Becoming a Skull means being part of one of the oldest fraternities in existence, which has consistently blazed the trail that others have followed. Some historical highlights we are particularly proud of:
Founded at the University of Pennsylvania on October 19th, 1850.
We were the first Fraternity to publish a national magazine, in 1857.
The Phi Kappa Sigma Male College was founded in Monticello, Arkansas, where it was the first institution of higher learning in the state, and made Phi Kappa Sigma the only Fraternity to ever have had a college named in its honor, in 1859.
We were the first Fraternity to include an anti-discriminatory clause in our Constitution, in 1860. When you read that our motto is “Brotherhood is more than skin deep,” understand that we have lived by those words since before the Civil War.
We were the first Fraternity to organize a national convention and establish a democratic system of government based on Chapter representation, in 1869.
We were the first Fraternity to offer a scholastic award in any American college or university, when the Samuel Brown Wylie Mitchell Prize in English Literature was created at the University of Pennsylvania, in 1888.
We were one of the first fraternities to become an international organization with the establishment of the Alpha Beta Chapter at the University of Toronto.
We were a charter member of the National Inter-Fraternity Conference (NIC), in 1909.
We celebrated our sesquicentennial anniversary of 150 years of operation, in 2000.
We held the first Men Of Honor leadership development program, designed to help our members become more effective leaders and officers within their local Chapter, in 2001.
We work with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society as our national charity, with our members raising tens of thousands of dollars each year.
We have approximately 50 active Chapters operating today, with 1,200+ active undergraduates and 40,000+ initiates.
Our nickname is “Skulls”.