Phi Kappa Sigma is the only fraternity in whose honor a college was founded and named. On the seventh day of February, 1859, the Phi Kappa Sigma Male College, located at Monticello, Arkansas, opened its doors for students. On the twenty-first of February, in the same year, the Legislature of Arkansas chartered this institution, making it the first institution of higher learning in Arkansas.

1850 - Alpha Chapter founded at the University of Pennsylvania.
1854- The first convention was held in Philadelphia.
1857 - The first fraternity to publish a fraternity-wide publication.
1859 - Phi Kappa Sigma Male College established.
1869 - The first regularly constituted alumni chapter is organized in New York.
1869 - The first fraternity to organize a Grand Chapter and establish a democratic
system of government based on chapter representation.
1953 - The Phi Kappa Sigma Educational Fund is created.
2000 - The Fraternity moves forward with Dry Skulls, its alcohol-free housing initiative.

Mitchell, born August 16, 1828, attained a high level of achievement at the University, including earning B.A., M.A., and M.D. degrees. He spent a year as an assistant physician at Philadelphia Hospital and was responsible for supervising the Fraternity's growth at the University of Pennsylvania and the other schools where early chapters were established. Dr. Mitchell practiced medicine until he was commissioned on April 11, 1861, as a Major and Surgeon in the Union Army with the Eighteenth Pennsylvania U.S. Volunteers. He served with distinction until the expiration of his service on January 24, 1865. In March of the same year, Mitchell was made Lieutenant-Colonel U.S.V. for "gallant and meritorious service."

Dr. Mitchell was also an outstanding member of the Masons, and an active participant in the professional, social, cultural, and civic life of Philadelphia. James Chamberlain (likely the first pledge of the Alpha Chapter) wrote in 1850, "I remember with profound satisfaction and pleasure the kindly and genial appearance of our founder. A nobler man in ideas, sentiments, and character has rarely lived."

In the autumn of 1849, when Samuel Brown Wylie Mitchell matriculated in the sophomore class of the University directly after his graduation from Central High School in Philadelphia, the Delta Phi Fraternity established a chapter at the University of Pennsylvania. During the summer of 1850, a chapter of the Zeta Psi Fraternity established itself on campus. It is probable that the institution of chapters by these two social fraternities at the University of Pennsylvania inspired Mitchell to formulate in his own mind the ideals of a society that would emphasize good fellowship, pursuit of scholarly activities, and qualities of being a gentleman, all combined into a lifelong bond.

The idea of establishing the Fraternity at the University of Pennsylvania was first recorded in Samuel B.W. Mitchell's personal papers on August 16, 1850, which was also his twenty-second birthday. The date of his birthday, as well as that of the Fraternity, was destined to have a further significance when Dr. Mitchell died on August 16, 1879. When college opened for the fall term of 1850, Samuel B. W. Mitchell had developed the basic principles of the Phi Kappa Sigma Fraternity. These included the Constitution and Ritual, the order's name, and the design of the badge - a Maltese cross supporting the six-pointed star, the letters Phi, Kappa, and Sigma, and the Skull and Bones. No modification, except in size, has ever been made to the badge originally designed by Dr. Mitchell.

Psi Chapter was formed in 1881 at Pennsylvania State University as the 23rd chapter of Phi Kappa Sigma. Psi Chapter has always reflected the strength of Penn State's Greek system and Phi Kappa Sigma as one of our largest chapters historically. One of Phi Kap's largest alumni bases is made up of Psi Chapter members, many going on to be very successful. This alumni base is one of the reasons Phi Kap was able to leave campus for a few years, reorganize, and be ready to return now.