OUR HISTORY

        Pi Kappa Phi was not always the fraternity that it is today. Its history dates back to 1904, with 3 friends at the College of Charleston, in South Carolina. Their names were Andrew Alexander Kroeg, Simon Fogarty, Jr., and Lawrence Harry Mixson. Their original goal was to become officers within the Chrestomathic Literary Society. However, they had to compete with candidates from the 2 national fraternities that existed on their campus at the time. To combat this, they started their own group called Nu Phi, which stands for "non-fraternity." This organization eventually grew to 15 men, over a fifth of the college's population, but they still lost the elections. It was soon discovered that 8 of the Nu Phi members were disloyal and voted for the fraternity tickets, so the group disbanded. The 7 loyal members later held a meeting at Fogarty's home to start a new organization. On December 10, 1904, the first meeting minutes were inked for Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity.

       

        Pi Kappa Phi quickly recruited more members. In 1907, a second chapter was formed at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina. A third was formed in 1909 at the University of California, Berkeley. In just over 4 years, Pi Kappa Phi had become a true national fraternity. 1909 was also the year that the first Coat of Arms was created. The first motto was the Latin phrase Nil Separabit, which means, "Nothing Shall Separate Us." Over the years, the Coat of Arms changed, until its modern rendition was reached (shown on the right). Our motto is now the Greek phrase ΟΥΔΕΝ ΔΙΑΣΠΑΣΕΙ ΗΜΑΣ, meaning, "Nothing Shall Ever Tear Us Asunder." Now, Pi Kappa Phi runs strong, having established over 200 chapters nationwide and initiated over 230,000 members. We at Zeta Beta are proud to be one of its newest chapters, and we look forward to adding onto its legacy.

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