Sigma Pi - WikiHQ

Sigma Pi () is a collegiate fraternity in North America. As of 2021, it had more than 5,000 undergraduate members and over 118,000 alumni.

Sigma Pi oversees several charitable programs, including the Altruistic Campus Experience (ACE), and maintains the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation "to assist needy and deserving students to complete their education, and to aid aged or disabled former students who are in need or worthy of assistance."

History

Founders

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Rolin Rosco James (October 16, 1879 – February 4, 1953): Born in Lincolnville, Indiana. Graduated from Vincennes University in 1900; A. B., Earlham College, 1902; Studied at Harvard Law School. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church and by profession, a consulting attorney. The first two initiates of the society were Samuel and Maurice Bayard, who joined before a name or constitution was established. The constitution, name, and first ritual were developed at the Bayards' home. The founders soon agreed upon a name, and the society was christened Tau Phi Delta (). By the end of its first year in 1898, Tau Phi Delta had 10 members, but the new Fraternity encountered membership struggles at the turn of the 20th century, with many of America's young men leaving to fight in the Spanish–American War. Personal endeavors were paused, while national efforts and resources focused on the war in the Caribbean and Pacific Oceans. Key members of Tau Phi Delta, William Raper Kennedy, Lee B. Purcell, and Maurice Bayard, all left to fight in the war, leaving James as the sole member by the end of the war. James restored the society by initiating five new members shortly after the turn of the 20th century.

Patterson episode: how Sigma Pi got its name

Robert George Patterson (no relation to the founder George M. Patterson) was inspired by William Jennings Bryan's membership in the Sigma Pi literary society at Illinois College. Unable to attend Illinois College, Patterson tried unsuccessfully to have the society expand to Ohio State University and contacted an unrelated fraternity at the University of Toronto, also called Sigma Pi, about expansion. Failing at these, Patterson fabricated a history of Sigma Pi, claiming it was founded in 1752 at the College of William & Mary with members such as James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and Robert E. Lee. He then contacted Tau Phi Delta, which accepted his fabricated history and consolidated under the Sigma Pi name. The Sigma Pi Foundation, an endowment fund, was established in 1922 and formally chartered in Indiana in 1923.

Sigma Pi doubled its chapters between 1920 and 1927 and established a national office on May 16, 1927. It first operated out of Roselle, NJ, then Elizabeth, NJ. The fraternity published its first pledge manual in 1931. The Keryx newsletter also began publication in 1931. In 1937, the Mississippi State University chapter (Alpha-Lambda) became the first new chapter formed from a colony rather than consolidation. James Hauser became the first field representative that same year.

William J. Cutbirth became the first Sigma Pi to be president of the North American Interfraternity Conference, serving from 1974 to 1976.

International era, 1980 to the present

The fraternity chartered 42 new chapters in the 1980s.

Sigma Pi became an international organization in 1984 with the chartering of Zeta-Iota chapter at Western Ontario in Canada.

The fraternity moved its international offices to Brentwood, TN in 2003, selling the Shadowwood Estate in 2005. The offices again moved in 2007. In 2013, the fraternity purchased the Mitchell House in Lebanon, Tennessee for its headquarters, holding the grand opening in 2014. The Executive Office later moved to Nashville.

Alpha chapter at Vincennes University: preserving Sigma Pi's history

thumb|upright|Sigma Pi Centennial Clock Tower at Alpha chapter ([[Vincennes University)]]

The Alpha chapter at Vincennes University closed in 1910 and was reactivated in 1965 with special dispensation from the NIC, which then prohibited chapters at two-year junior colleges. Its symbol is the owl. Its flower is the lavender orchid, with the white rose and lilacs as alternates and goldenrod as an auxiliary.

Five ideals

Sigma Pi Fraternity promotes five basic ideals or pillars:

To establish a brotherhood.
To establish and maintain an aristocracy of learning.
To raise the standards of morality and develop character.
To diffuse culture and encourage chivalry.
To promote the spirit of civic righteousness and quicken the national conscience.

Creed

The Sigma Pi Creed expresses the fraternity's ideals:

Publications

Sigma Pi has several publications:

Membership

thumb|Sigma Pi house at the University of Illinois at Urbana

Sigma Pi, like many social fraternities, limits membership to men only. Requirements can vary by campus, depending on the rules of the university or college and the standards dictated by the campus Interfraternity Council. Generally Sigma Pi requires members to be in good academic standing and be active in the campus community. Potential members meet the brothers of a chapter during a process called rush. Following rush, the chapter convenes and votes on potential new members. With a favorable vote by the entire chapter, a potential new member will be offered a bid to join the local Sigma Pi chapter. If accepted, the man begins his pledgeship. Sigma Pi defines a pledge as "a man who has assented to become a member and who has been elected to membership but has not yet been initiated."

During this period the pledge and the fraternity come to know each other better and mutually reaffirm the decision to become full members in Sigma Pi. During his pledgeship, a man will learn about the fraternity's history, operations, and reasons for existence. He will also learn how his specific chapter operates and what is expected of him as a brother. A pledge has no right to exert influence on chapter policy or organization until he is granted full membership upon initiation; however, a pledge should still participate in conversations about chapter policy and organization with initiated members. Generally the pledge should speak through his big brother or the new member educator.

Altruistic Campus Experience

The "ACE" (Altruistic Campus Experience) Project began in the fall of 2002 when Former Executive Director Mark Briscoe re-evaluated the role of Greek life on campus. The project is the first fraternity or sorority campus service program for chapters specifically designed to benefit their host institutions. The program is designed to improve the campuses, on which chapters are located, thereby improving the collegiate experience for the entire college or university. Every project is unique to the individual campuses of each chapter. chapters are asked to determine a campus need and work to fill that need. The university must be aware of and approve the project prior to beginning the project.

