Phi Sigma Rho Explained

Phi Sigma Rho (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ΦΣΡ; also known as Phi Rho or PSR) is a social sorority for individuals who identify as female or non-binary in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.^[1] The sorority was founded in 1984 at Purdue University.^[2] It has since expanded to more than 40 colleges across the United States.

History

Phi Sigma Rho was founded on September 24, 1984, at Purdue University by Rashmi Khanna and Abby McDonald.^[3] Khanna and McDonald were unable to participate in traditional sorority rush due to the demands of the sororities and their engineering program, so they decided to start a new sorority that would take their academic program's demands into consideration.

The Alpha chapter at Purdue University was founded with ten charter members: Gail Bonney, Anita Chatterjea, Ann Cullinan, Pam Kabbes, Rashmi Khanna, Abby McDonald, Christine Mooney, Tina Kershner, Michelle Self, and Kathy Vargo.^[4]

Phi Sigma Rho accepts students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics who identify as female or who identify as non-binary. The sorority made the decision to include non-binary students in all chapters in the summer of 2021.

Phi Sigma Rho has grown more than 40 chapters nationally. Its headquarters is located in Northville, Michigan. Its online magazine is The Key.^[5]

Symbols

The colors of Phi Sigma Rho are wine red and silver. The sorority's flower is the orchid, and its jewel is the pearl. Its mascot is Sigmand the penguin. Its motto is "together we build the future."

Philanthropy

Phi Sigma Rho's national philanthropy is the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.^[6]

The Phi Sigma Rho Foundation was established as a separate nonprofit organization in 2005. It supports the educational and philanthropic efforts of the sorority's members and offers merit-based scholarships to sorority members.^[7]

Chapters

The following tables lists Phi Sigma Rho chapters, prospective chapters, and interest groups.^[8] Active chapters are indicated in bold. Inactive chapters are indicated in italic.

Chapter	Charter date and range	Institution	Location	Status	Reference
Alpha		Purdue University	West Lafayette, IN	Active
Beta	1988	Ohio State University	Columbus, OH	Active
Gamma	1989	University of Dayton	Dayton, OH	Active
Delta	1992	University of Toledo	Toledo, OH	Active
Epsilon	1999	University of Kentucky	Lexington, KY	Active
Zeta	2000	University of Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh, PA	Active
Eta	2000	University of Michigan	Ann Arbor, MI	Active
Theta	2001	University of Connecticut	Storrs, CT	Active
Iota	2001	Ohio Northern University	Ada, OH	Active
Kappa	2002	University of Arkansas	Fayetteville, AR	Active
Lambda	2002	Pennsylvania State University	University Park, PA	Active
Mu	2002	University of Washington	Seattle, WA	Active
Nu	2003	University of California, Los Angeles	Los Angeles, CA	Active
Xi	2003		New Brunswick, NJ/ Piscataway, NJ	Active
Omicron	2003	Case Western Reserve University	Cleveland, OH	Active
Pi	2004	University of California, Irvine	Irvine, CA	Active
Rho	2004	Missouri University of Science and Technology	Rolla, MO	Active
Sigma	2005	Oregon State University	Corvallis, OR	Active
Tau	2005	University of Florida	Gainesville, FL	Active
Upsilon	2005	University of Houston	Houston, TX	Active
Phi	2006	Howard University	Washington, DC	Active
Chi	2007	University of California, San Diego	La Jolla, CA	Active
Psi	2011	California State Polytechnic University, Pomona	Pomona, CA	Inactive
Omega	2011	Virginia Commonwealth University	Richmond, VA	Active
Alpha Alpha	2011	Youngstown State University	Youngstown, OH	Active
Alpha Beta	2011	University of Cincinnati	Cincinnati, OH	Active
Alpha Gamma	2012	University of Louisville	Louisville, KY	Active
Alpha Delta	2012	Michigan State University	East Lansing, MI	Active
Alpha Epsilon	2013	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	Urbana-Champaign, IL	Active
Alpha Zeta	2013–2022	Wright State University	Dayton, OH	Inactive
Alpha Eta	2014	Vanderbilt University	Nashville, TN	Active
Alpha Theta	2015	University of California, Berkeley	Berkeley, CA	Active
Alpha Iota	2016–2022	Penn State Erie, The Behrend College	Erie, PA	Inactive
Alpha Kappa	2016	University of Arizona	Tucson, AZ	Active
Alpha Lambda	2016	Arizona State University	Tempe, AZ	Active
Alpha Mu	2017	University of Colorado Boulder	Boulder, CO	Active
Alpha Nu	2017	Boise State University	Boise, ID	Active
Alpha Xi	2017	University of California, Santa Barbara	Santa Barbara, CA	Active
Alpha Omicron	2018	University at Buffalo	Buffalo, NY	Active
Alpha Pi	2019	University of Wyoming	Laramie, WY	Active
Alpha Rho	2019	Old Dominion University	Norfolk, VA	Active
Alpha Sigma	2019	University of Nevada, Reno	Reno, NV	Active
Alpha Tau	2020	Northeastern University	Boston, MA	Active
Alpha Upsilon	2020	Cleveland State University	Cleveland, OH	Active
Alpha Phi	2020	Texas A&M University	College Station, TX	Active
Alpha Chi	2021	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Cambridge, MA	Active
Alpha Psi	2022	Purdue University Fort Wayne	Fort Wayne, IN	Active
Alpha Omega	2023	University of Akron	Akron, Ohio	Active
Beta Alpha	2023	University of Alabama	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	Active
Beta Beta	2023	North Carolina State University	Raleigh, North Carolina	Active
Beta Gamma	2024	University of Utah	Salt Lake City, Utah	Active
Beta Delta	2024	University of Georgia	Athens, Georgia	Active
Beta Epsilon	2024	University at Albany	Albany, New York	Active
Prospective Chapter	2023	Florida International University	Miami, Florida	Active

