History of Illinois Iota

Phi Kappa Psi was founded by exceptional young men looking for something different than the status quo of Fraternity life on the Northern Illinois University campus. The men felt a need to join a fraternity in order to enhance their college experience and develop into better individuals before they left college.

Phi Kappa Psi at NIU owes its development to their “Godfather” Dustin Olson. Dustin was a Phi Psi at Illinois State University and when he transferred to NIU, there had never been a Phi Kappa Psi on campus. Dustin enjoyed his experience as a Phi Psi at ISU so much that he decided to contact Phi Kappa Psi Headquarters in order to start his own “colony” at NIU. A colony is a group of college men that are attempting to fulfill all the requirements to become an official chapter. There were eleven original colony members in Phi Kappa Psi at NIU as they all started on the arduous task of becoming an officially recognized chapter.

The early stages of the Phi Psi at NIU found a small group of members discussing big plans on becoming an officially recognized chapter by the national headquarters. In order for a colony to become an official chapter they needed to complete a petition. This petition is an extensive and detailed list of requirements designed to make sure that the colony is ready for the high standards required of any Phi Kappa Psi Chapter. These early members had to prove that they were leaders on campus, volunteering in the community, excelling academically, earning a reputation with the sororities and the rest of the campus as “gentlemen,” and becoming leaders of the Greek community.

During their time as a colony, Phi Kappa Psi at NIU accomplished a great deal. Phi Psi did more community service hours than any other fraternity on campus, they participated in nearly every Greek event, and they brought the Chapter’s numbers up to twenty-five men. These twenty-five men would become the “founding fathers” of the NIU Phi Kappa Psi Chapter.

In 2007, the NIU Greek community recognized Phi Kappa Psi with two awards: most congenial chapter and best chapter honorable mention. Charles Albert, the first Phi Kappa Psi President, was elected to the Inter-fraternal Council as the Vice President of Recruitment.

In January of 2007, the petition that the colony members were working so hard on was unanimously approved by the Executive Council of Phi Kappa Psi to create the “Illinois Iota” chapter of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity; the 149th Chapter in the history of Phi Kappa Psi. It had taken the NIU men just over two years to become an official chapter, which was the fastest of any chapter in the history of Phi Kappa Psi.

The men of Phi Kappa Psi were recognized as an official Chapter on April 21st, 2007. The initiation was in the morning and the banquet signaled a time of celebration, relief, and pride for the founding fathers. These men had succeeded in starting a chapter of Phi Kappa Psi at Northern Illinois University. It was a day none of them will forget and a day that was the culmination of all they had worked for.

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Contact our Historian at historian@niuphikappapsi.org