Editing Phi Kappa Psi (section)

==History==
[[File:Letherman Home Canonsburg PA.jpg|thumb|left|180px|The Letterman home, where Phi Kappa Psi was founded]]
In the winter of 1850, a [[typhoid fever]] epidemic hit [[Greek organizations at Washington & Jefferson College|Jefferson College]] in [[Canonsburg, Pennsylvania]]. Many students left school. Among those who remained were [[William Henry Letterman]] and [[Charles Page Thomas Moore]]. They chose to care for their classmates who were stricken with the contagious disease, and a strong bond was formed.

The following school year, Letterman and Moore decided to found a fraternity based on "the great joy of serving others" that they experienced during the epidemic. Letterman and Moore founded Phi Kappa Psi in Widow Letterman's home on the campus of [[Greek organizations at Washington & Jefferson College|Jefferson College]] in [[Canonsburg, Pennsylvania]] on February 19, 1852.{{sfn|Anson|Marchesani|1991|p=III 83}}

The fraternity's first Grand Arch Council convened in 1853 in Charlottesville, Virginia.<ref>Van Cleve, p. 88</ref> At the 1885 Grand Arch Council in [[Columbus, Ohio]], a special committee was created to draft a new constitution.<ref name=":1">Van Cleve, p. 89</ref><ref name=":0">Glazebrook, p. 133</ref><ref name=":5">Van Cleve, p. 114</ref> The fraternity also decided to prohibit chapters from honorary initiations.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5" /> The new constitution was ratified at the 1886 Grand Arch Council in [[Indianapolis, Indiana]].<ref name=":1" /><ref>Van Cleve, p. 120</ref><ref>Campbell, p. 315</ref>

In 1894 in New York City, the Arch Grand Council passed a resolution to oppose [[hazing]] for its undergraduate members, becoming the first fraternity to publicly oppose hazing.<ref name=":1" /><ref>Campbell, p. 411 and 415</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Syrett |first=Nicholas L. |title=The Company He Keeps: A History of White College Fraternities |publisher=[[University of North Carolina Press]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-8078-3253-0 |place=[[Chapel Hill, North Carolina|Chapel Hill]] |page=152 |oclc=603048230}}</ref> The Arch Grand Council adopted the Phi Kappa Psi Creed in 1964.<ref>{{cite journal |year=1964 |editor1-last=Henderson |editor1-first=William A. |editor2-last=Dick |editor2-first=Haldon C. |title=Important ELC-GAC in Colorful Colorado |journal=The Shield of Phi Kappa Psi |publisher=Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity |volume=84 |issue=3 |pages=115–117 |issn=0199-1280 |place=Fulton, Missouri}}</ref>