Pi Beta Phi (), often known simply as Pi Phi, is an international women's fraternity founded at Monmouth College, in Monmouth, Illinois on April 28, 1867 as I. C. Sorosis, the first national secret college society of women to be modeled after the men's Greek-letter fraternity.
Pi Phi's headquarters are located in Town and Country, Missouri. Since its founding, the fraternity has installed over 200 chapters and more than 300 alumnae organizations across the United States and Canada. Most of the fraternity's official philanthropies fall under the category of education/literacy programs or the preservation of traditional arts and crafts. Pi Beta Phi is one of 26 international sororities which are members under the umbrella organization of the National Panhellenic Conference.
History
Pi Beta Phi was founded as a secret organization under the name of I. C. Sorosis on at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois. Pi Beta Phi is regarded as the first national women's fraternity. The founders were Clara Brownlee Hutchinson, Libbie Brook Gaddis, Emma Brownlee Kilgore, Margaret Campbell, Rosa Moore, Ada Bruen Grier, Nancy Black Wallace, Jennie Horne Turnbull, Rachel Jane "Jennie" Nicol, Inez Smith Soule, Fannie Thomson, and Fannie Whitenack Libbey, and they created the society to enjoy the benefits of a secret society similar to those formed by collegiate men. They planned their society at a home where two of the women rented a room, choosing I. C. Sorosis as the name and "Pi Beta Phi" as the motto.
Shortly after the founding, the sisters had a jeweler design their official badge: a golden arrow with the letters "I. C." on the wings. When the name was changed to "Pi Beta Phi," the Greek letters replaced "I. C." on the wings. At the Yellowstone Convention of 1934, they voted to limit the links in the badge's chain; there are 12, one for each of the founders.
The first fraternity convention was held in 1868 at the home of Fannie Thomson in Oquawka, Illinois. The fraternity's second chapter was established that same year at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. The expansion made Pi Beta Phi the first national (multi-chapter) women's secret society.
Name change and NPC membership
At the 1882 convention, the society officially adopted its motto as well as the fraternity colors of wine and silver blue. It began to use Greek letters as its name six years later in 1888, when the name was changed from I. C. Sorosis to Pi Beta Phi. In 1893, with the number of alumnae members growing, the fraternity organized a national alumnae department. Cooperation among women's fraternities and sororities was formalized in 1902 with the founding of the National Panhellenic Conference, of which Pi Beta Phi was a founding member. Meanwhile, chapter expansion continued, and in 1908 the fraternity's first Canadian chapter was established at the University of Toronto.
The fraternity's first philanthropy, Pi Beta Phi Settlement School, was organized in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, in 1912. In 1913, the fraternity created local Alumnae Advisory Committees to support its chapters individually. Central Office, the fraternity headquarters, was established in 1925.
In the 1960s, G. William Domhoff, writing in Who Rules America?, listed Pi Beta Phi as one of "the four or five sororities with nationwide prestige."
Symbols
The official symbol of Pi Beta Phi is the arrow, and the official flower is the wine carnation. The fraternity colors are wine and silver blue. The unofficial mascot is the angel, nicknamed "Angelica". Pi Beta Phi does not have an official gemstone.
The crest is a lozenge emblazoned with the crest of the Brownlee family, two of whom were founders of the fraternity. The badge (pin) is a golden arrow. The pledge pin is a golden arrowhead with the Greek letter Βeta.
Membership
The Kansas Alpha chapter began publication of The Arrow in 1885; it would eventually become a quarterly magazine published by the international fraternity for all its members. Today, dues-paying alumnae receive The Arrow by mail, while others receive it annually and can access it online at the fraternity's web site year round.
Collegiate chapters
Alumnae clubs
Pi Beta Phi alumnae, initiated members in good standing who have graduated or otherwise left their college or university, can organize into local alumnae clubs which are recognized by the fraternity. Like collegiate chapters, alumnae clubs are grouped geographically into regions, which is led by an Alumnae Regional Director.