Phi Delta Phi () is an international legal

honor society In the United States, an honor society is a rank organization that recognizes excellence among peers. Numerous societies recognize various fields and circumstances. The Order of the Arrow, for example, is the National Honor Society of the Boy Sc ...

and the oldest legal organization in continuous existence in the United States. Phi Delta Phi was originally a

professional fraternity Professional fraternities, in the North American fraternity system, are organizations whose primary purpose is to promote the interests of a particular profession and whose membership is restricted to students in that particular field of profess ...

but became an honor society in 2012. The fraternity was founded at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1869 "to promote a higher standard of professional ethics".

History

Phi Delta Phi Fraternity was founded in the

law department Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

of the

by John M. Howard of the class of 1871. Howard was a graduate of

Monmouth College Monmouth College is a private Presbyterian liberal arts college in Monmouth, Illinois. Monmouth enrolls approximately 900 students from 21 countries who choose courses from 40 major programs, 43 minors, and 17 pre-professional programs in a ...

and member of

Phi Gamma Delta Phi Gamma Delta (), commonly known as Fiji, is a social fraternity with more than 144 active chapters and 10 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1848. Along with Phi Kappa Psi, Phi ...

(FIJI). His initial intent was to found a chapter of FIJI at the University, but he did not follow through with the plan because of the large number of chapters already in place on the campus. Howard instead turned his efforts toward founding a fraternity devoted purely to students of the legal profession. Phi Delta Phi Inns have occasionally leased or owned residential buildings or secured meeting spaces, often adjacent to law libraries. Even during WWII, when law school admissions enrollments virtually ceased, all the Fraternity's inns remained active on a restricted basis. Thus, according to Baird's 20th, the fraternity sprang back to full strength "almost before the fighting had ceased." The first international unit of the fraternity was the ''Weldon Inn'', chartered in 1925 at

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. The first unit in Mexico, the ''Velasco Inn'', was chartered in 1973 at the

Escuela Libre de Derecho Escuela Libre de Derecho (ELD) is a law school in Mexico City founded in 1912. Since its establishment in 1912, the Escuela has had as its only mission the teaching of law, breeding from the principles of academic freedom, outside of any form of ...

, in Mexico City. After 140 years of operation as a

, the Fraternity was re-cast as an

in 2012.

Inns

Phi Delta Phi has one hundred and thirty-one active chapters known as Inns. Each Inn is named for a noted jurist or member of the bar.Noted in the Fraternity'
List of Chapters
accessed 24 Oct 2021. *Kent Inn, University of Michigan, 1869 *Sharswood Inn, University of Pennsylvania, 1875 *Story Inn, Columbia University, 1881 *Pomeroy Inn,

University of California, Hastings College of the Law The University of California, Hastings College of the Law (UC Hastings) is a Public university, public Law school in the United States, law school in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1878 by Serranus Clinton Hastings, UC Hastings was the ...

, 1883 *Jay Inn, Albany Law School, 1884 *Gibson-Alexander Inn, University of Pennsylvania, 1886 * Choate Inn, Harvard University, 1887 *Waite Inn, Yale University, 1887 *Conkling Inn, Cornell University, 1888 *Miller Inn, Stanford University, 1897 *Douglas Inn, University of Chicago, 1903 *Jones Inn, University of California, Berkeley, 1913

External links

Phi Delta Phi International Home

Tiedeman Inn, University of Missouri

References

{{Authority control Student organizations established in 1869 Legal organizations based in the United States 1869 establishments in Michigan Former members of Professional Fraternity Association Professional legal fraternities and sororities in the United States Honor societies

History

Inns

See also

External links

References