Sigma Pi - Theta Omega

Theta - Omega HISTORY

The first talks about expansion to MTSU were held in Fall 2004. Sigma Pi Fraternity Executive Office had moved to Brentwood, Tennessee in November of 2003 and officially opened in January of 2004. During the first summer in Tennessee, the Expansion Department mailed letters of interest to all of the universities in the state. MTSU did not reply. In the fall Executive Director Mark Briscoe was asked by Carrie Smith, interim Greek Life Advisor, to speak to new members of Greek Life. Mark spoke at the university and presented Carrie with Sigma Pi's expansion proposal. However, MTSU was in the search for a Greek Life Advisor, and the timing for a new group was poor. Fast forward to Fall 2005. Director of Alumni Services and Expansion Paul Wydra once again mailed letters to all of the universities in Tennessee. MTSU was a target of particular interest for Sigma Pi, due to the fact that it was about 45 minutes from the Executive Office and had a growing Greek system. Most significantly, Sigma Pi wanted to gain a presence in the state.

After gaining approval from Executive Director Mark Briscoe and Assistant Executive Director Jonathan Frost, the expansion department decided to hold a cold start at MTSU.

The expansion department, which included Expansion Consultant Jeremy Boyd, Expansion Consultant Jim DiVita, Colony Development Consultant Greg Ritchie, Colony Development Consultant Alan Moore, Educational Leadership Consultant - West Doug Finnan and Education Leadership Consultant - Midwest Jon Stone, set up tables on campus and held interest meetings. On the first day on campus, the expansion department had numerous people sign up, and also met the future leaders and foundation of the colony, Neil Honey and Justin Peach. In the next seven to ten days, more names would be added to the interest list and two more interest meetings were held.

After “rush” events at Buffalo Wild Wings, the men seemed ready to officially become a colony. Future Founding Fathers Josh Lee, Zac Defrancesca, Erik Houston, Cole Monroe, Cole Turney, Raymond Holmes and Cory Bransford all joined the interested men during this time. After one failed colonization attempt due to some members not being able to attend, the official colonization ceremony took place on October 22, 2005 at Justin Peach's house and included 16 people. The ceremony was led by Director of Finance John Swales and the MTSU colony of Sigma Pi Fraternity became official. The very next night, the first Executive Board was elected with Justin Peach selected as the first President. Two months later in December, the new Sigma Pi colony was accepted by the IFC at MTSU, and in January 2006 the group participated in Spring Recruitment, and from that point on things seemed to expand exponentially. Among the highlights of the Spring semester was the first ACE Project organized by the Colony, which focused on alcohol awareness and received strong support from other fraternities and sororities on campus.

Last summer, another milestone occurred with the acquisition of a house, something of a rarity for a Colony. The ensuing Fall semester was marked by a dedicated Recruitment effort that nearly doubled the number of members, and participation in Homecoming that resulted in numerous awards, including second place in overall spirit. A new era for the MTSU Colony began in December 2006, when the Executive Board was elected.

Sigma Pi HISTORY

On January 26, 1897, Miss Charlotte N. Malotte, the professor of Latin and French, spoke to a student group at the chapel hour. She spoke on the subject of College Fraternities which sparked the interest of several students. Then, on the afternoon of February 26, a new fraternity had its first meeting. When, after a long session, the meeting adjourned, a literary society had been born, though it was yet unnamed.
The founders of the Fraternity, all cadets at Vincennes University, were William Raper Kennedy, James Thompson Kingsbury, George Martin Patterson, and Rolin Rosco James. The first three were seniors; James was a freshman.
Samuel and Maurice Bayard were the first initiates. They were made members of the Fraternity before a name was selected or a constitution adopted. Many of the first meetings of the Fraternity were held at the old Bayard home. At the Bayard house, the constitution was written and the first ritual was developed and used in the loft of the family's carriage house.
According to history, the mother of the first two initiates, Mrs. Bayard, took a deep interest in the organization and used her influence to steer Tau Phi Delta in the right direction. On one occasion she entered the library of her home to find a meeting of the Fraternity in progress. The business of the hour was the adoption of an appropriate motto. No satisfactory agreement on the subject had been reached. Taking a volume of Robert Browning's poems from a shelf, she turned to A Death In The Desert, and read:

Progress, mans distinctive mark alone,
Not Gods, and not the beasts;
God is, they are.
Man partly is and wholly hopes to be.

That, Mrs. Bayard said, would make an excellent motto for your organization. With this remark she left the room, and her suggestion had accomplished its purpose. A motto had been found.
It would be appropriate to say Tau Phi Delta was hardly a fraternity chapter, as that term is now understood. Rather, it was a combination of the fraternity idea and the old style literary society, the like of which flourished in almost every college in the United States in the 19th century. However, in all its outward aspects, Tau Phi Delta possessed the characteristics of a fraternity chapter. It was strictly secret and possessed a password and a grip and included an initiation ritual. Its badge was a simple black shield, with a border of gold, upon which were displayed the Greek letters TFD. The colors were black and gold, and the red clover was the official flower.
In the winter of 1903-04 the Fraternity ceased to meet in the college building and rented a small cottage at 110 South Third Street in Vincennes. This building was occupied until the end of the college year and is considered the first chapter house occupied by the Fraternity.
Tau Phi Delta first began to show signs of expansion in about 1904-05. The beginning of the college year found three members of the Fraternity attending the University of Illinois and seven at Indiana University. In May, 1905, the members at Indiana effected an organization and petitioned the Vincennes chapter for authority to establish a second chapter there. The petition was denied. The members felt the proposed chapter would be unable to compete with the fraternities on the state university campus. During that year also, the organization first began to officially call itself a fraternity, and steps were taken toward incorporation under the laws of Indiana. A proposal of one of the members to expand the Fraternity into a national organization with chapters in junior colleges was also considered. Suitable material was not found, and the project was abandoned without formal action.
February 11, 1907, is a significant date in the Fraternity's history. It was then the members last assembled as Tau Phi Delta and first assumed the name of Sigma Pi Fraternity of the United States. Tau Phi Delta had had limited ambitions for expansion. Soon after the name change, Sigma Pi embarked on a program of establishing chapters on other campuses.
In 1984, the Fraternity again changed its name. At the 37th Biennial Convocation, Sigma Pi became an international fraternity by accepting its first Canadian chapter. This international status required the Fraternity to become Sigma Pi Fraternity, International. Today, Sigma Pi is comprised of 118 active chapters, 15 colonies, over 86,000 alumni.