FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Dateline: February 14, 2012 Contact: Will Haskett, Director of Communications 317-632-1852 WLH@PhiKappaPsi.

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Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity to Celebrate 160th Birthday This Sunday

INDIANAPOLIS On Sunday, February 19, 2012, The Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity will celebrate 160 years of existence with its annual recognition of Founders Day. Thousands of members will gather at dozens of events around the country this weekend and throughout the month to pay tribute to the organization started by two men in 1852. William Henry Letterman and Charles Page Thomas Moore were classmates at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania that fateful winter of 1852. A typhoid outbreak had spread throughout the campus, and both men were drawn together by their compassion to offer aid and sympathy to those less fortunate. Both had been invited to join fraternities that already existed, but each man was dissatisfied with the character and personalities found in those societies. Instead, they sought others to join them in the creation of an organization guided by service and committed to a higher level of moral integrity. On the evening of February 19, 1852, they were the only two that showed up to the initial meeting. Undeterred, they would add more men to their association as the year progressed, ending the calendar year with 10 members. From those 10, the Fraternity has grown to over 117,000 men a mere 160 years later. Founders Day is an opportunity for all members to come together and recognize the commitment that Brothers Letterman and Moore made and use each celebration as a guide to leading ones life by the ideals of each fine man. Founders Day is not just about celebrating an anniversary, it is about celebrating a commitment to service and gentlemanly behavior, said Shawn Collinsworth, Executive Director of Phi Kappa Psi. February 19th is our greatest opportunity to remind our members about what it means to be a part of this unique organization. Alumni, undergraduates and guests around the country will gather to make this weekend the largest annual Phi Kappa Psi event. To help unite the celebrations, the Fraternity has promoted each group to adopt the national theme of Share the Vision, in the hopes of connecting all guests with the mission and vision of the Fraternity born 160 years ago.

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