The National Fraternity

The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, 17th oldest fraternity, was founded by Brothers William Henry Letterman and Charles Page Thomas Moore on February 19th, 1852. Started in the southwest corner of the second floor of Widow Letterman's home on the campus of Jefferson College (in Canonsburg, PA), Phi Psi is part of the "Jeff Duo" with FIJI because they were both founded on the same campus, which is now known as Washington & Jefferson College. However, Phi Psi was founded almost four years later, and differed in that it was always intended to be a national fraternity and in that it was started to help the founders' friends, who were infected with typhoid fever. The whole chapter knows these sorts of details about the founding (yes, even the corner of Widow Letterman's house) because our fraternity education program makes a point of producing a lot of emphasis on the history, but the role of the national fraternity is certainly not a thing of the past.

With 87 active chapters spanning almost every state in the nation, the influence of Phi Kappa Psi is certainly large in magnitude these days more than ever. Noteworthy Phi Psis abound these days, including New York mayor Michael Bloomberg (right), Indiana Senator Evan Bayh, Yahoo! co-founder and owner Jerry Yang, Ticketmaster founder Jerry Nelson, former Olympic swimmer Mark Spitz, NBC president Pat Weaver, actor Peter Graves, and the late John F. Kennedy, Jr. Phi Psi also sets itself apart on a national level by giving undergraduates majority control on its executive council. It is made up of four alumni (its president, vice president, treasurer, and secretary), and six Archons, each an undergraduate representative of his respective district. For more information, feel free to visit the Phi Kappa Psi website.