History
National History
Phi Sigma Pi was founded on February 14, 1916 at Central Missouri State University by President Eldo L. Hendricks, Dean Clause A. Phillips, and Professor C. H. McClure. At first these men tried to create a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the most prestigious scholastic fraternity at the time. But, they got turned down because their school was a teachers school, not a liberal art campus, and Phi Beta Kappa only allowed liberal arts campuses to be part of their fraternity. Undeterred, the three founders moved on to Omicron Delta Kappa, the leading honorary leadership fraternity. But, they got the same answer: turned down because they weren't a liberal arts college. Realizing no fraternity was good enough for them, our founders decided to start a new fraternity stressing scholarship, leadership, and fellowship, and Phi Sigma Pi was born. The Fraternity became national in 1921 with the formation of a second chapter at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. The National Fraternity has since evolved from an honorary professional fraternity to a professional education fraternity, and then, in 1966, to an honor fraternity for all disciplines. In 1977 the National Constitution was amended to admit eligible women and the fraternity became co-ed.
Local History
Locally, our Chapter, Gamma Xi, was founded on February 3, 1997 by Patrick Herron. Our First President was David Whittaker, with VP Mandy Ferriz. To date we have had 24 rush classes and have continued to grow and expand our impact on campus. Two of the highlights of the year are our annual Founder’s Day Formal celebration and an inter-chapter event called Philly Cup which we host with the Temple University Chapter (Alpha Lambda) each November.