The CREED of Phi Kappa Tau:
Written in 1950 by alumnus Roland Maxwell, The Creed of Phi Kappa Tau serves as the ethical baseline for members. It requires brothers to maintain loyalty to their college, act as good and loyal citizens, and constantly discharge their obligations to help others.
While interpretation is at some level personal, to dig deeper into The Creed of Phi Kappa Tau we must move beyond surface meaning and help connect the text to daily actions, historical context, and ethical dilemmas.
"Phi Kappa Tau, by admitting me to membership, has conferred upon me a mark of distinction in which I take just pride."
POINT OF DISCUSSION:
What's the difference between pride that's earned and pride that's inherited? Which one do you feel right now, and why?
If membership is a "mark of distinction," what do you think you're being distinguished from? What are you not, now that you're a member?
Is pride in this sentence about you, or about something bigger than you? How would you explain that difference to someone outside the fraternity?
"I believe in the spirit of brotherhood for which it stands."
POINT OF DISCUSSION:
Brotherhood is invoked constantly in Greek life — what does it mean to you, specifically, beyond a feeling of belonging?
Can you have brotherhood with someone you disagree with, dislike, or rarely see? What would that look like in practice?
What's one thing you think you’d be willing to do for a brother that you might not do for a friend outside the chapter?
"I shall strive to attain its ideals, and by so doing to bring to it honor and credit."
POINT OF DISCUSSION:
"Strive" implies you won't always succeed. What does failing to live up to an ideal — and trying again — look like for you personally?
Whose honor is at stake when you act — yours alone, or the chapter's? Does that change how you woud behave when no one's watching?
Can you bring "credit" to the fraternity through private actions no one else ever finds out about? In what ways would that still matter?
"I shall be loyal to my college and my chapter and shall keep strong my ties to them that I may ever retain the spirit of youth."
POINT OF DISCUSSION:
What happens when loyalty to your chapter and loyalty to your college seem to conflict? Which wins, and how do you decide?
What does "the spirit of youth" mean to you — is it about age, or about a way of approaching life? How might a 60-year-old alumnus still have it?
How can you keep a tie "strong" when you have so many other obligations while in school? What about once you graduate and stop seeing your brothers every day?
"I shall be a good and loyal citizen."
POINT OF DISCUSSION:
Citizenship is a big word. Citizen of what — your neighborhood, your country, humanity? How does the word scale?
Can you be a "loyal" citizen while still disagreeing with your community, your school, or your government? Where's the line between loyalty and blind agreement?
Why do you think the founders put civic duty inside a fraternal creed at all? What's the connection between brotherhood and citizenship?
"I shall try always to discharge the obligation to others which arises from the fact that I am a fraternity man."
POINT OF DISCUSSION:
What obligation, specifically, do you think comes just from being a fraternity man — not from being a good person generally? How is there a difference?
This line puts responsibility on you because of your membership, not despite it. In what ways does that feel like a privilege, a burden, or both?
Who are the "others" here? Brothers only, or does it extend to strangers who'll never know you're a member?
Looking at the full Creed in total
POINT OF DISCUSSION:
The Creed moves from personal pride, to brotherhood, to ideals, to loyalty, to citizenship, to obligation to others — it gets progressively more outward-facing. Why do you think it's structured that way?
If you had to cut it down to one sentence, which line would you keep, and what would that say about your own priorities?