ABOUT PIKE
PI KAPPA ALPHA FRATERNITY
Pi Kappa Alpha was founded at the University of Virginia on March 1, 1868. At the time, the University of Virginia was the fifth largest school in the United States. Only Harvard, Yale, Cornell and Michigan were bigger. The University of Virginia is considered the first truly American state university because it was the first to be established totally free from religious control.
It all started in Room 47 West Range when Frederick Southgate Taylor turned to Littleton Waller Tazewell, his cousin and roommate, for help in starting a new fraternity. Also present was James Benjamin Sclater, Jr., a schoolmate of Tazewell, and Sclater's roommate Robertson Howard. Those four men voted to add a fifth to their group and chose Julian Edward Wood. Although history is unclear, William Alexander, probably a friend of Sclater, Jr., was proposed for membership and was admitted as a founder. The first initiate was Augustus Washington Knox.
The essence of the Founders' vision for Pi Kappa Alpha can be found in its Preamble. A committee was first suggested by Brother William Alexander "to draw up a statement of the origin and the organization of the Fraternity." The committee was composed of brothers Robertson Howard and Littleton Waller Tazewell. The resulting statement is now referred to as the Preamble.
"For the establishment of friendship on a firmer and more lasting basis; for the promotion of brotherly love and kind feeling; for the mutual benefit and advancement of the interests of those with whom we sympathize and deem worthy of our regard; We have resolved to form a Fraternity, believing that, thus we can most successfully accomplish our object." |
Today, Pi Kappa Alpha is composed of more than 200 chapters in North American with over 220,000 members. In fact, Pi Kappa Alpha has maintained the largest average chapter and pledge class size for most of the past 20 years. For more information, visit the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity website at www.pikes.org.
OUR MISSION
Pi Kappa Alpha is dedicated to developing men of integrity, intellect, and high moral character and to fostering a truly lifelong fraternal experience.
To fulfill this mission, Pi Kappa Alpha will:
- Encourage all our members to live the values taught in our ritual.
- Provide innovative services and programs designed to enrich the lives of our undergraduates, alumni, and communities.
- Create opportunities for our undergraduate and alumni members to participate in the life of Pi Kappa Alpha on a daily basis.
- Promote and foster a spirit of pride, loyalty, inclusion and respect for Pi Kappa Alpha and it's rich history.
- Empower our undergraduate and alumni members to help shape Pi Kappa Alpha’s future by being informed ambassadors and involved advocates.
- Encourage our undergraduate and alumni members to take an active role in advancing Pi Kappa Alpha’s interests by volunteering their time and by contributing to the Fraternity’s annual giving campaign.
- Communicate effectively and efficiently with our alumni, students and host institutions through various channels on a continuous basis.
- Value academic achievement and practice academic integrity.
- Establish positive and lasting relationships with our host institutions, alumni and communities.
- Encourage our members to be of strong mind and body.