Fraternities at Texas Tech University
These fist few paragraphs of information are provided as a service
to new students and to guys who are considering attending Texas
Tech. At Tech you will have the benefits of a good fraternity system.
 The
Fall term of 1929 saw the establishment of the
Centaur Club, the first men's social club
exclusively for students,
not long after Tech
opened in 1925. (The Centaur is a half-man, half-horse, creature.)
By 1953 there were eight men's social clubs on campus, and at that
time, 50 years ago, these eight clubs affiliated with eight
national fraternities, when the college saw the advantages that
fraternities would bring to the school.
 The Centaur Club
received a charter to become the Texas Beta Chapter of the Phi Kappa
Psi Fraternity. ("Beta" being the second letter of the Greek
alphabet indicates that this was the second chapter in Texas.)
In 2008 there are
about twenty fraternities at Tech. ranging in size from 6 to 150
members, peak annual size. (Fraternity chapters vary in size by
around 30% each year.) The Phi Kappa Psi chapter is 50+
members, and will expand to about 100.
Fraternity houses at Tech are called lodges
and
generally do not have living facilities. Not every fraternity
at Tech has a lodge. Of those that do---
- A few fraternities are scattered about town.
- About nine are in an area called Greek
Circle, which is west of the Tech campus and which also contains
some sorority lodges.
- Six fraternities are one block closer to
campus in a newer area that connects to the original Greek
Circle. It is the 1400 block of Orlando Avenue, which also
referred to as "Greek Circle 2".
 The
Phi Kappa Psi lodge is in the best area, the one that has the newest, and generally
largest, fraternity lodges-the Orlando
Avenue area. Our address is
1406 Orlando Avenue.
(Because of an error in some online mapping programs and most GPS
navigation units it is
necessary as of January 2008 to enter "1456" to get the correct
location for 1406.)
Phi Psi's enjoy a
- Library and computer facility for quiet
study time
- Lounge, wood burning fireplace, large screen,
high-definition, satellite television, and billiards area
- A separate room and kitchen for meetings
and parties
- A sand volleyball court, basketball
court, and putting green.
Although lodges do not have living facilities
some of our brothers do share houses and apartments, and
sometimes there is room available.
The Essence of Our Fraternity
We call Phi Kappa Psi our “Noble Fraternity”.
Phi Kappa Psi is a
private association of college-educated men of evidenced talent,
ambition, and good moral character and
mutual respect and affinity;
.
Who strive to be led by truth and to always maintain their
integrity and to have their actions guided by their
intellect balanced with their heart and
their spirituality;
.
Who joined together during college and committed to
brotherly love and to building a formal, ongoing,
honored,
self-governed association with a
distinguished lodge that is symbiotic with the college
and with other fraternities and sororities, and with the
community, to assist in promoting
each other's interests, improving each other, and
maintaining life-long friendships; and
.
Who committed that both when they were students and when
they were alumni they would add and help new initiates
and create and cooperate with additional chapters to
organize, direct, and support a
great national fraternity, HELPING YOUNG MEN TO DEVELOP AND
CONNECT.* |
Like most other fraternities, Phi Kappa Psi is
founded on freedom of association—the right to choose one's
friends.
* This statement of the Essence of Phi Kappa
Psi is one that describes our Texas Beta chapter and we
believe the Fraternity as a whole; it is not one that has been
approved by a Phi Kappa Psi national body. It was drafted in 2008
by David A. Jones, a Texas Beta 1955 initiate. The version is T.
Phi Kappa Psi Nickname, Badge, Colors, Etc.
The nickname for the Phi Kappa Psi
Fraternity is "Phi Psi," which is pronounced "fie sigh,"
like like "Sci Fi" in reverse order.
Caution --
there is another fraternity at Tech with a similar name--- "Pi
Kappa Phi" that is not connected with us, so be careful with
paperwork during formal rush if you participate.
 Our
badge is at left and is most often worn when wearing suits
or other dress clothes. It contains our Greek letters phi, kappa, and
psi:
ΦΚΨ.
We all wear the same unjeweled gold badge. As
with most traditional, Greek letter, fraternities, the words for
which these letters stand is a secret that is revealed only to
initiates.
 Our
flag has our colors of Cardinal Red, a deep red, and
Hunter Green, a dark green.
 Our
coat of arms is at left, as adopted in 1908; however, today
we often use a version with a green field and a red fillet
and a red bend:
Blazon (heraldic description) :
"Sa., a bend between sinister
the sun in glory charged on the center with an eye and
dexter a closed book or, a fillet and in chief two mullets,
all within a bordure, all of the second. Crest an antique
lamp or." (Centennial History, v. II, p127) |
We have a lot of songs, including a
hymn, sweetheart songs, rowdy songs, etc. Hear our chapter
singing Noble Fraternity in a winning performance in 1958 by
clicking
here. (It's in mp3 format, and a little scratchy.)
