The Rho Psi Society () is an honorary Greek letter fraternity for Chinese students. Although founded as a student society, it is no longer active at the collegiate level. The objectives of the society are to promote and perpetuate friendship among members; to develop congeniality and brotherhood in the fraternal life; and to cultivate the spirit of cooperation and self-sacrifice.
History Su Yu She, the (Society for Respecting Friends, pronounced "Soo-You" in English), was founded in 1916 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York as a general club for male students of Chinese descent, with its Chinese name.Hsu, Francis L. K. The Challenge of the American Dream: The Chinese in the United States. Wadsworth, 1971. Its purpose was promoting Chinese culture, community service, and developing Chinese American youth. The society's name was changed to Rho Psi Fraternity in 1918.
The founders, Chih Ping, L. N. Lau, Y. C. Yang, K. C. Lay, and C. K. Cheng, were all college students of Chinese origin. The founders of Rho Psi may have sought, but been excluded from the fraternities of the time. Still, it is more likely that they sought the formation of their group for cultural affinity when faced with a tiny population of collegians of the same ethnic background. Mirroring society, colleges and universities, housing and dining halls, and Greek Letter organizations were all more insular in Rho Psi's founding era. This common campus culture didn't shift toward a more integrated approach until the ethnic, religious, and racial social mixing that occurred with the massive return of more integration-minded GIs after WWII.Note too, that China was an ally of the United States during WWII.
Rho Psi was the first club with Greek letters for Asian students in what is now the Ivy League. It was a pioneer, established long before most multicultural or cultural-affinity Greek Letter organizations.Cornell's Commitment to Diversity: History The Alpha chapter, which maintained a house, existed on the Cornell campus until 1931. Rho Psi became national in 1925 with the establishment of another chapter in New York City, and the fraternity gained international status in 1929 with a chapter in Shanghai. It appears in many editions of Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities.
At its 1976 convention in State College, Pennsylvania, Su Yu She adopted the name Rho Psi Society, and at the same time, voted that women would be admitted to membership. In 2009, Rho Psi was rechartered at the University of Alabama as the Sigma chapter.
Symbols The name Su Yu She is Chinese for "pure and genuine friendship".
Chapters Chapters of Rho Psi include the following, with active chapters in bold and inactive chapters in italics.
ChapterCharter date and rangeInstitution or areaLocationStatusAlpha1916–1931Cornell UniversityIthaca, New YorkInactiveBeta1925–19xx ?Citywide New York City, New YorkInactiveGamma1926CitywidePhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaInactiveDelta1928Harvard UniversityCambridge, MassachusettsInactiveMassachusetts Institute of Technology1929CitywideShanghai, ChinaInactiveEpsilon1948University of IllinoisUrbana, IllinoisInactiveZeta1948University of WisconsinMadison, WisconsinInactiveEta1950University of HawaiiManoa, Honolulu, HawaiiInactiveTheta1953University of ChicagoChicago, IllinoisInactiveIota1955Greater Washington, D.C. areaBaltimore, MarylandActiveWashington, D.C.Kappa1957CitwidePittsburgh, PennsylvaniaInactiveLambda1959Southern Connecticut areaNew Haven, ConnecticutInactiveYale UniversityMu19xx ?CitywideSan Francisco, CaliforniaActiveSigma19xx ?–19xx ?, 2009–20xx ?University of AlabamaTuscaloosa, AlabamaInactive
See also
List of social fraternities List of Asian American fraternities and sororities Cultural interest fraternities and sororities
References
External links