Sigma Pi Phi
| Sigma Pi Phi | |
|---|---|
| ΣΠΦ | |
 |
|
| Founded | 1904 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Type | Social |
| Scope | International |
| Motto | |
| Colors | Pantone 3015 (BLUE) |
| Chapters | 126 |
| Nickname | Boulé, "a council of noblemen" |
| Headquarters |
Atlanta, Georgia USA |
| Homepage | http://www.sigmapiphi.org/home/ |
Sigma Pi Phi (ΣΠΦ) is the first successful and oldest African-American Greek-lettered organization. Sigma Pi Phi was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 15, 1904. The fraternity quickly established chapters (referred to as "member boulés") in Chicago, IL and then Baltimore, MD. The founders included two doctors, a dentist and a physician. When Sigma Pi Phi was founded, black professionals were not offered participation in the professional and cultural associations organized by the white community. Sigma Pi Phi has over 5,000 members and 126 chapters throughout the United States and the West Indies.
Membership in Sigma Pi Phi is highly exclusive, numbering only about 5,000. The organization is known as "the Boulé," which means "a council of noblemen". Founded as an organization for professionals, Sigma Pi Phi never established college chapters, and eliminated undergraduate membership during its infant stages. However, Sigma Pi Phi has historically had a congenial relationship with college Black Greek-letter organizations, as many members of Sigma Pi Phi are members of both. Sigma Pi Phi founder Henry McKee Minton and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were both members of Alpha Phi Alpha, while Arthur Ashe was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi. Vernon Jordan and L. Douglas Wilder are members of Omega Psi Phi. James Weldon Johnson was a member of Phi Beta Sigma, as is civil rights leader and member of Congress John Lewis (D-GA). University of Massachusetts-Boston Chancellor, Dr. J. Keith Motley, and Hibernia Southcoast Capital CEO (Retired), Joseph Williams are members of Iota Phi Theta. Members of Sigma Pi Phi have provided leadership and service during the Great Depression, World War I, World War II, the Civil Rights Movement, and addressed social issues such as urban housing, and other economic, cultural, and political issues affecting people of African descent.
...
Wikipedia