-numbered years.

Phi Kappa Psi Foundation[edit]

Organized in 1914, the Phi Kappa Psi Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, public educational foundation.[27] It funds scholarships, grants, fellowships, and assistantships for Phi Psis and other students across the country.[27]

In 1984, Liz Seccuro was drugged and raped at the Phi Kappa Psi house on the campus.[33][34] William Beebe, who was not a member of the fraternity, pled guilty to sexual battery in 2007, following a written confession he had made to Seccuro as part of his Alcoholics Anonymous program.[35] Two others were implicated during an investigation of the Beebe case. They retained legal counsel and invoked the Fifth Amendment when questioned before a grand jury and were ultimately not charged.[35]

University of Virginia

In a 2009 incident, members were accused of stealing student newspapers that contained a news story about a student who alleged that she had been drugged with GHB and possibly raped while blacked out at a house party.[36][37][38] The homework of two chapter members was found at the same location where the stolen newspapers were discarded.[36][37][38] Emails from friends and relatives of Phi Kappa Psi members confirmed that the theft had been organized by the fraternity's leadership to stop the spreading of the allegations.[36][37][38]

University of Arizona

In 2013, placed its chapter on suspension following an alleged hazing incident. According to the Morgantown Police Department, a 19-year-old pledge was pushed against a wall and suffered a split chin and broken teeth while doing push-ups and other hazing rituals. After a joint investigation by both the university and the national fraternity, the chapter house was closed and the chapter was suspended for five semesters.[39]

West Virginia University

In 2014, suspended its Phi Kappa Psi chapter after two female students reported that they rapidly became intoxicated at the fraternity's party and tested positive for the date rape drug GHB.[40] Chapter officials disputed the test results and a subsequent investigation by the university showed that the results were inconclusive for the presence of GHB due to errors in laboratory procedures.[41] In 2016, the female students sued the university for intentionally mishandling the case because a Brown University trustee's son was accused of drugging them with plans to sexually assault them.[42]

Brown University

In 2017, Matthew Ellis, a Phi Kappa Psi pledge at , attended a fraternity event and was found unresponsive in an off-campus apartment complex the next morning.[43] Ellis' death led the university suspend all Greek activities on campus soon after. The chapter of Phi Kappa Psi at Texas State University had been put on suspension by the national organization a week earlier for unrelated violations. The local police placed the fraternity under investigation to determine the cause of his death.[44]

Texas State University

In 2017, suspended its chapter after an alleged hazing incident. A Phi Kappa Psi pledge slashed a female student's neck in her dorm room upon returning from an event at the fraternity's house. The nineteen-year-old pledge stated that he was forced to take drugs due to failing a pledge test, which led to the slashing. After an investigation, an Omaha judge rejected the pledge's attempt to use fraternity hazing as a legal defense. The pledge pleaded no contest to felony second-degree assault.

Creighton University

In 2020, on the campus of the , during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, a banner on the Phi Psi house urged people to remove masks, saying, "You can't eat ass with a mask on."[45] This occurred during a back-to-school party in an attempt to encourage new pledges.

University of Michigan

In 2020, "permanently revoked" recognition of its chapter of Phi Kappa Psi nearly a year after a freshman student was found dead in a gorge after leaving an illegal Christmas-themed "dirty rush" party in October 2019.[46][47]

Cornell University

In 2020, a fraternity member was arrested and charged with twelve counts of misdemeanor hazing. He was alleged to have made a group of 12 new fraternity members finish a large amount of alcohol at his off-campus home. One new fraternity member was transported to the hospital by Phi Kappa Psi members.[48]

Louisiana State University

List of social fraternities and sororities

Van Cleve, Charles L. (1902). . Philadelphia: Franklin Printing Company. OCLC 2140880.

Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity From Its Foundation In 1852 To Its Fiftieth Anniversary

Campbell, J. Duncan (1952). The Centennial History of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, 1852–1952. Vol. I, 1852–1902. Cleveland: Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity.  3519106.

OCLC

Gorgas, Harry S. (1952). The Centennial History of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, 1852–1952. Vol. II, 1902–1952. Cleveland: Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity.  3519106.

OCLC

Keehn, Roy D. (1910). (7th ed.). Chicago: Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity. OCLC 5469453.

Grand Catalogue of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity

(1985). Grand Catalogue of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity (12th ed.). White Plains, NY: Bernard C. Harris Publishing Company. OCLC 12695361.

Phi Kappa Psi

(1997). Grand Catalogue of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity (14th ed.). White Plains, NY: Bernard C. Harris Publishing Company. OCLC 324731269.

Phi Kappa Psi

Harper, Terrence (1989). The Manual of Phi Kappa Psi (15th ed.). Indianapolis: Phi Kappa Psi.  24765883.

OCLC

National homepage

Phi Kappa Psi Foundation

Laurel Hall