 Our
sweetheart pin is at right and may be given to sweethearts,
sisters, or mother since we do not allow our badge to be
used for that purpose. A large lighted replica is on a wall of
our lodge.
 Our
flower is the Jacqueminot Rose, a deep red rose.
Our unofficial drink is
Quimbambuli, a hot wine and rum concoction. We have a
song
about that also.
 Our
unofficial
monogram badge, composed of the superimposed Greek letters
phi and psi, sometimes worn on a neck chain, is a replica the
the badge used by the fraternity its first year.
 The
logo at left is used on our national headquarters website and was
created in 2008. We have not yet decided in our national
governing body, the GAC, whether or not to approve it as a symbol
of our fraternity.
Our motto from about 1855 in
Latin and English is
|
Conjugati Amicitia,
Vindicat Honore Et Ducti Vero --
Vivimus Et Vigemus
United by friendship, sustained
by honor, and led by truth--
We live and we flourish.
|
(The word "honor" is used here in the sense of
integrity, the firm adherence to a code of ethical
conduct to the degree that one is incapable of being false to a
trust, responsibility, or pledge.)
Our Chapter At Tech
IS WELL BALANCED
It is not unusual
on campus to hear people "type" fraternities, such as being made
up of athletes, bookworms, socialites, campus politicians, etc.
Phi Kappa Psi is not composed of any one of these types
exclusively, but instead is a well-balanced group.
IS COMPOSED OF MEN ACTIVE IN CAMPUS AFFAIRS
No, Phi Psi members
are not "typed." We are proud to say that each member is
individual and excels in his own interests as well as working
with the whole fraternity. Phi Psi's are represented as members
and officers of many campus organizations as well as
varsity athletic teams.
IS MODERATE IN SIZE
The Tech chapter of
Phi Kappa Psi is moderate in size, as are many of the Phi Psi
chapters over the nation. Phi Psi believes that the ideal
chapter size is one which is small enough to allow the brothers
to know each other well and have leadership opportunities, yet
large enough to operate successfully on a particular campus.
With the growth of Tech and its fraternity system we are now
increasing to a chapter peak annual size of about one
hundred members. Phi
Psi emphasizes the quality of its membership.
VALUES SCHOLARSHIP
Every man in college
should have good scholarship as his main objective. The chapter
attempts to promote industrious studying among its members and
generally has one of the highest, if not the highest, grade
averages among all of the fraternities.
... AND ALSO SPORTS
Phi Psi has always been an active participant
in intramural competition, and does quite well.
(The foregoing description is almost verbatim
identical to one in a 1957 chapter rush brochure.)
Our Fraternity Origin and Status
 |
|
C. P. T. Moore in 1852
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Phi Kappa Psi is one of the oldest national fraternities, now
being over 150 years old, founded February
19, 1852, at a leading college in Pennsylvania, at a time when
the largest college in the U. S. had only 475 students. It was
founded by two men---one a friendly,
 athletic, 21-year-old
pre-law student, Charley (C. P. T.) Moore, who later became a West Virginia
Supreme Court judge, and the other a
tall, popular,19-year-old pre-med student, Bill (W. H.) Letterman, who
later became a doctor
and geologist, and who is buried in Duffau, Texas. Within a few days, by the end
of the month, there were five members, and by the end of the
year, ten members. The first written historical
record was created within a year:
"The Founders believing that by an
Association governed by certain fixed laws and regulations they
could advance and promote each other's interests and improve
each other morally and intellectually, being firmly impressed
with these truths, Messrs. Moore and Letterman, having written
out a Constitution ... founded the Phi Kappa Psi Association."
The fraternity was founded with the goal
of becoming a strong national fraternity, and within three years
a second chapter in Virginia had grown to forty-six men.
T. Woodrow Wilson, later the
President of the United States, was a Phi Psi at this
chapter,
twenty years after it was founded. He was a very active member
of the fraternity. The fraternity has many, many, other
prominent alumni.
Phi Kappa Psi has over 100 active
chapters (including 3 colonies) at better colleges and universities in 2008, with
well over 5,000 total undergraduate brothers and pledges. We
have over 71,000 active alumni living in 50 states and over 30
countries and have alumni associations in cities
across the country (and are starting one or more in the Far
East).
Our national headquarters is probably the
finest fraternity headquarters in America. It is historic Laurel Hall, located in Indianapolis, Indiana,
The Phi Kappa Psi Foundation's Endowment Fund
is the largest such fund of any fraternity. This charitable
fund, over $35 million at the end of 2007, created from alumni donations, is used to provide
scholarships and to make loans chapter house corporations. (Phi Psi's Canonsburg Corporation also makes such loans.)
Phi Kappa Psi has long been a leader in the in
the North-American Interfraternity Conference (NIC), the
organization of the 73 major American men's college
fraternities. Phi Psi Bob Marchesani is the current, 2008,
chairman of that organization.
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