Alpha Pi
From Uwphitau
The 40th Chapter of Phi Kappa Tau. Alpha Pi is located in Seattle, Washington.
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Sigma Tau Epsilon: The Origins of Alpha Pi
Before the University of Washington had Men of Character, they had men of worth, honor, and trustworthiness. Before Phi Kappa Tau existed on campus, there was a small Washington-based fraternity known as Sigma Tau Epsilon, and the three aforementioned attributes were the ideals that they held sacred. The group was founded in December of 1926, and shortly thereafter Ray Miller was elected president of the fledgling chapter.
Sigma Tau Epsilon had a simple ritual and insignia prepared by the end of January 1927. Their colors match two of the three university colors: purple and white. Their symbol was a white dagger, and they adopted a diamon-shaped membership badge. The ideals they set forth were similar to those of Phi Kappa Tau, which would foster an eventual transition to joining the national fraternity.
After approaching Phi Kappa Tau and expressing a desire to enter a national organization with values similar to their own, the brotherhood made the transition from Sigma Tau Epsilon to the Alpha Pi Colony of Phi Kappa Tau. Their petition was approved in early 1929, and they were installed as the fraternity's 40th chapter on April 6th of the same year. The ceremony concluded with an elegant installation ball at the Olympic Hotel.
Successes, World War II, and the Fall of Alpha Pi
The chapter's first home sat in what is now (as of 2004) the living room of the Beta Theta Pi chapter house. In 1940, Alpha Pi purchased their second home: the former Pi Beta Phi sorority house on 17th Avenue. The chapter spent much time converting it to a fraternity house in the first years of the war, before eventually having to shut its doors after the 1942-1943 school year. At this time, an alumnus began to manage the house as a home for war workers in the area.
Six men reopened the house in March of 1946. After the hardship of the war and the return of men to university education, membership exploded and the house soon proved to be too small to fit its needs. The chapter was able to buy the formed Alpha Gamma Delta sorority house, which sits on 21st Avenue, in 1954. This house was in excellent condition, and well suited the chapter's needs. The chapter was highly successful until 1971, when Alpha Pi had its charter unfortunately revoked by the national office for unidentified series of incidents.
The Second Rise and Fall of Alpha Pi
Alpha Pi made a return to campus in the late 1970s, chartering for its second time on May 11, 1979. The chapter quickly rose to campus prominence and was well-regarded throughout the 1980s. The chapter fluctuated in the 1990s, beginning the decade with a reorganization before filling the chapter again just a few years later. Unfortunately, a major risk management violation at a chapter social event in 1998 forced the chapter to once again be closed. Faced with the possibility of several years without incoming funds, and a massive sum of outstanding debts from a barely-finished remodel, Alpha Pi was forced to sell the property to Pi Kappa Alpha.
Chartering
The most recent milestone was the transition from Colony to Chapter on April 2nd, 2005. After two years of work by a group of hard-working, tenacious men, Alpha Pi celebrated with a banquet at the Woodland Park Zoo.
