Editing Pi Kappa Alpha (section)

==History==
Pi Kappa Alpha was founded on March 1, 1868, in Room 47 in West Range ([[The Range (University of Virginia)|The Range]]) at the [[University of Virginia]] by six graduate students: 
{|border="0" cellpadding="5"
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*[[Robertson Howard]]
*[[Julian Edward Wood]]
*[[James Benjamin Sclater Jr.]]
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*[[Frederick Southgate Taylor]]
*[[Littleton Waller Tazewell Bradford|Littleton Waller Tazewell (Bradford)]] 
*[[William C. Alexander (1848–1937)|William Alexander]].<ref name="pike.org History">{{cite web|url=http://www.pikes.org/historyA.aspx|title=Founding History|author=Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity|access-date=11 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928084158/http://www.pikes.org/historyA.aspx|archive-date=28 September 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>
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Three of the Founders had been former cadets, having served on both sides of the recently concluded [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. One had been a Union hospital officer, another a Confederate veteran, and a third, a repatriate. Expansion was considered early in the fraternity's history; on March 1, 1869, exactly one year after the ''Alpha chapter'' at the University of Virginia was formed, the ''Beta chapter'' of Pi Kappa Alpha was founded at [[Davidson College]].<ref name="Beta chapter History">{{cite web|url=http://www.davidson.edu/student/organizations/pika/|title=A History of Beta|author=Beta chapter, Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity|access-date=11 July 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324093235/http://www.davidson.edu/student/organizations/pika/ |archive-date=24 March 2012}}</ref> Its ''Gamma chapter'' was placed at [[The College of William and Mary|William and Mary]] just two years later, and a total of seven chapters formed in the first decade. This period of early growth slowed though, and by 1889 only four chapters remained active.<ref name="Baird's">{{cite book |editor1-first=Jack L. |editor1-last=Anson |editor2-first=Robert F. |editor2-last=Marchenasi |title=Baird's Manual of American Fraternities |edition=20th |year=1991 |orig-year=1879 |publisher=Baird's Manual Foundation, Inc. |location=Indianapolis, IN |isbn=978-0963715906 |page=III-99–102}}</ref>

A call for a national convention was sent out, and delegates of three of the four active chapters met in what would become the "junior founding" of the fraternity at what they called the Hampden–Sydney Convention, held in a dorm room at [[Hampden–Sydney College]]. This marked the start of a new wave of prosperity and substantial growth and the end of almost a decade of decline. ''Theta chapter'', at [[Rhodes College]], took over the responsibilities of ''Alpha chapter'', granting chapters for a short period before this duty was taken over by an administrative office. John Shaw Foster, a junior founder from ''Theta chapter'', helped to reestablish ''Alpha chapter'' at the University of Virginia. ''Theta chapter'' is the longest continual-running chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha, having been founded in 1878. The four delegates to the Hampden–Sydney Convention are referred to as the Junior Founders.<ref name="Baird's" />

Pi Kappa Alpha was not originally organized as a sectional fraternity; however, by constitutional provision it became so in 1889, and for twenty years would only open chapters south of the Mason-Dixon Line.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2iErAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA301 |title=Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities |edition=9th |date=1920 |publisher=James T. Brown |access-date=26 March 2018 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

Pi Kappa Alpha members have supported the nation's armed conflicts in large numbers. In [[World War I]], one out of every six members of the fraternity served in uniform. In [[World War II]], 15,000 of its 33,000 active members served, including General [[Courtney Hodges]], a four-star general and commander of the [[First United States Army|US First Army]] in Europe.<ref name="Baird's" />

Sectarian and other restrictions that were in place during the early years have since been modified or removed entirely: Pi Kappa Alpha remained a southern fraternity until the New Orleans Convention in 1909 when the fraternity officially declared itself a national organization.<ref name=1970PledgeGuide>{{cite book|title=Garnet & Gold Pledge Guide|year=1970|publisher=Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity|edition=15th}}</ref><ref name="Baird's" /> Like many other social fraternities at the time, Pi Kappa Alpha had limited its membership to white males. All race restrictions were removed in 1964.<ref name=Hughey>{{cite journal|last=Hughey|first=Matthew W|title=Black, White, Greek...Like Who?: Howard University Student Perceptions of a White Fraternity on Campus|journal=Educational Foundations|date=Winter–Spring 2006|volume=20|issue=1–2|pages=9–35|url=http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/EJ751759.pdf|access-date=5 January 2013}}</ref>

As of 2024, Pi Kappa Alpha has initiated more than 310,000 members.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://pikes.org/about/ |access-date=2025-01-03 |website=Pi Kappa Alpha |language=en-US}}</ref> The fraternity's headquarters are in Memphis, Tennessee.<ref name=":0" />