PHI or ALPHA from Chris Palen

Phi or Alpha?

Here is a story that some brothers might not know. In 1968 or 1969 Marquette started allowing social fraternities on campus and, according to Denny Leonard, the brothers “thought we needed to be in a large national to compete.”

A couple months ago I contacted Phi Kappa Psi headquarters to see what they might have on record.


According to their December 27-28 1969 Executive Council minutes:

“That a chapter charter be granted to the Wisconsin Delta Colony at Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wis., effective upon meeting all requirements of the Fraternity;
that it be designated Wisconsin Delta Chapter;
be assigned to District IV;
and be installed on a date to be mutually agreed upon,
following the certification by the Executive Council of the qualified undergraduate and alumni members thereof.”

Leonard said we were issued pledge books and given colony pins that were gold and a single large Psi.

I don’t remember that.

There is nothing else in their records until the end.

First, I’ll give my recollection of what happened and then theirs.

As I recall, I made a motion to discontinue our association with Phi Kappa Psi primarily because of the fraternity house. It belonged to Alpha Kappa Psi and if we were no longer an AKPsi Chapter, we would have no right to live in the house.

Now their version...

In a September 1970 meeting they voted to revoke the relationship and that no chapter would be granted. Reasons were “objections made by brothers who had visited the colony.”

We were already members of a “semi-professional type of fraternity which also owned the house.”

“Furthermore, other conditions such as alcoholism made the committee recommend that it was not in the best interest of Phi Kappa Psi to keep the colony or to charter it.”

Personally, I’m shocked and hurt that they cited alcoholism in our fraternity. We were a professional business fraternity with a high sense of purpose.