HOME of THE FLORIDA STATE PIKES
ORIGIN
A Fraternity Founded On Friendship
IT ALL STARTED at the University of Virginia on a Sunday evening in March 1868 …
Frederick Southgate Taylor pitched the idea of creating a fraternity to his cousin and roommate, Littleton Waller Tazewell. Together, they invited their friend, James Benjamin Sclater, Jr., and his roommate, Robertson Howard, to join them for a meeting in their dorm room, 47 West Range, to discuss forming a Greek letter fraternity dedicated to the promotion of friendship, which they named PI KAPPA ALPHA.
At that inaugural meeting they agreed to include Julian Edward Wood in their ranks, then added William Alexander at their second meeting. As a group, these six men are recognized as The Founders of Pi Kappa Alpha.
At Alexander’s suggestion, the group appointed Howard and Tazewell to "draw up a statement of the origin and organization of the Fraternity.”
Over the 150+ years since this humble origin, more than 300 chapters have been chartered, each dedicated to promoting “friendship and kind feeling,” as outlined in the fraternity’s Preamble.
Today, the Preamble lives on as the fraternity’s guiding philosophy.
PREAMBLE of PI KAPPA ALPHA
Sunday evening, March 1, 1868
University of Virginia
For the establishment of friendship on a firmer and more lasting basis; For the promotion of brotherly love and kind feelings; For the mutual benefit and advancement of the interests of those with whom we sympathize and deem worthy of our regard; we have resolved
to form a fraternity, believing that, thus, we can most successfully accomplish our object.
Robertson Howard
Julian Edward Wood
James Benjamin Sclater, Jr.
Frederick Southgate Taylor
Littleton Waller Tazewell (Bradford)
William Alexander
The Preamble clearly states the principles and goals of the fraternity, emphasizing the importance the Founders placed on friendship, brotherly love, and mutual support among the brothers.