Phi Sigma Kappa (), colloquially known as Phi Sig or PSK, is a men's social and academic fraternity with approximately 74 active chapters and provisional chapters in North America. Most of its first two dozen chapters were granted to schools in New England and Pennsylvania; therefore its early development was strongly Eastern in character, eventually operating chapters at six of the eight Ivy League schools as well as more egalitarian state schools. It later expanded to the South and West. According to its Constitution, Phi Sigma Kappa is devoted to the promotion of its three Cardinal Principles: the "Promotion of Brotherhood", the "Stimulation of Scholarship", and the "Development of Character". Phi Sigma Kappa began on March 15, 1873 at Massachusetts Agricultural College in Amherst (now the University of Massachusetts Amherst) by six sophomores (referred to as The Founders). Phi Sigma Epsilon merged with Phi Sigma Kappa in 1985, which was the largest merger of Greek-letter fraternities. History Founding Massachusetts Agricultural College in Amherst, now the University of Massachusetts Amherst, was the setting for the founding of Phi Sigma Kappa. Among its other students in the early 1870s, it had attracted six men of varied backgrounds, ages, abilities, and goals in life who saw the need for a new and different kind of society on campus. Early members recalled that it was Henry Hague who suggested that, since the six were close and were not interested in either of the two local fraternities on campus, they create their own. The six sophomores, meeting in Old North Hall, banded together during the summer of 1873 to form a "society to promote morality, learning and social culture." The six Founders of Phi Sigma Kappa were: Jabez William Clay Joseph Francis Barrett Henry Hague Xenos Young Clark Frederick George Campbell William Penn Brooks The six were active college students, members of literary and academic societies and athletic groups, and editors of campus publications. Three were military lieutenants and Brooks was a captain. Hague and Brooks even ran the college store. Academic leaders as well, "it cannot be too strongly stressed that these men were the best students in [the] college." On March 15, 1873, the Founders met in secret. Brooks already had prepared a constitution and symbolism, and Hague had designed a ritual. The first meeting seemed destined to succeed, for the individuals all had done their work well. The ritual has been changed