Rho Psi

The Rho Psi Society (ΡΨ) is an honorary fraternity Greek letter fraternity. Although founded as a student society, it is no longer active at the collegiate level. The objectives of the Society are to promote and perpetuate friendship among members; to develop congeniality and brotherhood in the fraternal life; and to cultivate the spirit of cooperation and self-sacrifice.

History

Rho Psi was founded in 1916 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York as a general club for male students of Chinese descent, with the Chinese name Su Yu She ("Society for Respecting Friends"). [Hsu, Francis L. K. "The Challenge of the American Dream: The Chinese in the United States". Wadsworth, 1971. ISBN 0534000436] The original founders, Chih Ping, L. N. Lau, Y. C. Yang, K. C. Lay, and C. K. Cheng, were all of Chinese origin, and thus excluded from most fraternities of the time. It was the first club with greek letters for Asian students in what is now the Ivy League. [ [http://www.cornell.edu/diversity/history/history.cfm Cornell's Commitment to Diversity: History] ]

The Alpha chapter, which maintained a house, existed on the Cornell campus until 1931. Rho Psi became national in 1925 with the establishment of the another chapter in New York City, and international in 1929 with a chapter in Shanghai. It appears in "Baird's Manual of American College clubs" on page 704 in the 9th edition (1920) as well as page 687 in the 10th edition (1923), page 509 in the 11th (1927), and page 305 in the 16th (1957).

In 1976 at its convention in State College, Pennsylvania, it adopted the name Rho Psi Society, and women were admitted to membership,so it is not a fraternity.

There are now a large number of collegiate Asian-American clubs.

References