Tau Phi Sigma is a multicultural collegefraternity, founded on November 11, 1992, at the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The organization's primary purpose is to ensure its members reach higher states of education and progress the cultural awareness of humanity in all parts of the globe while maintaining the values of brotherhood, equality, loyalty, respect, and pride. Since then the fraternity has expanded to eight collegiate chapters and two alumni chapters in the Midwest.[1]
Founding
On the campus of University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, a group of thirteen students attending the university were unable to find a fraternity that satisfied their ideals of brotherhood. They intended to create a brotherhood that would encompass all ethnicities and backgrounds and make men of good character which would manifest itself in attaining a higher education, providing service to the community, and promoting social and cultural awareness.
The founding fathers were:
Arturo Alvarez
Jose Juan Alvarez
Ceasar Arenas
Francisco Avila
Jorge Covarrubias
Jose Luis Del Real
Mario Del Real
Guadalupe Odilon Diaz
Juan Leonardo Muñoz
Juan Pablo Diaz
Salvador Jaime Garcia
Carlos Haro
Vernan Paul Ituralde
Efrain Lazaro
Elmer Martinez
Javier Alberto Ordaz
The founding fathers devised a pledging process that would ensure fraternal bonds would develop and a true brotherhood would form. After twelve rigorous weeks of hard work, dedication, education, and discipline, ending on May 1, 1993, the first seventeen members of a fraternity they named Sigma Tau Phi emerged.
Another national fraternity had used the same name as early as 1918. As that group had merged into another NIC fraternity and was still known by them as a predecessor group, the new multicultural group at Illinois opted early to change its name from Sigma Tau Phi to Tau Phi Sigma to avoid any confusion.[2]
The objectives of Tau Phi Sigma are:
To stimulate the ambition of its members
To prepare them for the greatest usefulness in the causes of humanity, freedom, and dignity of the individual;
To encourage the highest and noblest form of manhood;
To aid humanity in its efforts to achieve higher social, economic, and intellectual statues
Symbols
The fraternity's public or open motto is Como Humanos Siempre Unidos, Como Hermanos Jamas Vencidos(As Humans Always United, As Brothers Never Defeated). Its colors were navy blue and silver. Its symbol was the griffin. Its flower was the Don Juan rose. Its principles or pillars were Equality, Respect, Unity, Loyalty, and Pride.
Philanthropy
Tau Phi Sigma is a service-oriented fraternity. To further research and development of major diseases such as cancer, diabetes, epilepsy and cardiologic conditions Tau Phi Sigma established the Fight 4 Life Initiative as its national philanthropy to support the following organizations:
^This was Sigma Tau Phi, which merged its seven chapters into Alpha Epsilon Pi in 1947. Similar situations arose with many fraternities over the years, as popular combinations of letters were tried, and often adjusted.
