Phi Alpha (fraternity)

For other organizations named "Phi Alpha", see Phi Alpha (disambiguation).

Phi Alpha (ΦΑ) was an American historically Jewish fraternity founded in 1914. It merged with Phi Sigma Delta in 1959. It was a member of the National Interfraternity Conference. It merged with Zeta Beta Tau in 1969.

Phi Alpha
ΦΑ
Founded	October 14, 1914; 110 years ago (1914-10-14) George Washington University
Type	Social
Former affiliation	NIC
Status	Merged
Merge date	April 6, 1959
Successor	Phi Sigma Delta
Emphasis	Jewish
Scope	National
Member badge
Colors	Maroon and   Blue
Flower	Rose
Publication	Phi Alpha Quarterly
Chapters	33
Members	7,000 lifetime
Headquarters	United States

History

Phi Alpha was founded at George Washington University on October 14, 1914.^[1] It was a Jewish fraternity.^[1] Its founders were David Davis, Maurice H. Herzmark, Edward Lewis, Reuben Schmidt, and Hyman Shapiro. The first pledge ceremony was held in February 1915, and was followed by the establishment of a chapter house.^[1]

Dr. Edward Cafritz transferred to University of Maryland, Baltimore and helped start Beta chapter, which was installed on February 22, 1916.^[1] This was followed by Gamma chapter at Georgetown University on December 26, 1916.^[1]

In 1921, Phi Alpha became a member of the National Interfraternity Conference.^[1] In 1926, the fraternity was incorporated nationally.^[1] Its national convention was held annually during the latter part of December.^[1]

On April 6, 1959, Phi Alpha merged with Phi Sigma Delta. Phi Sigma Delta's records note that there were sixteen active Phi Alpha chapters at the time of the merger.^[2] Both fraternities had chapters at three campuses, two of which were "readily resolved," and in the case of the third, this chapter was released to join another fraternity.^[3] At the time of the merger, Phi Alpha had initiated around 7,000 members.^[2]

Ten years later in 1969, Phi Sigma Delta merged with Zeta Beta Tau.^[4][2]

Symbols

The fraternity's badge was a gold rectangular plaque, wider than it was tall, and superimposed with the raised letters ΦΑ and surrounded with a row of pearls.^[1] Its pledge button was circular, containing a blue circle within a red circle.^[1] Phi Alpha's colors were maroon and blue.^[1] Its flower was the rose.^[1]

Its magazine, the Phi Alpha Quarterly began publication in 1917.^[1] Its member-only, "esoteric" publication was the Phi Alpha Bulletin.^[1]

Chapters

This is the list of the 35 chapters of Phi Alpha fraternity.^[1][3][5][2]

