Sigma Pi Phi (ΣΠΦ), also known as The Boulé, is an African American professional fraternity. Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1904, it is the oldest Greek lettered fraternityfor African Americans. The fraternity does not have collegiate chapters and is designed for professionals in mid-career or older. Sigma Pi Phi has over 5,000 members and 139 chapters throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, and The Bahamas.[1]
History
Sigma Pi Phi was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1904. The fraternity does not have collegiate chapters and is designed to be a professional fraternity for African American men at mid-career or older. When Sigma Pi Phi was founded, black professionals were not offered participation in the professional and cultural associations organized by the white community.[2]
Robert J. Abele (1875–1929), graduated at the top of his 1895 class at Hahnemann University Medical School (and was its first Black graduate) who earned the highest score ever awarded at that point on the state's medical certification test, the Pennsylvania State Qualifying Examination for Physicians, in 1897 (where he scored 97.3% out of 100%).[4][5]
Eugene T. Hinson - a medical doctor and cofounder of Mercy Hospital in Philadelphia, which opened in 1907.[5]
Edwin C .J. T. Howard (October 21, 1846 – May 10, 1912) member of the Harvard Medical School Class of 1869 who practiced medicine in Charleston South Carolina and then Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he founded Frederick Douglass Hospital in 1895 and Mercy Hospital in 1907[5][6]
Algernon B. Jackson (1878–1942), prominent African American physician, surgeon, writer, and columnist who contributed profoundly to the National Negro Health Movement, an organization that sought to uplift African Americans by educating them on preventative medicine and public health.[5]
Henry McKee Minton, pharmacist and doctor who was superintendent of the Mercy Hospital of Philadelphia[5]
Richard J. Warrick Jr. (1880–1957) Penn Dental School (Class of 1899), where he was the second Black person to graduate[7][8]
Founded as an organization for professionals, Sigma Pi Phi never established collegiate chapters and eliminated undergraduate membership during its infant stages.[10] However, Sigma Pi Phi has historically had a congenial relationship with intercollegiate Black Greek-letter organizations, as many members of Sigma Pi Phi are members of both.
Sigma Pi Phi has over 5,000 members and 139 chapters throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, and The Bahamas.[1]
Symbols and traditions
The organization is known as "the Boulé," which means, in Ancient Greek "the Council".[11]
Membership
Membership in Sigma Pi Phi is highly exclusive.[12] Sigma Pi Phi is open to members of all races.
^The word boulé, derived from ancient Greek βουλή, originally referred to a council of nobles advising a king. It is also used by the African-American sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha.
References
^ abOlechowski, Carol (April 25, 2002). "Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity Supports Scholarships for UAlbany Students" (Press release). University at Albany, SUNY.
^ abcdeHarris, William H. (2012). Brown, Tamara L.; Parks, Gregory S.; Phillips, Clarenda M. (eds.). African American Fraternities and Sororities: The Legacy and the Vision (2nd ed.). 104: University Press of Kentucky. p. 104. ISBN978-0-8131-3662-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
