Origins

When Pi Alpha Phi was founded in the 1920s, traditional Greek letter fraternities along with the rest of the nation, legally discriminated against men of color.^[1] In 1928, Wing C. Chan, Dong Wing Tom, and Elmer Leong, members of the class of 1930 at the University of California, Berkeley, had the idea to start a fraternity for the several hundred students of Chinese descent.^[2] Six students signed the fraternity's charter in both Chinese and English, officially establishing Pi Alpha Phi on February 1, 1929.^[3][2]

The six founders of Pi Alpha Phi were D. Wing Tom, Wing Chan, Elmer Leong, Chack Chan, Tim Jang, and George Lee.^[3][2] All were born in America except Wing Chan, who came from China at an early age.^[3] Wing Chan became the fraternity's first president.

Because they were banned from joining traditional Greek letter fraternities, Pi Alpha Phi's founding fathers wanted to ensure that Asian-American awareness would be an important part of the fraternity.^[1] The fraternity encouraged its members to learn Asian-American culture, heritage, and history and to share this knowledge with others. In its later years, the basic premise of the fraternity remained largely unchanged.^[1] The fraternity was open to people of all ethnic backgrounds but retained its Asian-American character.^[1]

Expansion

The local fraternity became national with the addition of its Beta chapter at the Stony Brook University in 1990.^[4] This was folled by Gamma chapter at University of California, Davis that same year.^[4] More chapters followed in California and Michigan through 2000.^[4] The fraternity's first annual convention was hosted by the Epsilon chapter in Arcadia, California in 2000.

The fraternity continued to charter chapters, expanding into Arizona, North Carolina, and Washington.^[4] Pi Alpha Phi was a founding member of the National APIDA Panhellenic Association in 2005.^[5][6] In 2014, Pi Alpha Phi had active ten chapters, one associate chapter, and six colonies.^[1] It was headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana.^[7]

Scandals and dissolution

In July 2020, the National Board of Directors placed a national moratorium on chapter activities in response to "multiple reports of sexual misconduct nationwide."^[8][9] The moratorium was lifted but, a pledge, Phat Nguyen, died and three others were hospitalized after a hazing incident at Michigan State University on November 19, 2020.^{[10][11][12][13][14]} Nine fraternity members were changed in connection with the death.^[11] In June 2023, the family of the deceased student filed a wrongful death suit against the fraternity.^[10]

On August 1, 2023, Pi Alpha Phi Fraternity announced the closure of all of its collegiate chapters.^[15][10] The fraternity said that its chapters were unsustainable because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, declining university enrollment, and financial pressures.^[15] Not all chapters agreed with this decision. Some chapters attempted to stay open or tried to start a new organization; although, the former was prohibited by the national fraternity.^[10][15] At the time of its closure, Pi Alpha Phi was the oldest active Asian-American interest fraternity in the United States.^[1]

The National APIDA Panhellenic Association removed Pi Alpha Phi from its membership roles on October 13, 2023.^[10][6] NAPA said, "Pi Alpha Phi Fraternity, Inc. has contributed to the vibrant Greek life on campuses nationwide and served as a chartering organization of  NAPA in 2005. Their dedication to fostering academic excellence, Asian American awareness, brotherhood, leadership, and philanthropy has left a lasting mark on our fraternity and sorority community."^[6] Some of the fraternity's materials are archived at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.^[1]