Alpha Sigma Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity was established at UT on January 24, 1931. The local fraternity Chi Sigma Delta petitioned for a charter and received one. In 1932 Pi Kappa Phi absorbed the local fraternity Theta Chi Alpha. The Pi Kappa Phi fraternity was founded on December 10, 1904, at the College of Charleston. The mascot is the alligator. The colors of the fraternity are gold and white, and the flower is the red rose. The philanthropy of the group is Push America. Notable alumni of the national organization include Howard Baker Jr., Randy Owen, Tommy LaSorda, Chris Moneymaker, and Jim Edmonds.
In 1933 the UT fraternity requested Elzie Crisler Segar, creator of the wildly popular “Popeye” comic, to draw invitations to a tea dance they were giving in Alumni Memorial Building. Segar, not a member of Pi Kappa Phi, agreed. Twenty-eight coveted copies of the invitation were made and sent to fraternities and sororities at the university. On-campus traditions include their annual Rose Ball. In 1974 Pi Kappa Phi began the publication of the “Greek Belles,” a pictorial directory of sorority pledge classes.
The Pi Kappa Phi house in Fraternity Park, along with those of Lambda Chi Alpha and Sigma Phi Epsilon, was closed for a month at the end of 2008 because of fire code violations. The house was approved for reopening by the State fire marshal after the fraternity installed a smoke detection system.
In spring 2013 the fraternity was found by UT to have caused “physical harm” and to have placed new members under “emotional distress and physical discomfort” during the pledging period, a violation of the fraternity’s hazing policy. The fraternity was placed on probation by UT. In September it was cited for an alcohol violation after police found 80 to 90 Jell-O shots in the house. On November 22, 2013, a parent of a Pi Kappa Phi pledge called UT police to report that his son had been physically and verbally attacked during fraternity rituals. On November 29, 2013, Pi Kappa Phi national headquarters issued the announcement that it was closing the UT student chapter because its members were not able to abide by the fraternity’s standards of conduct. Following the decision by the national office to close the chapter, UT revoked its registration as a student organization. The chapter was not allowed to recolonize until August 2017.
Following the November report of hazing, members of the fraternity were sent a letter by the Division of Student Life stating that all members of the fraternity were to “refrain from sending any emails, texts, or phone calls that could be considered retaliatory or intimidating in nature to the parties involved in reporting the hazing incident.” David Andrew Baird of Hendersonville, Tennessee, was arrested on December 5 on a harassment charge, and Kelby Christopher Cowan of Brentwood, Tennessee, was arrested on December 3 and charged with harassment in connection with a series of threatening, profanity-laden text messages sent to Andrew Preston.