Phi Epsilon Pi Fraternity Gamma Chapter Records

This series consists of two boxes of the records of the Gamma Chapter of Phi Epsilon Pi Fraternity. Most of the records are concerned with various functions of the fraternity's alumni board of directors between 1971 and 1975. While these records illuminate the fraternity's merger with Zeta Beta Tau in 1970 and the chapter's subsequent dissolution, they document little of the chapter's early history. Since the alumni board of directors handled most of the fraternity's business affairs, this series includes many legal documents and financial records.

Box 1 contains a variety of records listed under the rubric “Corporate Records” which include: by-laws of the Phi Epsilon Pi alumni organization; contracts with Northwestern University completed in 1943 and 1950 regarding disposition of the chapter house; minutes of the alumni board of directors' meetings between December 12, 1962 and March 4, 1974; correspondence between Norman Korff, former Phi Epsilon Pi alumni president, other fraternity members, and Zeta Beta Tau; and a copy of a contract with Northwestern University which created the Phi Epsilon Pi, Gamma Chapter, Scholarship Fund.

Box 1 also includes six folders of incoming and outgoing correspondence arranged chronologically from 1937 to 1975. Although only a few items predate 1971, the correspondence from 1971 to 1975 is extensive and details Phi Epsilon Pi's dissolution and a lawsuit involving Zeta Beta Tau. The correspondence, most of which is not routinely administrative, consists almost exclusively of exchange between Zeta Beta Tau, Phi Epsilon Pi alumni, lawyers, and Norman Korff. Most of this correspondence details the board's attempt to gather suggestions regarding the dispersion of the fraternity's surplus funds, before deciding to establish the scholarship fund, and the genesis and development of the legal controversy with Zeta Beta Tau.

Box 1 also contains several folders of legal documents including leases, court exhibits, scholarship fund records, and incorporation papers filed with the State of Illinois. The court documents include complaints and answers, interrogatories, appearances, a notice of disposition, and some correspondence with the defendants' lawyers regarding the Zeta Beta Tau lawsuit. The incorporation papers include a photostatic copy of the fraternity's original charter, dated November 24, 1920, as well as the certificate of dissolution, dated March 24, 1974. The file also includes a copy of the alumni organization's annual report to the secretary of state, dated February 19, 1970, which lists the names and addresses of the alumni board of directors.

Box 1 also contains two folders of financial records of Phi Epsilon Pi's alumni and undergraduate organizations. For the undergraduate chapter, these records include: monthly reports, usually with analyses by the fraternity's accountant, from September 1970 to June 1971; quarterly reports from the fall 1970 to the summer 1971; and annual reports from 1946 to 1971. Also included is an audit report for the period June 1969 to August 1971. These reports record, in general categories, Phi Epsilon Pi's income and expenditures. The alumni financial records, which include annual reports from 1948 to 1974, illustrate the chapter's financial deterioration.

Box 2 includes the remainder of Phi Epsilon Pi's financial records: the alumni chapter's Federal Income Tax forms for 1972 and 1973; and undated ledger cards for specific accounts, such as commissary, social, telephone, and insurance, held by the fraternity's alumni and undergraduate organizations. Checking account records for the undergraduate chapter of Phi Epsilon Pi include cancelled checks and bank statements from 1965 to 1970 which list all transactions as well as the current account balance. The alumni's checking records include cancelled checks from 1968 to 1974, a check register from 1963 to 1975, and bank statements from 1968 to 1975. The chapter's financial records also include the scholarship fund investment statements from 1970 to 1975 which record the number of shares controlled by Phi Epsilon Pi.

The substantial miscellaneous file includes: holograph notes from alumni meetings between June 24, 1971 and November 13, 1974; a “checklist re Phi Epsilon Pi dissolution;” alumni and member lists; the Gamma Gazette (March 1950); three 1971 insurance bills and statements; the ZBT Review (Summer 1974); minutes of the Zeta Beta Tau Supreme Council Meeting (October 14, 1973); Zeta Beta Tau national accountants' report (June 30, 1971); the N.P.E.F. Corporation reports (June 30, 1971 and June 30, 1972); and an informative, undated draft letter from Norman Korff to other fraternity members describing steps taken toward formally dissolving the Gamma Chapter of Phi Epsilon Pi.