The Tennessee Gamma Chapter of Pi Beta Phi was established at UT in 1948. Pi Beta Phi was founded at Monmouth College, Monmouth, Illinois, in 1867 as I. C. Sorosis. The name was changed to Pi Beta Phi in 1888. Pi Beta Phi was one of the seven founding fraternities of the National Panhellenic Conference. It was the first national sorority to have a national philanthropy when it founded the Pi Beta Phi Settlement School in Gatlinburg. The school was the precursor of Arrowmont and was a significant factor in the growth and national reputation of UT’s College of Home Economics.
Its colors, adopted in 1882, are wine red and silver blue; its emblem is the arrow; and its flower is the wine carnation, adopted in 1890. Pi Phi is noted for holding an annual softball tournament named Phi Fly to raise money for Arrowmont. Among notable alumnae of the national organization are Margaret Truman Daniel, author; Sue Grafton, author; Kay Hall, Nancy Hogshead and Tracie Ruiz, Olympic gold medalists; Marilyn Horne, Metropolitan Opera star; Lisa Murkowski, US senator for Alaska; Faye Dunaway, actress; Patricia Neal, actress; and Ann Turner Cook, the original “Gerber Baby.”
Architects for its $3.9 million house in Sorority Village were Weeks, Ambrose and McDonald. The contractor was K&F Construction.