March 17th, 1906 - Founded first as the “Non-Fraternity Association”
March 6th, 1909 - Renamed Phrenecon
March 6th & 7th in 1915 - Adopted Greek letters Phi Kappa Tau
The founding of Phi Kappa Tau is an important story to share and to discuss beyond surface level dates and details. Go deeper in discussion, rather than simply reading and asking basic questions.
A fun video titled, “The Founding of Phi Kappa Tau – Kind Of,” is a nice quick starting point along with the Red Book (Membership Manual), but there is much to be discussed when we really dig in!
The Founding of Phi Kappa Tau
The athletic & political backgrounds of Phi Kappa Tau’s founders gave them the leadership skills, competitive drive, and organizational experience needed to challenge the exclusionary, elite fraternities at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio
POINT OF DISCUSSION:
Do any of you play sports? Have you engaged in politics or civic leadership?
What kind of leadership skills do you think our founders had because of their involvement in athletics and campus politics?
Why do you think these skills matter in our fraternity today?
Founders used their positions and influence to fight back against the campus establishment, helping move them to start the fraternity.
POINT OF DISCUSSION:
How do college athletes and other groups have influence on campus?
What groups have you belonged to, which have had influence?
In what specific ways should Phi Tau men show a positive influence on campus?
Phi Kappa Tau’s delayed adoption of Greek letters highlights its grassroots origins as a voice “against the norm.”
POINT OF DISCUSSION:
How is being unique, and thinking differently, important?
In what ways is it a skill and something that makes Phi Tau special.
Have you ever supported something “against the norm” at school, or at work, or in your life? What motivated you take that stand?
Once established, our fraternity had to keep adjusting to meet the changing needs of the young men who were joining, and before they left for “recognized Greek-letter" fraternities. Even today, we are an adaptable brotherhood where members shape our culture.
POINT OF DISCUSSION:
What about our “non-cookie-cutter" culture have you noticed already
What do you think we should always be on the lookout for and then adapt to in our fraternity? In our lives?
What is the hardest part of the changes you are experiencing as a new college student, which you must adapt to? How can Phi Kappa Tau support you?
The Founding of Phi Kappa Tau, the fraternity's values, and certainly our Creed - all provide a foundation and guideposts for members to follow in living our ideals. When we move beneath the surface and think critically about what they are all about, to us personally and to our fraternity, we find true meaning and connect at a much deeper level.