Pi Upsilon Rho (ΠΥΡ) was an American professional fraternity for homeopathy students. It was established at Hahnemann Medical College in Chicago in 1876 and had five active chapters by 1920. Now defunct, it has been credited as one of the United States' oldest medical fraternities.

Pi Upsilon Rho
ΠΥΡ
Founded1876; 148 years ago (1876)
Hahnemann Medical College
TypeProfessional
AffiliationIndependent
StatusDefunct
Defunct Datec. 1944
EmphasisHomeopathy; medical
ScopeNational
PublicationThe Torch
Chapters7
Members1,194 lifetime
Headquarters
United States

History

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Pi Upsilon Rho was established as Ustion, a professional fraternity for homeopathy students, at Hahnemann Medical College in 1876.[1] It has been credited as one of the United States' oldest medical fraternities.[2]

A second chapter was added at Ohio State University in 1893.[1] By 1906 it had five active chapters.[1] It changed its name to Pi Upsilon Rho in 1909.[3][1]

The fraternity's governing body, the Supreme Corpus, would meet annually at the convention of the American Institute of Homeopathy.[1][4] The fraternity became defunct around 1944.

Symbols

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The badge of the society is in the form of a diamond lozenge, with the Greek letters Π, Υ and Ρ across the middle. Above this are three torches and below this are two crossed bones. An image of the badge is at the center of the fraternity's crest.

Chapters were named "Vertebrae", and were designated by Latin numerals.

Officers were named:

  • Encephalon (President)
  • Medulla Oblongata (Vice-president)
  • Calamus Scriptorius (Secretary)
  • Optic Thalamus (Treasurer)
  • Torcular Herophili (Inductor)

The fraternity's quarterly periodical of the fraternity was The Torch.

Chapters

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The fraternity called its chapters "Vertebrae". In the following list, inactive chapters and institutions are in italics.[1][3]

Chapter Charter date and range Institution Location Status Reference
Prima 1876–c. 1922 Hahnemann Medical College Chicago, Illinois Inactive [5][a]
Tertia 1893–19xx ? Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio Inactive
Quarta 1901–after 1943 Hahnemann Medical College Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Inactive
Quinta 19021906 Denver Homeopathic Medical College Denver, Colorado Inactive
Sexta 1903–c. 1912 Detroit Homeopathic College Detroit, Michigan Consolidated [b]
Septa 1905–19xx ? New York Medical College Valhalla, New York Inactive [c]
Octa 1906–19xx ? University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan Inactive
  1. ^ The college closed in 1922.
  2. ^ When the Detroit Homeopathic College closed in 1912, the chapter consolidated with Octa.
  3. ^ Chapter formed at the New York Homeopathic Medical College, now New York Medical College.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Baird, William Raimond (1920). Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities. James T. Brown. p. 532.
  2. ^ Becker, Barbara (25 April 2020). "How a skeleton became part of our family". Salon. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  3. ^ a b "Pi Upsilon Rho". Banta's Greek Exchange. 12 (4): 376. October 1924.
  4. ^ "Pennsylvania". Journal of the American Institute of Homœopathy. 3: 661–662. 1910.
  5. ^ "Hahnemann Medical College". lost-colleges. Retrieved 2024-08-27.