The International Headquarters of Phi Gamma Delta history

In the early years of Psi, Chapter meetings were held every week on Friday at the home of a member or in the rooms of South Hall, which served as a dormitory in the 1860’s.

However, the state did not have the funds to build or start the new college until the Morrill Act of 1862.

In December of 1865, 17 members of Delta Psi Theta chose to resign for unknown reasons.

A charter was granted on June 19, 1866, and thus began the long and storied history of Psi Chapter.

Iowa was the first to take advantage of this program, leading Iowa State to be called the first "Land Grant University". On March 18, 1869, the State Agriculture College and Model Farm opened under its first president Adonijah Welch.

The Zeta Chapter was founded at Indiana University on May 22, 1871 by seven young men, The men were James Shannon Nave, Columbus C. Nave, Robert C. Chandler, John Slaughter Newby, Richard D. Simpson, Alfred Harrison Harryman, and Sanford H Drybread.

Psi continued to meet in the rooms of its members for its first nine years until 1875 when they acquired a Chapter hall.

Consequently, May 1 was chosen to be "Founder's Day" at the 43rd Convention held in 1891 and has traditionally been celebrated as the founding date of the Fraternity.

In 1893 Psi Chapter moved from the third floor of the Fisher Block to the third floor of the Campbell Block on the corner of Main and Washington.

The nickname "Fiji" came from the Phi Gams at New York University, when they were trying to decide the name for a fraternity-wide magazine and "Fee Gee" was suggested (a play on the Greek letters Phi and Gamma). In 1894, Fiji was adopted as the fraternity-wide nickname for Phi Gamma Delta.

The original name of the college's sports teams was the Aggies, however, in 1895, the football team gained the nickname "Cyclones" after their performance against Northwestern University and it stuck.

Our history begins in 1897, when a group calling themselves the “Noit Avrats” formed.

The origins of pledgeship came in 1899.

The fraternity held chapter meetings in multiple locations, until June of 1902, where they became the first fraternity at Indiana University to own their own chapter house.

In January of 1903, before the lift of the ban, the Noit Avrats moved in to

In 1904 Psi Chapter began a tradition of carving of names into the tabletops, which was adopted from Stanford.

1907, the Noit Avrats became the Alpha Iota chapter of Phi Gamma Delta.

In 1908, the Fijis moved into their second house on 158 Hyland Avenue.

George L. McCain (Iowa State 1909) worked for Packard Automobile Company when the war broke out.

Fijis were banned from the dance in 1910 because the previous year they left during intermission with their dates to go back to the house at 207.

Subsequently, the Fijis were allowed to take part in the pan in 1911.

The chapter continued to grow and by 1913 the house at 158 Hyland Avenue was no longer large enough for the chapter.

The house was designed and constructed by an undergraduate brother, Mo Harrison (Iowa State 1917), and it has remained the Phi Gamma Delta chapter house since.

By the mid 1920's Fiji's had emerged as a leading chapter on campus and nationwide.

In the Fall of 1922 the House at 207 South Grant burned.

Construction on the new House started in 1925 at 213 West Jefferson.

The House was finished by the fall of 1926 in time for the Chapter to move in for the new school year.

One of the outstanding undergraduate brothers, Lynn Fuhrer (Iowa State 1931), was killed by a drunk driver just a week before graduation.

In 1941 Fiji adopted their first house mother, Louise Huntington Rowe.

In April 1943 it was reported to the Chapter that an inventory of the house must be made because the college was going to house Navy men.

In the fall of 1951, she was featured in an article of the Des Moines Tribune as "The Fraternity House Mother - The Twelfth Player On The Team" referring to how, in a football game between Phi Gamma Delta and Delta Delta Delta she hid the football in her dress to score the winning touchdown.

In particular Bob Logan (Iowa State 1955) and his construction

The actual capture of the Monon Bell during the Mexican bell heist of 1966 was successfully completed by FIJIs.

At the September 1968 meeting of the Board of the house corp., it was decided to deed the Chapter House to Wabash College as part of the fund raising plan for the renovation of the existing house and the construction of a new addition in front of 213 West Jefferson.

Work began on the addition in 1969 with the Chapter living in the existing house during construction.

Work began on the addition in 1969 with the Chapter living in the existing house during construction. It was reported as a time of great chaos with workmen, noise and cramped quarters for the Chapter until the completion of work in 1970.

The new house at 213 Qwest Jefferson was dedicated on April 24, 1971.

The Headquarters operation was moved from Washington, DC, to Lexington in 1973, and was housed in leased office space for the next 12 years.

house was completely rebuilt by the fall of 1983.

The current International Headquarters building at 1201 Red Mile Road was completed and occupied in May 1985.

Beginning in 1997, the graduate brothers began discussing renovations to 213 West Jefferson with Wabash College.

Psi broke ground on the new house on April 4, 2005.

The new Chapter House was dedicated on September 23, 2006.

Our beloved house mother, Joyce Allen, but the brothers refer to her as Mama Jo, originally started her duties at the Phi Gamma Delta house back in 2007.