Founded at the University of Virginia in 1868, a charter for the Tennessee Zeta chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha was granted to W. H. Cook, W. W. Jones, and J. H. Jones on March 23, 1874. The fraternity of UT President James D. Hoskins, PKA was the first fraternity to purchase a house in Knoxville and the first to install a housemother in their house. The house they purchased was at 1305 West Clinch Avenue. The fraternity’s 1966 new house in Fraternity Park cost $289,000 and provided living quarters for 44 men. It was fully air-conditioned when built.
The colors of the fraternity are garnet and gold; the flower is the lily of the valley; and the mascot is the Dalmatian. The traditional fraternity “yell” was Wah! Ripety! Zip! Bang! Hi! / Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! Pi! Traditions at UT include the Pi Kappa Alpha annual calendar girl contest and the dream girl dance, the orange and white 1926 fire truck party, and the Pike’s Peak party.
Assistant UT Registrar Frances Johnston’s song “PiKA Sweetheart” was adopted as an official song at the PiKA Convention of 1947 and was published in the PiKA Songbook.
Notable alumni of the national organization include Bobby Bowden, Ted Koppel, Senator Strom Thurmond, Tim McGraw, Jon Stewart, and Horace Grant.
In 1981 a garden in front of the fraternity house was planted and dedicated in memory of former fraternity member Curtis Huntley, who died in May 1981 from injuries of an alleged attempt to avoid a birthday hazing by fraternity brothers at Mississippi State University, to which he had transferred. The garden contained a plaque donated by the 1978 pledge class.
In 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2006, Pi Kappa Alpha International selected UT’s Zeta Chapter as the winner of the Roger Adgar Smyth Award as the Most Outstanding Chapter in the Fraternity.
In January 2008 the hospitalization of three students who contracted staph infections during pledging activities in the fraternity house led to a university inquiry into possible hazing and to sanitizing of the house. In February UT rescinded the license of the fraternity and suspended its operations. The Office of Student Judicial Affairs charged the chapter with hazing and violation of law, and the chapter pled guilty to the charges.
UT required that all fraternity houses be upgraded to meet fire and safety codes before each chapter could re-sign its 50-year housing lease with the university. The Pi Kappa Alpha house underwent a $1.9 million upgrade, renovation, and expansion to include a new basement hospitality area and outdoor porch. Alumni donations paid $1.3 million toward the upgrade and expansion, with the remainder funded through a revenue bond issue from the university. The house was rededicated on September 12, 2009.
On September 22, 2012, fraternity member Alexander Broughton of Memphis was admitted to UT Medical Center with a 4.5 percent blood alcohol content and treated for severe alcohol poisoning, which fraternity members said was the result of ingesting alcohol via an enema (butt-chugging). The fraternity was temporarily suspended for 30 days and then, on October 1, 2012, was banished from campus until 2015. The chapter voluntarily surrendered its charter to the national organization. Broughton denied having ingested alcohol via enema.
The fraternity rented its house in Fraternity Park to Christian fraternity Beta Upsilon Chi during its absence from campus.