Oklahoma
State
University
History
The National
Society. Phi
Kappa Phi was begun in
1897 at the University
of Maine and initially
named Lambda Sigma Eta. Three years later, in
1900, the Society
became national under
the name Phi Kappa
Phi, with founding
chapters established
at the Pennsylvania
State College (now
Pennsylvania State
University) and the
University of
Tennessee, in addition
to the University of
Maine. These three
chapters are represented
by the three stars at
the top of the
Society’s seal. Now
over a century old,
Phi Kappa Phi has
grown steadily. By
2005, nearly 300
chapters—located from
Maine to the
Philippines and from
Alaska to Puerto
Rico—have been
established. From
its beginning, Phi
Kappa Phi has been
all-disciplinary,
electing from all
academic areas
(business
administration,
liberal arts, agriculture,
education, veterinary
medicine, etc,),
seeking to recognize
excellence wherever it
can be identified in
any institution that
has a chapter of the
Society.
The motto
of the Society,
corresponding to the
three Greek letters of
his name, is Philosophía Krateítō
Phōtôn, officially
translated into
English as “Let the
Love of Learning Rule
Humanity.” The badge
of the Society is a
flattened globe
surrounded by rays of
the sun in eight equal
groups, symbolizing
the equal value of all
branches of learning. A band containing the
letters
ΦΚΦ encircles the
globe indicating the
tie that binds all
lovers of learning in
a common purpose.
The National
Headquarters of the
Society is located on
the campus of
Louisiana State
University in Baton
Rouge. Additional information
can be accessed on the
Society’s website
www.phikappaphi.org/.
The OSU Chapter. Organized twenty-three
years after the birth
of the Society and
officially installed
on April 22, 1920, the OSU chapter was 24th
in order of founding
and is therefore
identified as Chapter
#24. It joined five
other university
chapters also
installed in 1920:
Cornell University
(Ithaca, NY),
University of Maryland
(College Park),
University of
Wisconsin (Madison),
Utah State University
(Logan), and the
University of Missouri
at Rolla. The OSU
Chapter was the first
ΦΚΦ chapter in
Oklahoma and one of
the first in the
Southwest. Since
1975, Society chapters
have been installed at
four other Oklahoma
schools: Cameron
University (Lawton),
the University of
Oklahoma, Oklahoma
City University, and
the University of
Tulsa.
The sixteen charter
members of the chapter
were all professors,
researchers, or
administrators at
Oklahoma Agricultural
and Mechanical College
(OAMC), as the
institution was then
known. Among the
charter members are
two former presidents
of OAMC, James William
Cantwell and (later)
Lowery Layman Lewis. The original charter
may be seen on
permanent display in
the OSU Library in the
large Phi Kappa Phi
display case on the
west corridor wall
adjacent to the main
(south) entrance to
the Library. Since the
founding year, the
business of the
chapter has been
conducted by members
of the teaching,
administrative,
research, and
extension staffs,
first of Oklahoma A&M
College, then after
the name changed in
1957, of Oklahoma
State University.
The first
candidates elected to
Phi Kappa Phi by the
chapter were initiated
on May 20, 1920. There were eleven
graduating seniors in
the group, six women
and five men. The
number of initiates
grew each year along
with the expansion of
the university. Eventually it became
necessary to hold two
or even three
initiation ceremonies
each year; one in the
fall, another in the
spring and, for a
period, a third in the
summer. Between 1920
and the fall of 2005,
the chapter has
initiated
approximately 12,000
undergraduates and
graduate students who
were nearing the
completion of their
studies.
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