The Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house is seen at the University of Mississippi, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2014. Photo by Payton Teffner
Many students may not know that the new fraternity on campus, Pi Kappa Phi, has a history with the university nearly a century long.
“The history of the Alpha Lambda chapter of Pi Kappa Phi is really quite interesting, and more and more pieces of the story come together as time goes on,” said Phillip Schmidt, president of the Alpha Lambda chapter and senior from Cypress, Texas.
It began in 1927 when a man named James Reagan Simms Jr. transferred to Ole Miss from Emory University. Here, he formed the 35th chapter of Pi Kappa Phi, which thrived for the next 13 years until the start of World War II. After many Pi Kapp members left the university to serve in the military, the chapter was forced to discontinue in 1940.
It took nine years for Pi Kappa Phi to reclaim its legitimacy at Ole Miss. During this time, a group of adamant students, who called themselves the Pi Kappa Club, held secret meetings on the top floor of the YMCA building on campus, working hard to regain their Alpha Lambda chapter. Finally, on May 15, 1949, the Pi Kappa Phi national president granted 15 men membership and elected officers. The Alpha Lambda chapter had been reinstated.
One year later, however, the chapter’s circumstances were more somber than victorious. Many of the new members had enlisted in the Korean War, and many never returned home. With so many casualties, the Alpha Lambda chapter once again could not survive and disestablished.
Sophomore Terrius Harris from Eagle River, Alaska, is a newly initiated member of Pi Kappa Phi who sees this history as an honorable one.
“I believe that the interesting fact that the reason we left this campus was due to many of our members going to serve in the war shows the type of men Pi Kappa Phi builds,” Harris said.
After its second disbandment, the chapter didn’t return to Ole Miss for over 60 years. Finally in 2013, the Alpha Lambda chapter got its third shot on campus after a year of working hard at recruiting. Despite its rocky beginnings, the Alpha Lambda chapter chartered 102 members Oct. 11, making it the largest charter in Pi Kappa Phi history.
Brennan Trask, a sophomore from Jackson, Mississippi, was lured by the idea of playing the role of a Pi Kappa Phi founding father and joined the fraternity this year.
“We’re extremely proud of our history because they acted in such a way that no other fraternity did and left a great legacy not only on this campus but on Pi Kapp as a whole,” Trask said. “When the guys we have now joined, they were told of the rich history we have, and it left an impact on all of them.”
Harris claims that the chapter’s legacy at Ole Miss should be remembered into the future.
“It gives you a good example of the leadership and patriotism that was instilled in each of our members at the time,” Harris said. “That is the same foundation that I want to carry over into this new generation of members.”
