MOMENT AT THE MUSEUM

As Pi Kappa Phi transitions from our current office and museum located at 2015 Ayrsley Town Boulevard to our new space located at 3701 Arco Corporate Drive, a unique opportunity to reimagine and rework the museum has presented itself. While the history of Pi Kappa Phi remains the same, the way in which we curate and tell it is everchanging, and one of those ways is through the addition of this column, Moment at the Museum, which strives to tell the stories from within the walls of the museum to a wider audience, those who may not have visited National Headquarters or those who simply want a reminder of the historical treasures it holds.

One such item is this list, a document that shares the names of local organizations, that made the choice to be absorbed into Pi Kappa Phi, merging with our history rather than continuing to write their own. The pictured list contains the local organizations from which several Pi Kappa Phi chapters originated. Without these groups, Pi Kappa Phi would not be the Fraternity it is today and would not have seen the immense growth it has seen since our founding in 1904. Pi Kappa Phi carries on the legacy of these organizations that were absorbed into the Fraternity to become a part of something larger. Though they no longer exist, these organizations represent crucial pieces of the Pi Kappa Phi story, and are memorialized as such on this list, and through the curation of their various relics within the Pi Kappa Phi museum. Two of those relics are pictured here, an Alpha Gamma Beta pin, representing the group called Alpha Gamma Beta, or a Christian Brotherhood, that went on to become Pi Kappa Phi’s Omega Chapter, as well as a Tau Kappa Phi pin, representing the group at Auburn in Alabama that went on to become Pi Kappa Phi’s Alpha Iota Chapter.

Alpha Gamma Beta Pin, Omega (Purdue)

“The roots of Omega Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi were planted in December 1920 when a Bible study group of the local Christian Church formed a fraternity at Purdue University. They called it Alpha Gamma Beta, the Greek initials A.C.B. meaning A Christian Brotherhood.”

Tau Kappa Phi Pin, Alpha Iota (Auburn)

“In 1916, a group of fraternal-minded young men joined together at Auburn, in Alabama, with the intent of affiliating with a national fraternity. An association was commenced that continued until 1920, when the group at Auburn disassociated due to differences of opinion over membership requirements. Part of the group then assumed the name Tau Kappa Phi, a local fraternity.”