Collection is open for research; access requires at least 24 hours advance notice.
Transferred by Rho Phi Lambda, Alpha Chapter
[Identification of item], North Carolina State University, Student and Other Organizations, Rho Phi Lambda, Alpha Chapter Records, UA 021.486, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
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Processed by Cate Putirskis,
Encoded by Cate Putirskis,
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Rho Phi Lambda began as Rho Phi Alpha at North Carolina State in 1959, acting as an honor fraternity for the top academic students in the Department of Recreation and Parks Administration. Rho Phi Alpha may have replaced a pre-existing club at NC State, the Student Division of the North Carolina Recreation and Parks Society, Inc. The first group of initiates included the 11 seniors in the department with the highest academic standing; they were selected by professors to organize the Rho Phi Alpha fraternity, including establishing its mission and design.
By the 1980s, five other universities had established chapters in Rho Phi Alpha, though another fraternity was also serving as an academic honorary group for Recreation and Parks students nationwide - Sigma Lambda Sigma, which had been established at Florida State University. Professors from the two respective universities met to discuss merging the fraternities, an action which was carried out in 1985. The organization was renamed Rho Phi Lambda, and because NC State's chapter was the oldest of all chapters in the merged organization, they assumed the title of Alpha Chapter.
Rho Phi Lambda does not have an individual national office - rather, since NC State's chapter is the Alpha chapter, they also act as the national office for the organization, which currently has more than 35 active chapters. The Alpha Chapter of Rho Phi Lambda remained active at NC State as of 2008.
The records of the Alpha Chapter (North Carolina State University's chapter) of Rho Phi Lambda include their constitution and by-laws, correspondence, clippings, meeting minutes, membership rosters, financial information, and other general information on the chapter, its members, and its activities. Because the Alpha Chapter also acts as the national office for Rho Phi Lambda, a small amount of national administrative items and correspondence can be found in this subgroup, though the majority of these records are specific to the Alpha Chapter. Materials range in date from 1958 to 1981.
Materials are arranged alphabetically by topic.