Alpha Sigma Phi (), commonly known as A Sig, is an intercollegiate men's social fraternity. Founded in 1845 at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, it is the tenth oldest social fraternity in the United States.

Alpha Sigma Phi has 181 chapters with over 8,000 undergraduate students as active members and well over 72,000 living members.

It is a member of the Fraternity Forward Coalition (FFC) and a former member of the North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC).

History

Founding

Alpha Sigma Phi was founded by three men at Yale College in 1845 as a secret sophomore society composed of many of the school's poets, athletes, and scholars. Upon rising through the ranks of the school, members shared membership with Alpha Sigma Phi in their sophomore year, one of three fraternities in their junior year and Skull and Bones or Scroll and Key in their senior year.

thumb|left|Louis Manigault

The founders of Alpha Sigma Phi were:

  • Louis Manigault – member of a French family that became prosperous through the operation of a South Carolina plantation
  • Stephen Ormsby Rhea – the son of John Rhea, a cotton planter of Louisiana who helped make the disputed territory of West Florida part of the U.S. through his involvement in the French and Indian War
  • Horace Spangler Weiser – a descendant of Conrad Weiser, a refugee from Europe known for his participation in the French and Indian War and treaty negotiations with Native Americans Its values or pillars are Silence, Charity, Purity, Honor, Patriotism. The fraternity's official symbol is the phoenix, as the phoenix rises from the ashes of its old body, signifying the re-founding of the fraternity in the early 1900s. Its colors are cardinal red and stone grey. Its flower is the Cardinal rose and yellow tea rose. Its publication is The Tomahawk.

Awards

Grand Senior Presidents Cup

First presented at the 1960 Grand Chapter, this award recognizes chapters of the fraternity - one for a chapter at an institution with a large undergraduate population (20,001+ undergraduates), one for a chapter at an institution with a medium undergraduate population (8,501 to 20,000 undergraduates) and one for a chapter with a small undergraduate population (fewer than 8,500 undergraduates) - that have best exemplified the ideals and purpose of the Fraternity. Chapters that score the highest in all areas of the Annual Report are recognized with the Grand Senior President's Cup. This is the highest honor a chapter can receive within Alpha Sigma Phi. The chapter must be in good standing with fraternity headquarters and excel in all aspects of the fraternity's annual report for accreditation.

Most Improved Chapter Award

The most improved chapter award is given to the chapter that has demonstrated significant improvement from one award period to the next award period.

Victor B. Scott Award

The Victor B. Scott Award is awarded annually to the chapter whose academic grade point average most greatly exceeds its college or University's all men's average. Brother Victor Scott presented the scholarship plaque for ‘creating an incentive on the part of each chapter of the fraternity to strive for a higher average in scholarship on the campus on which the chapter was located. After the merger with Alpha Sigma Phi, an award was named in his honor for outstanding chapter scholarship. In 2018, grand historian emeritus, Robert Kutz, UC-Berkeley 1967, established an endowment to allow for this award to once again be bestowed.

Notable members

Alpha Sigma Phi has over 8,000 undergraduate students members and well over 72,000 living members. <gallery>

File:Fester lurch 1966.JPG|Ted Cassidy, Lurch on The Addams Family

File:Frank Beamer.jpg|Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech head football coach, 1987–2015

File:Samuel Bodman.jpg|Samuel Bodman, 11th United States Secretary of Energy

File:Warren Buffett at the 2015 SelectUSA Investment Summit.jpg|Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway. "Oracle of Omaha" and world's sixth wealthiest person

File:ArthurSFlemming.jpg|Arthur Flemming, U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare

File:John Kasich by Gage Skidmore.jpg|John Kasich, 69th Governor of Ohio

File:C Everett Koop.jpg|C. Everett Koop, Surgeon General of the United States under President Ronald Reagan

File:Robert Loggia.jpg|Robert Loggia, Academy Award nominee

File:Ben Oosterbaan.png|Bennie Oosterbaan, three-time College Football All-American

File:Willard Scott Crop.jpg|Willard Scott, weatherman on The Today Show, creator and original portrayer of Ronald McDonald

File:Eric Swalwell 114th official photo.jpg|Eric Swalwell, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives

File:Ratan Tata photo.jpg|Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Group, India's largest conglomerate

File:2008 Open Championship - Tom Watson.jpg|Tom Watson, Eight-time Men's major golf champion. World's top-ranked player from 1978 to 1982

File:Andrew Dickson White 1885.jpg|Andrew Dickson White, first president of the Ivy League's Cornell University

</gallery>

Local chapter or member misconduct

In 1983, Tau chapter at Stanford University split off from the national fraternity organization over controversy regarding that chapter's inclusion of women as initiated members. The chapter had begun the tradition of initiating women some years earlier, but when a female member became president of the chapter, the national fraternity organization reacted with an immediate suspension and threat of charter revocation. Tau chapter became Alpha Sigma Co-Ed Fraternity thereafter, surviving independently for over ten years.

In 2018, Jacob Stephens, the fraternity's treasurer at the University of Oklahoma was convicted of stealing $32,000 from the chapter. He was charged with embezzlement.

In October 2025, the Rutgers University chapter of Alpha Sigma Phi was suspended after a student was critically injured in an alleged hazing incident. It was reported that student, 19. was hospitalized with found unresponsive and hospitalized with critical injuries. The chapter was put on "organizational disciplinary probation" until May 2026 and was placed on social probation. The city of New Brunswick, New Jersey reportedly posted a notice on the chapter residence declaring it an "unsafe structure." The national Alpha Sigma Phi organization threatened to permanently expel to students who directly or indirectly participated in hazing, and decided later to close the chapter.

See also

  • List of social fraternities

References

  • Alpha Sigma Phi - official website
  • Songs of Alpha Sigma Phi - audio recordings (WAV)