Chapter	Charter date and range	Institution	Location	Status	References
Alpha	October 14, 1914 – April 6, 1959	George Washington University	Washington, D.C.	Merged (ΦΣΔ)	[a]
Beta	February 22, 1916 – April 6, 1959	University of Maryland, Baltimore	Baltimore, Maryland	Merged (ΦΣΔ)	[b]
Gamma	December 26, 1916 – 1947	Georgetown University	Washington, D.C.	Inactive
Delta	February 15, 1918 – 1924	Northwestern University	Evanston, Illinois	Inactive
Epsilon	April 2, 1919 – April 6, 1959	University of Maryland, College Park	College Park, Maryland	Merged (ΦΣΔ)	[c]
Zeta	December 7, 1919 – 1925	Yale University	New Haven, Connecticut	Inactive
Eta	December 30, 1919 – 1938; 1955 – 1959	Johns Hopkins University	Baltimore, Maryland	Withdrew	[d]
Theta	1920 – April 6, 1959	New York University	New York City, New York	Merged (ΦΣΔ)	[e]
Iota	February 20, 1920 – 1925	Columbia University	New York City, New York	Inactve
Kappa	March 3, 1921 – 1939; 1952 – April 6, 1959	University of Pennsylvania	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Merged (ΦΣΔ)	[f]
Lambda	February 19, 1921 – 1927	DePaul University	Chicago, Illinois	Inactive
Mu	April 16, 1922 – 1947	University of Virginia	Charlottesville, Virginia	Merged (ΦΣΔ)
Nu	March 16, 1924 – 1940; 19xx ? – April 6, 1959	Clark University	Worcester, Massachusetts	Merged (ΦΣΔ)	[g]
Xi				Unassigned
Omicron	1924 – April 6, 1959	University of New Hampshire	Durham, New Hampshire	Merged (ΦΣΔ)	[h]
Pi	December 14, 1924 – April 6, 1959	Boston University	Boston, Massachusetts	Merged (ΦΣΔ)	[i]
Rho	February 6, 1925 – April 6, 1959	University of Richmond	Richmond, Virginia	Merged (ΦΣΔ)	[j]
Sigma	October 25, 1925 – 1933; 1938 – April 6, 1959	Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute	Brooklyn, New York	Merged (ΦΣΔ)	[k]
Tau	March 31, 1927 – 1953	College of William & Mary	Williamsburg, Virginia	Inactive	[l]
Upsilon	April 24, 1927 – 1940	University of Chicago	Chicago, Illinois	Inactive
Phi	March 19, 1927 – April 6, 1959	Duquesne University	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Merged (ΦΣΔ)	[m]
Chi	October 15, 1927 – 1959	Duke University	Durham, North Carolina	Inactive	[n]
Psi	February 20, 1928 – 1930	University of Tennessee at Chattanooga	Chattanooga, Tennessee	Inactive	[o]
Omega	May 11, 1928 – 1943	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	Chapel Hill, North Carolina	Inactive
Alpha Alpha	December 1, 1928 – 1935	West Virginia University	Morgantown, West Virginia	Inactive
Alpha Beta	May 4, 1929 – April 6, 1959	Temple University	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Merged (ΦΣΔ)	[p]
Alpha Gamma	December 7, 1930 – 1958	Wayne State University	Detroit, Michigan	Inactive	[q]
Alpha Delta	1930–1941	University of Detroit Mercy	Detroit, Michigan	Inactive	[r]
Alpha Epsilon	1937–1942	St. John's College	Annapolis, Maryland	Inactive	[s]
Alpha Zeta	1938–1941	St. John's University	New York City, New York	Inactive	[t]
Alpha Eta	1940 – April 6, 1959	City College of New York	New York City, New York	Merged (ΦΣΔ)	[u]
Alpha Theta	1941–1947	Washington College	Chestertown, Maryland	Inactive
Alpha Iota	1953 – April 6, 1959	Cornell University	Ithaca, New York	Merged (ΦΣΔ)	[v]
Alpha Kappa	1957 – April 6, 1959	Bronx Branch of Hunter College	The Bronx, New York City, New York	Merged (ΦΣΔ)	[w]
Alpha Lambda	1958 – April 6, 1959	City College of New York Uptown	Manhattan, New York	Merged (ΦΣΔ)	[x]
Alpha Mu	1958 – April 6, 1959	Pratt Institute	Brooklyn, New York	Merged (ΦΣΔ)	[y]

1. Became the Phi Alpha chapter of Phi Sigma Delta with the national merger of the two fraternities.
2. Became the Phi Beta chapter of Phi Sigma Delta with the national merger of the two fraternities.
3. Became the Phi Epsilon chapter of Phi Sigma Delta with the national merger of the two fraternities.
4. Became a chapter of Tau Epsilon Phi.
5. Merged with an existing Phi Sigma Delta chapter with the national merger of the two fraternities.
6. Merged with the Zeta chatper of Phi Sigma Delta with the national merger of the two fraternities.
7. Became the Phi Nu chapter of Phi Sigma Delta with the national merger of the two fraternities.
8. Chapter formed from Tau Gamma Phi, established in 1922. It became the Phi Omicron chapter of Phi Sigma Delta with the national merger of the two fraternities.
9. Became the Phi Pi chapter of Phi Sigma Delta with the national merger of the two fraternities.
10. Chapter formed from Tri Phi, established in 1916. It became the Phi Rho chapter of Phi Sigma Delta with the national merger of the two fraternities.
11. Chapter formed from Tau Kappa Rho, established in 1917. It became the Phi Sigma chapter of Phi Sigma Delta with the national merger of the two fraternities.
12. Chapter formed from Zeta Theta Pi, established in 1924.
13. Chapter formed from Phi Delta Rho, established in 1927. Its became the Phi Phi chapter of Phi Sigma Delta with the national merger of the two fraternities.
14. Chapter formed from Alpha Pi Delta, established in 1922.
15. Chapter formed from Delta Beta Gamma, established in 1923.
16. Chapter formed from Koffee Klub, established in 1927. It became the Phi Alpha Beta chapter of Phi Sigma Delta with the national merger of the two fraternities.
17. Chapter formed from Epsilon Tau, established in 1927.
18. Chapter formed from Epsilon Tau, established in 1923.
19. Chapter formed from the Key Society, established in 1932.
20. Chapter formed from Phi Iota Lambda.
21. Became the Phi Alpha Eta chapter of Phi Sigma Delta with the national merger of the two fraternities.
22. Merged with the Beta chapter of Phi Sigma Delta with the national merger of the two fraternities.
23. Became the Phi Alpha Kappa chapter of Phi Sigma Delta with the national merger of the two fraternities.
24. Became the Phi Allpha Mu chapter of Phi Sigma Delta chapter with the national merger of the two fraternities.
25. Merged with the Alpha Omicron chapter of Phi Sigma Delta with the national merger of the two fraternities.

See also

• List of Jewish fraternities and sororities