Phi Kappa Sigma () is an international all-male college

secret society A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

and social

fraternity A fraternity (from Latin language, Latin ''wiktionary:frater, frater'': "brother (Christian), brother"; whence, "wiktionary:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal ...

. While nicknames differ from institution to institution, the most common nicknames for the fraternity are Skulls, Skullhouse, Phi Kap, and PKS (the first two because of the

skull and crossbones A skull and crossbones is a symbol consisting of a human skull and two long bones crossed together under or behind the skull. The design originated in the Late Middle Ages as a symbol of death and especially as a ''memento mori'' on tombstones. ...

on the fraternity's badge and

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

). Phi Kappa Sigma was founded by Dr. Samuel Brown Wylie Mitchell at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. Mitchell recorded the initial ideas and concepts of Phi Kappa Sigma on August 16, 1850. He then began to discuss the idea with other students, first Charles Hare Hutchinson, and then Alfred Victor du Pont (son of

Alfred V. du Pont Alfred Victor Philadelphe du Pont de Nemours (April 11, 1798 – October 4, 1856) was a French American chemist and industrialist, who was the eldest son and successor of Éleuthère Irénée du Pont, the founder of the E.I. du Pont de Nemours ...

), John Thorne Stone, Andrew Adams Ripka, James Bayard Hodge, and Duane Williams. The seven men formally founded the fraternity on October 19, 1850 becoming the founding fathers of Phi Kappa Sigma Phi Kappa Sigma is a charter member of the

North American Interfraternity Conference The North American Interfraternity Conference (or NIC; formerly known as the National Interfraternity Conference) is an association of intercollegiate men's social fraternities that was formally organized in 1910, although it began at a meeting a ...

, and since 2017, is headquartered in

Carmel, Indiana Carmel is a suburban city in Indiana immediately north of Indianapolis. With a population of 100,777, the city spans across Clay Township in Hamilton County, Indiana, and is bordered by the White River to the east; the Hamilton-Boone county ...

. Prior to that, starting with its founding in 1850, the fraternity was based out of Philadelphia, Valley Forge and Chester Springs, Pennsylvania.

Badge

The fraternity's badge was designed by its founder, Dr. Samuel Brown Wylie Mitchell. Outside of changes in size, its official design has remained the same. In the shape of a

cross pattée A cross pattée, cross patty or cross paty, also known as a cross formy or cross formée (french: croix pattée, german: Tatzenkreuz), is a type of Christian cross with arms that are narrow at the centre, and often flared in a curve or straight ...

, the badge is old gold with black decoration. The center of the cross is anchored by a skull and crossbones. The four leaves of the cross display, individually, the Greek letters

Phi Phi (; uppercase Φ, lowercase φ or ϕ; grc, ϕεῖ ''pheî'' ; Modern Greek: ''fi'' ) is the 21st letter of the Greek alphabet. In Archaic and Classical Greek (c. 9th century BC to 4th century BC), it represented an aspirated voicele ...

Kappa Kappa (uppercase Κ, lowercase κ or cursive ; el, κάππα, ''káppa'') is the 10th letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiceless velar plosive sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, has a value o ...

, and

Sigma Sigma (; uppercase Σ, lowercase σ, lowercase in word-final position ς; grc-gre, σίγμα) is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 200. In general mathematics, uppercase Σ is used as ...

, starting at the left leaf and rotating counter-clockwise. The fourth and top leaf display a

six-pointed star Star polygons and polygonal compounds are the basis for numerous figures of significance in arts and culture. The figure may be the border or interior of the polygon, or one or more closed polygonal paths that include all of the border and also ...

. The back of the badge has an engraved serpent echoing the serpent from the fraternity's

Chapter listing

''See List of Phi Kappa Sigma chapters''

Notable members

Skip Bayless Skip Bayless (born John Edward Bayless II) is an American sports columnist, commentator, and television personality. He is well-known for his work as a commentator on the ESPN2 show '' First Take'' with Stephen A. Smith, a show which he left ...

, sports journalist; ESPN anchor *

Jorge Andres Jorge Andres (born Jorge Andres Alfaro; July 7, 1984 in Lima, Peru) is a Peruvian-American sportscaster and sports reporter, who currently is an on-air talent for NBC Universal. Andres was a Sportscenter anchor at ESPN. Early years Andres at ...

, Award Winning sports anchor; Former Sportscenter anchor *

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, Canadian Politician *

Derek Bok Derek Curtis Bok (born March 22, 1930) is an American lawyer and educator, and the former president of Harvard University. Life and career Bok was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Following his parents' divorce, he, his mother, brother and siste ...

