In 1906, veterinary students at Ohio State University saw the benefits of fraternal life but were frustrated by the lack of a national organization for their profession. OSU students then founded Alpha Chapter of Alpha Psi Fraternity. The constitution was written in 1907, and the objectives stated then are appropriate today. Alpha Psi Fraternity is a social-professional fraternity, which restricts its active membership to students who are enrolled in a school of veterinary medicine. It is dedicated to the development of these individuals to better serve the veterinary profession
It is unfortunate that much of the written history of the early days of Alpha Psi Fraternity has been lost. Apparently a Directory was created in 1912, revised in 1942 and supplemented in 1960 but most of the information concerning the first chapters is that which was written in 1912. The list of national officers is complete but the minutes of national council meetings prior to 1938 are missing except for biannual meetings in 1910 and 1912.
The loss of the early records can in part be explained by analyzing what was happening in the veterinary medical profession during that period. Apparently confusion existed about what was needed in veterinary education and prior to WWI no standards existed for the awarding of a veterinary degree. Veterinary medicine was predominantly large animal in practice with a high percentage of that being equine. Laws were being written that would help in the control of animal diseases but they were met with resistance by animal owners as well as industry. The advent of motorized vehicles cast a cloud on the economic future of veterinary medicine and while some new schools were created, 41 of the early schools no longer exist. At the end of WWI there were 7 Colleges of Veterinary Medicine in the United States. The depression, which started in 1929, had a further impact and at the end of WWII there were 11 schools, six of which had Alpha Psi Chapters. These were Ohio State (Alpha, 1907), Pennsylvania (Beta, 1907), Colorado State (Zeta, 1910), Auburn (Theta, 1912) and Washington State (Kappa, 1915). In 1996 only three of these Alpha, Epsilon, and Theta) were active. It is assumed, but can’t be verified, that there were only a few national council meetings held in the twenties and thirties.
Following WWII veterinary medicine experienced tremendous growth and by 1958 the number of schools was expanded to 18. Schools at California, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Purdue, and Tuskegee and Alpha Psi Chapters were chartered at Georgia (Lambda, 1948), Oklahoma State (Mu, 1954) and Minnesota (Nu, 1957). The next era of expansion occurred in the seventies when the number of schools reached 27. Alpha Psi chapters were added at Florida (Xi, 1981), Tufts (Omicron, 1982), Virginia/Maryland (Pi, 1983), Mississippi State (Rho, 1989), and Tennessee (Sigma, 1992).
Through the years the time of the business meetings has been changed a few times. In the early days the meetings were biannual, in the spring, but the annual meetings began in 1961. In 1972 the meeting time was moved from the the fall to the winter quarter because of scheduling difficulties in the fall, primarily football weekends. The move to the winter quarter/semester greatly simplified scheduling and improved delegate attendance.
History from OSU’s Alpha Psi wepage; http://vet.osu.edu/737.htm