honor societies

[AlwaysSAI]

I've kind of skimmed through this thread, so I'm gonna add my two cents.

The biggest difference I see between pure honor societies and say, Phi Sigma Pi, an honor FRATERNITY is the secrecy of the ritual. The only people that know the inner meanings of Phi Sigma Pi are initiated brothers. We have a secret grip, password, meanings for all of our symbols, etc.

Compare that to Kappa Delta Pi, the education honor society. The 'initiation' ceremony was totally public--everyone and their momma was there to see every one take a 'vow'--whatever. There was no recruitment, no pledging ceremony, no pledging period. All I had to do to get in was maintain a 3.0 (I believe), which I would have done anyway.

[AGDAlum]

www.phisigmapi.org
I came across their website today. Their history is well-presented and comprehensive (and fairly candid, given the number of times their Alpha chapter has been revived).

There is a link to a fraternity that Phi Sigma Pi had crossed with in its early days: www.philambdaepsilon.org . . .I understand that it might have been a genuine fraternity at one time; is this contemporary site a spoof?

[AlwaysSAI]

Originally Posted by AGDAlum

www.phisigmapi.org
I came across their website today. Their history is well-presented and comprehensive (and fairly candid, given the number of times their Alpha chapter has been revived).

There is a link to a fraternity that Phi Sigma Pi had crossed with in its early days: www.philambdaepsilon.org . . .I understand that it might have been a genuine fraternity at one time; is this contemporary site a spoof?

Thanks for the compliment! The current website is fairly new and was completely redone sometime in 2007. I love the comprehensive history. I sat one day and read it all.

Without Phi Lamb, Phi Sig would not have some into being. I have seen that Phi Lamb website before and did question it's validity as a fraternity of any kind.

[valmypal]

Originally Posted by AlwaysSAI

I've kind of skimmed through this thread, so I'm gonna add my two cents.

The biggest difference I see between pure honor societies and say, Phi Sigma Pi, an honor FRATERNITY is the secrecy of the ritual. The only people that know the inner meanings of Phi Sigma Pi are initiated brothers. We have a secret grip, password, meanings for all of our symbols, etc.

Compare that to Kappa Delta Pi, the education honor society. The 'initiation' ceremony was totally public--everyone and their momma was there to see every one take a 'vow'--whatever. There was no recruitment, no pledging ceremony, no pledging period. All I had to do to get in was maintain a 3.0 (I believe), which I would have done anyway.

Thanks AlwaysSAI, this makes sense.