Сигма Пи: Америкалық студенттік бауырластық тарихы

North American collegiate fraternity
the college fraternity

Sigma Pi (ΣΠ) is a collegiate fraternity with 232 chapters at American universities. As of 2021, the fraternity had more than 5,000 undergraduate members and over 118,000 alumni. Sigma Pi headquarters are in Nashville, Tennessee. The fraternity was founded on February 26, 1897, by William R Kennedy, James T Kingsbury, George M Patterson, and Rolin R James at Vincennes University. The group was initially known by the Greek letters Tau Phi Delta (ΤΦΔ), but was renamed Sigma Pi in 1907. The change of name was instigated by Robert George Patterson, then a student at Ohio State University. Patterson had wanted to join the Sigma Pi literary society at Illinois College in Jacksonville, Illinois, but the latter group had rejected his request to expand to OSU. In 1907 Patterson approached Tau Phi Delta members, claiming to represent a historic fraternity called Sigma Pi that dated to the 18th century. Tau Phi Delta accepted Patterson's invitation to merge and adopted the named Sigma Pi. Later, Patterson's “history” of Sigma Pi was shown to be false, but the organization kept the name. The organization oversees several charitable programs, including the Altruistic Campus Experience 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."

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. William Raper Kennedy (November 22, 1877 – December 5, 1944): Born in Vincennes, Indiana. Graduated Vincennes University in 1897. Served in the Spanish–American War and re enlisted in the infantry a month after being discharged. He was continuously in military service and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the infantry. He was a faculty member at Culver Military Academy from 1905 until retiring in 1944.

Robert George Patterson (of no relation to the founder) was only 11 years old in 1896 when he first heard William Jennings Bryan speak. Patterson was convinced Jennings Bryan was the greatest American of his time. Shortly after the presidential election of 1896, Patterson read Jennings Bryan's autobiography The First Battle, which revealed Jennings Bryan was a member of Sigma Pi, a literary society at Illinois College in Jacksonville, Illinois. Patterson was determined to attend the college and follow the footsteps of Jennings Bryan. However, Patterson's parents forced him to attend the nearby Ohio State University, prohibiting him from joining the literary society that only existed at Illinois College. Patterson still desired to become a member of the prestigious Sigma Pi. He wrote Sigma Pi at the Illinois College to petition for expansion but was rejected as the society refused to expand. Patterson also contacted another fraternity named Sigma Pi at the University of Toronto to request expansion but was again rejected. That same year the fraternity opened its first chapter in the American south with the Omicron chapter at Tulane University. Plans were first made for the creation of the Sigma Pi Foundation in 1922. The fund sold life memberships to alumni and was an endowment fund for the fraternity. Money raised was used to help chapters purchase housing and to fund other fraternity needs. Life memberships also came with a lifetime subscription to The Emerald. The fund was formally chartered in the State of Indiana on February 26, 1923. In 1931 the fraternity produced its first pledge manual with brothers Oscar E. Gerney, Benjamin V. Ogden, and Harold Jacobsen being on the committee that produced it. That same year, the fraternity saw the first publication of the Keryx newsletter. In 1937, Mississippi State University chapter was installed, becoming the first new chapter formed from a colony. Before the Alpha Lambda chapter, all new chapters had been fraternities or societies already in existence that agreed to consolidate into Sigma Pi. That same year the fraternity hired brother James Hauser as its first field representative. William J. Cutbirth became the first Sigma Pi to be president of the North American Interfraternity Conference when he was elected to a term running from 1974 to 1976.

The 1980s saw growth in the fraternity as it chartered 42 new chapters during the decade. In 1984 Sigma Pi became an international organization upon the chartering of the first Canadian chapter (Zeta Iota at Western Ontario), ushering the fraternity to change its name to the current title, Sigma Pi Fraternity International. In 2003, the fraternity moved its international offices to Brentwood, TN as it was not as isolated as Vincennes. Being closer to a major city allowed for better access to airports and computer network infrastructure. The fraternity rented offices in the Gallatin Building until a property could be purchased. The fraternity sold the Shadowwood Estate in 2005 to a private individual. An office was found on Wilson Pike Circle and the fraternity's offices moved there in 2007. In 2013, the fraternity sold the property on Wilson Pike Circle and purchased the Mitchell House in Lebanon, Tennessee from Cracker Barrel Old Country Store for use as its headquarters. It held the grand opening of the building on March 29, 2014. After more than five years at the Mitchell House, the Executive Office moved to a new location near downtown Nashville and the Nashville International Airport.

After its founding in 1897, the Alpha chapter at Vincennes University closed in 1910. It remained dormant for 55 years until 1965 when the Alpha chapter was re activated. Grand Sage Frank C. Fryburg worked with the students and administration at Vincennes to re activate the chapter. However, the North American Interfraternity Conference prevented its members from opening chapters at 2 year Junior colleges. Honorary Grand Sage Curtis G. Shake was tasked with creating a formal petition to the NIC, which requested special dispensation be granted to Sigma Pi to reopen the chapter. The petition passed and on February 26, 1965, Alpha chapter was re charted.

Sigma Pi Fraternity promotes five basic ideals, which a brother considers to be of extreme worth. Each ideal is mentioned in the Creed of Sigma Pi. Each ideal represents goals which every member is encouraged to strive toward in their own daily life. The First Ideal: To establish a brotherhood. The Second Ideal: To establish and maintain an aristocracy of learning. The Third Ideal: To raise the standards of morality and develop character. The Fourth Ideal: To diffuse culture and encourage chivalry. The Fifth Ideal: To promote the spirit of civic righteousness and quicken the national conscience.

Sigma Pi demands its members have a reasonable amount of interest and participation in its affairs. Sigma Pi's expectations are summarized by the 10 obligations. All brothers are expected to regard each obligation with utmost seriousness and strive to work towards their fulfillment. If properly followed, these obligations help make Sigma Pi chapters run effectively and efficiently as well as making Sigma Pi men outstanding members of their communities and society.

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.

Sigma Pi has several publications, which aid its operations. Each serves a specific purpose within the Fraternity that helps Sigma Pi in all facets of membership. The fraternity has promotional literature to help promote Greek Life in general but also membership in Sigma Pi. Manuals are produced that aid the pledge education process, as well as all ritual information. Sigma Pi finally produces a magazine to keep alumni members informed. These publications are all written, edited, and updated at Sigma Pi's Headquarters in Lebanon, Tennessee. 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 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 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.