, 25th President of

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; 7th Dean of

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* J.M.S. Careless, Canadian Historian *

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, Founder Green & Black’s chocolate *

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, Navy pilot; NASA astronaut; killed during

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training exercise. (Alpha Xi Chapter, Purdue University) * James A. Champy, member of the

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the mo ...

Corporation, Board of Trustees, and Board of Directors of

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, author of ''Among the Missing'' and ''Await Your Reply''; finalist for the National Book Award *

Denny Crum Denzel Edwin "Denny" Crum (born March 2, 1937) is an American former men's college basketball coach at the University of Louisville from 1971 to 2001, compiling a record. He guided the Cardinals to two NCAA championships ( 1980, 1986) and six Fin ...

, basketball head coach, University of Louisville (NCAA Champions, 1980 and 1986) *

John Curley John Curley is a Professor, Distinguished Professional in Residence, and Co-Director of the Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State. He was head of Gannett News Service, during which time the news service won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Serv ...

, first editor of ''

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''; former head of

Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.Frederick de Cordova Frederick Timmins de Cordova (October 27, 1910 – September 15, 2001) was an American stage, motion picture and television director and producer. He is best known for his work on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''. Early life De Cordova ...

, producer of ''

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''; producer and director of the ''Jack Benny Show'' and ''My Three Sons'' * Alexis F. du Pont, Director of DuPont de Nemours (currently

DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

) *

Pierre S. du Pont Pierre Samuel du Pont (; January 15, 1870 – April 4, 1954) was an American entrepreneur, businessman, philanthropist and member of the prominent du Pont family. He was president of DuPont from 1915 to 1919, and served on its board of director ...

, Director of DuPont de Nemours (currently DuPont); former CEO of

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

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, helicopter pioneer; one of the world's three principal developers of vertical flight * George David Low, NASA astronaut;

Orbital Sciences Corporation Orbital Sciences Corporation (commonly referred to as Orbital) was an American company specializing in the design, manufacture, and launch of small- and medium- class space and launch vehicle systems for commercial, military and other governmen ...

executive *

Dan Leal Dan Leal, also known as Porno Dan (born ) is an American pornographic movie Film director, director and pornographic actor, actor. He has been nominated for over 150 AVN Award, XBIZ Award and XRCO Award nominations and was inducted into the AVN ...

, pornographic film star and director'' *

Paul Lynde Paul Edward Lynde (; June 13, 1926January 10, 1982) was an American comedian, actor and game show panelist. A character actor with a distinctively campy and snarky persona that often poked fun at his barely closeted homosexuality, Lynde was well ...

, comedian and actor; appeared on the game show ''

Hollywood Squares ''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show piloted on NBC in 1965 and the regular series debuted in 1966 on the ...

'' as the "center square;" played Uncle Arthur on ''

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'' *

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Director during Cold War *

Frank McGuire Frank Joseph McGuire (November 8, 1913 – October 11, 1994) was an American basketball coach. At the collegiate level, he was head coach for three major programs: St. John's Red Storm men's basketball, St. John's, North Carolina Tar Heels men's ...

, head basketball coach at the University of South Carolina * Stanford Moore, Nobel Prize Winning Chemist * Scott A. Muller, Olympian (1996) *

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, founder of the

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; inventor of the

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Lewis F. Powell Jr. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. (September 19, 1907 – August 25, 1998) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1972 to 1987. Born in Suffolk, Virginia, he graduat ...

, former

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Justice *

Edward Mills Purcell Edward Mills Purcell (August 30, 1912 – March 7, 1997) was an American physicist who shared the 1952 Nobel Prize for Physics for his independent discovery (published 1946) of nuclear magnetic resonance in liquids and in solids. Nuclear magne ...

, winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics *

Bob Riley Robert Renfroe Riley (born October 3, 1944) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 52nd governor of Alabama from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he previously represented Alabama's 3rd district in the U. ...

, politician; former Governor of Alabama *

James G. Roche James Gerard Roche (born December 16, 1939) is an American politician. He served as the 20th Secretary of the Air Force, serving from January 20, 2001 to January 20, 2005. Prior to serving as secretary, Roche served in the United States Navy for ...

, 20th

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* Cyrus Wadia, Senior Policy Analyst, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; winner of ''Technology Review''s "top innovators under 35" award in 2009 *

Tom Wolfe Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...

, author of ''

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'' * Steven Zierk, 2010 World Under 18 Chess Champion

References

External links

Home page of Phi Kappa Sigma
{{Authority control International student societies North American Interfraternity Conference Student organizations established in 1850 1850 establishments in Pennsylvania

Badge

Chapter listing

Notable members

See also

References

External links