Notable members

• Lila Ibrahim^[9]

See also

• List of social sororities and women's fraternities
• Professional fraternities and sororities
• Society of Women Engineers

Further reading

• Book: Bilimoria . Diana . Women in STEM Careers: International Perspectives on Increasing Workforce Participation, Advancement and Leadership . Lord . Linley . 2014-10-31 . Edward Elgar Publishing . 978-1-78195-407-2 . en.
• Book: Torbenson . Craig LaRon . Brothers and Sisters: Diversity in College Fraternities and Sororities . Parks . Gregory . 2009 . Associated University Presse . 978-0-8386-4194-1 . 282 . en.
• Book: The Engineer of 2020: Visions of Engineering in the New Century . 2004-06-14 . National Academies Press . 978-0-309-09162-6 . en.
• Book: Models and Modeling in Engineering Education: Designing Experiences for All Students . 2008-01-01 . BRILL . 978-90-8790-404-3 . en.
• Book: Lovett, Karen . Diverse Pedagogical Approaches to Experiential Learning: Multidisciplinary Case Studies, Reflections, and Strategies . 2020-06-03 . Springer Nature . 978-3-030-42691-0 . en.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2021-11-05 . Phi Sigma Rho votes to accept non-binary members . 2023-09-21 . Purdue Exponent . West Lafayette, IN, USA . en.
2. Book: Lurding. Carrol . Becque. Fran. December 3, 2022. Almanac of Fraternities and Sororities. Urbana. University of Illinois. 2 February 2023.
3. Web site: History . 2023-01-27 . Phi Sigma Rho . en.
4. Web site: History . 31 July 2022 . Phi Sigma Rho.
5. Web site: The Key . 2023-01-27 . Phi Sigma Rho . en.
6. Web site: Phi Sigma Rho Foundation . 2023-01-27 . Phi Sigma Rho Foundation.
7. Web site: Scholarships . 2023-01-27 . Phi Sigma Rho Foundation.
8. Web site: Chapter Locator . 2023-01-27 . Phi Sigma Rho . en.
9. Web site: Lila Ibrahim Phi Sigma Rho . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20180429061001/http://www.phisigmarho.org/biography/lila-ibrahim . 2018-04-29 . 2018-04-25 . www.phisigmarho.org . en.