Rho Psi

The Rho Psi Society (ΡΨ) is an honorary Greek letter fraternity. Although founded as a student society, it is no longer active at the collegiate level. The objectives of the Society are to promote and perpetuate friendship among members; to develop congeniality and brotherhood in the fraternal life; and to cultivate the spirit of cooperation and self-sacrifice.

History

Rho Psi was founded in 1916 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York as a general club for male students of Chinese descent, with the Chinese name Su Yu She (Society for Respecting Friends).[1] The original founders, Chih Ping, L. N. Lau, Y. C. Yang, K. C. Lay, and C. K. Cheng, were all of Chinese origin, and thus excluded from most fraternities of the time. It was the first club with Greek letters for Asian students in what is now the Ivy League.[2]

The Alpha chapter, which maintained a house, existed on the Cornell campus until 1931. Rho Psi became national in 1925 with the establishment of another chapter in New York City, and the fraternity gained international status in 1929 with a chapter in Shanghai. It appears in four editions of Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities.[3][4][4][4]

At its 1976 convention in State College, Pennsylvania, Su Yu She adopted the name Rho Psi Society, and women were admitted to membership. In 2009 Rho Psi was rechartered at the University of Alabama as the Sigma chapter.

There are now a large number of collegiate Asian-American clubs.

References

  1. ↑ Hsu, Francis L. K. The Challenge of the American Dream: The Chinese in the United States. Wadsworth, 1971. ISBN 0-534-00043-6
  2. ↑ Cornell's Commitment to Diversity: History
  3. ↑ William Baird, ed. (1920). Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities (9th ed.). G. Banta Co. p. 704. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 Baird, William Raymond (1923). Baird's manual of American college fraternities (10th ed.). G. Banta Co. p. 687. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
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