Local History of the VA Gamma Mu Chapter of Phi Kappa Theta
Phi Kappa Theta first planted its flag on the George Mason campus in the early nineties. Despite competition from several well-established fraternities, the Founding Fathers of our Chapter had an energy and enthusiasm that allowed the fledgling colony to grow quickly. The Virginia Gamma Mu Chapter was officially chartered on April 20, 1992, and went on to become one of Mason's most dominant fraternities in a relatively short time.
As is typical in the history many fraternities, our Chapter experienced internal problems that slowed its growth, eventually to a halt. By 1996, one could have said with almost complete certainty that the Phi Kap Chapter at Mason had died out. The highly motivated and dedicated Brothers that remained put into motion plans to get their Chapter going again. They recruited eight quality men to help them in this task. These men, known today as the Initial Eight, rebuilt our Chapter from the ground up. They quickly organized our Chapter internally, created a new Chapter Constitution, and began working to put Phi Kappa Theta on the top again. By 1998, Phi Kappa Theta had been completely reestablished as a fraternity on the Mason campus. Aggressive recruitment periods led to the addition of several dedicated Brothers to the “new” Chapter. These Re-Founding Fathers continued to push for greater heights. Our Chapter was quickly growing, and was beginning to be recognized again as a prominent fraternity on the Mason campus.
In 2000, our Chapter earned several awards, including the Greek Week Spirit Award, the Award for the Highest Grade Point Average, and the Award for Outstanding Greek Organization from the IFC. Our Chapter continued to excel, implementing strong recruitment periods, fundraising and philanthropy activities, and a strong social program. Our Chapter held its first Spring Formal, since the re-founding, in 2001 and it was a smashing success. As our Chapter enters the new school year, now over 30 Brothers strong, it continues to rise as a dominant force on the George Mason campus. Since 2000, our Chapter has held yet another successful Spring Formal and received even more awards including the Greek Week Sportsmanship Award, Third Place in Spring 2002 Greek Week, and 2001-2002 Fraternity of The Year.
National History of Phi Kappa Theta in Brief
Phi Kappa Theta Fraternity is the result of a merger of its parent fraternities, Phi Kappa founded at Brown University in 1889, and Theta Kappa Phi Fraternity founded at Lehigh University in 1919. These two fraternities merged in 1959 to form the United Fraternity of Phi Kappa Theta, the one true merger of competing national fraternities in the history of Greek life.
In 1938, the first joint committee of both Phi Kappa and Theta Kappa Phi met to discuss the possibility of the merger. This was the first "officially sanctioned" meeting between representatives of the two fraternities. The minutes of a Theta Kappa Phi National Council meeting in 1939 records "cautious approaches" between the fraternities - but was the true intent "marriage?" This is what the Conventions of '37, '39, and '41 tried to find out. It was not until the Penn State Conclave of '55 that definite authorization was given to explore further and finally at Ohio State in '57 to negotiate. Prior to the opening of school in the fall of 1958 separate national conventions of Phi Kappa and Theta Kappa Phi were simultaneously held at Ohio State University in Columbus. On September 8 agreement, in principle, was reached and each national convention ratified the unification and authorized their respective national councils to implement the terms of the consolidation agreement.
Finally on April 29, on the 70th anniversary of the Fraternity's founding in 1889, all was in readiness for the nationwide celebration of Charter Day - the day that all Theta Kap and Phi Kap chapters officially became chapters of the national fraternity PHI KAPPA THETA.
In 1959, the first Phi Kappa Theta Chapter was installed at Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina. The first two biennial conventions of the merged fraternity were held in Indiana, and it was during this period that the new national fraternity experienced its severest growing pains as it worked its way towards stabilization under the direction of Brother William Grogan. Since then the national fraternity of Phi Kappa Theta has striven to be nothing but the best.
Phi Kappa Theta is a National Social Fraternity Founded on 4 Ideals:
- Fraternal
Phi Kappa Theta strives to assist in the formation of men. The Fraternal ideal hopes to provide the tangible and intangible aids necessary to establish a closely knit collegiate community whose members enjoy a mode of living that is conducive to the formation of gentlemen imbued with Christian principles and ideals as preparation for living in the world community upon graduation.
- Intellectual
The pursuit of education means a love of learning, the acquisition of skills for one's future and the search for truth, knowledge and freedom. These can be found formally at universities or colleges, and informally in Phi Kappa Theta. This Fraternity, as a laboratory of human experiences, strives to complement its members' formal education with opportunities to instill a love of learning and achievement of high scholastic standards.
- Spiritual
Phi Kappa Theta was founded on religious beliefs and is the foundation of our principles, value system and ideals. To deepen the spiritual and enrich the temporal lives of Phi Kappa Theta members through a well-balanced program of fraternal, spiritual, intellectual, social and service activities.
- Social
God created man as a social creature, therefore, a well-adjusted social life is essential to our society. People must learn to develop social skills to live in harmony and in peace with one another. Phi Kappa Theta strives to meet these goals as well as provide a moderate, well-directed social programs for the development of gentlemen in those social graces of good manners, concern for others, unselfishness and an ease in communicating with one another.
Phi Kappa Theta seeks to provide its members varied personal experiences including learning to live cooperatively; respecting the opinion and rights of everyone; the acceptance of each other's uniqueness; the value of discipline; loyalty to others and to the organization; an understanding of unity which allows individualism while being part of a group; the acceptance of a fair share of group obligation by assuming individual responsibility; and an understanding of leadership dynamics. Fraternal, Intellectual, Social and Spiritual: these are the ideals of Phi Kap members. If you share these ideals and are looking for an opportunity to develop them, then PKT may be the place for you.