Sigma Pi Phi

Sigma Pi Phi
Sigma Pi Phi
	ΣΠΦ
Founded	1904; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Type	Social
Scope	International
Motto
Colors	Pantone 3015 (Blue)
Chapters	139
Nickname	Boulé, "a council of noblemen"
Headquarters	Atlanta, Georgia; USA
Website	http://www.sigmapiphi.org

Sigma Pi Phi (ΣΠΦ) is the first non-collegiate African American fraternity. It is the oldest Black Greek-lettered organization. Having always been non-collegiate, it is designed for professionals at mid-career or older. Sigma Pi Phi was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 15, 1904. The fraternity quickly established chapters (referred to as "member boulés"[upper-alpha 1]) in Chicago, Illinois and then Baltimore, Maryland.[1] The founders included two doctors, a dentist and a pharmacist.[2] When Sigma Pi Phi was founded, black professionals were not offered participation in the professional and cultural associations organized by the white community.[3] Sigma Pi Phi has over 5,000 members and 139 chapters throughout the United States, England and The Bahamas.[4]

Founders

Henry M. Minton, PhG
Eugene T. Hinson, MD
Robert J. Abele, MD
Algernon B. Jackson, MD
Edwin C.J.T. Howard, MD
Richard J. Warrick, Jr., DDS [5]

Membership

Membership in Sigma Pi Phi is highly exclusive, numbering only about 5,000.[6] The organization is known as "the Boulé," which means "a council of noblemen".[7] Founded as an organization for professionals, Sigma Pi Phi never established college chapters, and eliminated undergraduate membership during its infant stages.[8] However, Sigma Pi Phi has historically had a congenial relationship with collegiate Black Greek-letter organizations, as many members of Sigma Pi Phi are members of both. Sigma Pi Phi founder Henry McKee Minton and Martin Luther King Jr. are both members of Alpha Phi Alpha, while Arthur Ashe is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi. Vernon Jordan and L. Douglas Wilder are members of Omega Psi Phi. James Weldon Johnson is 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 Great Recession, and addressed social issues such as urban housing, and other economic, cultural, and political issues affecting people of African descent.

Notable members

Members of Sigma Pi Phi include:[9] W. E. B. Du Bois, civil rights leader and one of the founders of the NAACP; Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights leader; Robert J. Abele, Sigma Pi Phi founder and brother of Julian Abele, who served as the lead architect of Duke University; former NAACP President Kweisi Mfume; Ralph Bunche, a United Nations Ambassador; Andrew Young, civil rights leader and a mayor of Atlanta; Maynard Jackson, a mayor of Atlanta; Douglas Wilder, a Governor of Virginia; Kenneth Chenault, a CEO of American Express; Bobby Scott; C. O. Simpkins, Sr.; Ken Blackwell; Eric Holder, a United States Attorney General;[10] Ron Brown; Vernon Jordan; Arthur Ashe; Mel Watt;[11] John Baxter Taylor, Jr., the first African-American to win an Olympic Gold Medal; and Calvin Ball, first African-American County Executive.[12] Numerous other American leaders are among the men who have adopted the fraternity’s purpose of "creating a forum wherein they could pursue social and intellectual activities in the company of peers."[3] Sigma Pi Phi is open to members of all races, as can be demonstrated by its well-known Jewish member Jack Greenberg, who succeeded Thurgood Marshall as the leader of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc..[13]

In media

Lawrence Otis Graham reports on the organization and his membership in it in the 1999 book Our Kind of People: Inside America's Black Upper Class.[14]

Notes

The word boulé, derived from ancient Greek βουλή, originally referred to a council of nobles advising a king. It is also used by the African-American sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha.

References

"History". Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity — Beta Lambda. Archived from the original on 2012-07-22. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
"University of the Sciences: A Science and Healthcare College | Philadelphia, PA | University of the Sciences". Usip.edu. 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
"UnityFirst.com". web.archive.org. May 29, 2004. Retrieved Jan 12, 2021.
Olechowski, Carol (April 25, 2002). "Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity Supports Scholarships for UAlbany Students" (Press release). University at Albany, SUNY.
"Sigma Pi Phi | History of the Boulé". www.sigmapiphi.org. Retrieved Jan 12, 2021.
"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-11-28. Retrieved 2008-01-02.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
"Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity Beta Lambda Boule". web.archive.org. Sep 28, 2007. Retrieved Jan 12, 2021.
"Historical Moment#30". web.archive.org. Mar 6, 2001. Retrieved Jan 12, 2021.
"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-06-17. Retrieved 2016-01-26.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
fullahead.org. "Boulé Delegation Returns to Capitol Hill for Third Trip and Meets With Lawmakers and With Two Members of Obama's Cabinet - Sigma Pi Phi". www.sigmapiphi.org.
Watt, Mel (February 28, 2006). "Honoring Black History Month". Congressional Record. Retrieved 2006-10-08. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
"Archives - Philly.com". articles.philly.com.
"1904–2004: the Boule at 100: Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity holds centennial celebration". Ebony. September 2004. Archived from the original on November 23, 2004. Retrieved September 11, 2006.
Lawrence Otis Graham (January 6, 1999). Our Kind of People: Inside America's Black Upper Class (First ed.). Harper. ISBN 0060183527.

External links

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[1] The word boulé, derived from ancient Greek βουλή, originally referred to a council of nobles advising a king. It is also used by the African-American sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha.

[2] "History". Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity — Beta Lambda. Archived from the original on 2012-07-22. Retrieved 25 October 2015.

[3] "University of the Sciences: A Science and Healthcare College | Philadelphia, PA | University of the Sciences". Usip.edu. 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2018-06-20.

[unityfirst1-4] "UnityFirst.com". web.archive.org. May 29, 2004. Retrieved Jan 12, 2021.

[5] Olechowski, Carol (April 25, 2002). "Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity Supports Scholarships for UAlbany Students" (Press release). University at Albany, SUNY.

[6] "Sigma Pi Phi | History of the Boulé". www.sigmapiphi.org. Retrieved Jan 12, 2021.

[7] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-11-28. Retrieved 2008-01-02.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[8] "Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity Beta Lambda Boule". web.archive.org. Sep 28, 2007. Retrieved Jan 12, 2021.

[9] "Historical Moment#30". web.archive.org. Mar 6, 2001. Retrieved Jan 12, 2021.

[10] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-06-17. Retrieved 2016-01-26.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[11] ullahead.org. "Boulé Delegation Returns to Capitol Hill for Third Trip and Meets With Lawmakers and With Two Members of Obama's Cabinet - Sigma Pi Phi". www.sigmapiphi.org.

[12] Watt, Mel (February 28, 2006). "Honoring Black History Month". Congressional Record. Retrieved 2006-10-08. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

[13] "Archives - Philly.com". articles.philly.com.

[14] "1904–2004: the Boule at 100: Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity holds centennial celebration". Ebony. September 2004. Archived from the original on November 23, 2004. Retrieved September 11, 2006.

[15] Lawrence Otis Graham (January 6, 1999). Our Kind of People: Inside America's Black Upper Class (First ed.). Harper. ISBN 0060183527.