Notable members

With more than 100 active chapters and colonies in the United States and Canada, Sigma Pi has over 110,000 alumni. Sigma Pi has alumni who are notable in many different industries and fields.

File:MikeBeebeGovernorCropped.jpg|Mike Beebe, Alpha Pi, Arkansas State University, 45th governor of Arkansas

File:Arthur Cook sport shooter.jpg|Arthur Cook, Alpha Chi, University of Maryland, gold medalist at the 1948 Summer Olympics

File:KIPLINGER, W.M. LCCN2016862079.jpg|W.M. Kiplinger, Gamma, Ohio State University, founder of Kiplinger

File:CountrySingerTracyLawrence.jpg|Tracy Lawrence, Epsilon Kappa, Southern Arkansas University, country music singer

File:Livingston JE.jpg|James E. Livingston, Alpha Delta, Auburn University, USMC, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient

File:Hans Mark - 1998.JPEG|Hans Mark, Iota, University of California, Berkeley, United States Secretary of the Air Force

File:General William R. Peers (ca. 1967).jpg|William R. Peers, Upsilon, University of California, Los Angeles, lieutenant general in the U.S. Army

File:Tony Romo before 2008 Pro Bowl.JPEG|Tony Romo, Beta Gamma, Eastern Illinois University, retired National Football League quarterback

File:Judge Curtis Shake.jpg|Curtis Shake, Alpha, Vincennes University, judge

File:Mercury Astronaut Wally Schirra - GPN-2000-001351.jpg|Walter Marty Schirra, Alpha Mu, New Jersey Institute of Technology, astronaut

File:Andrew Ross Sorkin, 2012.jpg|Andrew Ross Sorkin, Mu, Cornell University, journalist and writer

File:John T Taylor.jpg|John Thomas Taylor, Kappa, Temple University, lobbyist for the American Legion

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Local chapter or member misconduct

In March 2012, the Beta chapter at Indiana University released a 10-minute short film titled ‘FRATLINE: The Hazing Barrier’ which was banned by the Inter Fraternity Council and dean of students. Attention was drawn to the film (which was released on YouTube) after it received nearly 30,000 views in a week and depicted a hazing obsessed pledge master named Adam. Despite it being a “mockumentary”, the film was banned for depicting Indiana University Greek Life in a bad light. The film was eventually edited and re-released the following semester. It has been prominently featured on TotalFratMove.com, BroBible.com and the front page of the Indiana Daily Student on Election Day (November 6) of 2012. It currently sits at around 180,000 views on YouTube.

In November 2014, the chapter at Elon University temporarily lost its charter after its national office, as well as Elon officials, were notified about several new members suffering injuries from being forced to lie down on bottle caps. The chapter was a repeat hazing offender. The chapter was eligible to seek reinstatement on campus in fall 2017.

In December 2016, a former chapter of the fraternity made national headlines after disturbing photos leaked of former members hazing at the then-closed Hofstra University chapter. A former pledge and expelled member of the fraternity leaked photos showing individuals who appear to be pledges locked in small cages and photos showing additional individuals who appear to be pledges, shirtless, blindfolded, covered in hot sauce, and kneeling in front of a swastika. On March 1, 2016 - nine months prior to the release of these photos - the Grand Council of Sigma Pi revoked the chapter's charter due to "violations of both Fraternity and FIPG risk management policies."

In October 2016, Gamma-Sigma chapter at the University of Missouri opted to withdraw from the university's Greek community due to alleged overzealous enforcement of the student code of conduct against members of the chapter. Shortly after the chapter withdrew from the Greek community, the University of Missouri banned Sigma Pi from campus. This rift was caused when a pledge was sent to an emergency room with bruises on his buttocks and a blood alcohol level of 0.34.

In March 2017, the Executive Office of Sigma Pi opted to close its colony at Illinois Wesleyan University after an investigation launched due to a member of the colony being pulled over for drunk driving. The investigation found that the colony may have sponsored an event where underage drinking could have occurred. This was the colony's first offense, though a prior iteration of Sigma Pi on this campus faced its own risk management problems. The colony was noted in this case to have a "failure to attend to the culture of risk management."

In mid-November 2018, a former pledge was found unresponsive and later pronounced dead at an unofficial annex house to Ohio University's Epsilon chapter of Sigma Pi. The chapter was issued a cease and desist by the school's administration and the incident is under investigation by Ohio University and Athens, Ohio police. In April 2019, Ohio University permanently barred Sigma Pi from operating at any of its campuses. Current Sigma Pi members are additionally barred from joining any other social fraternity on campus or creating or colonizing a new fraternity. In February 2019, the estate of the deceased former pledge, Collin Wiant, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Sigma Pi alleging that Wiant and other pledges were hazed. This hazing included being forced to drink a gallon of beer in one hour, and be beaten and humiliated. The suit alleges that this pattern of activity ultimately resulted in Wiant's death.

On April 12, 2019, a University at Buffalo chapter caused all Greek life at the university to be suspended along with the creation of a new internal review committee for Greek Life following potential hazing. The student, Sebastian Serafin-Bazan, died five days later. The investigation is ongoing as of April 17, 2019.

In 2021, the chapter at the University of Indiana was suspended for at least two years for hazing pledges, endangering others, dishonest conduct, and failure to comply with university regulations.

References

External links

Sigma Pi's Notable Alumni