Promising Scholars Fund, Inc.
In association with Beta Tau Boule of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity
About Us
Beta Tau Boulé is the New Haven charter of Sigma Pi Phi, the oldest African-American fraternity. The Boulé was established in New Haven, CT, on June 24, 1983, in a joint chartering ceremony with Beta Sigma of Springfield, MA.
Beta Tau Boulé was organized through the efforts of its ten charter members with the support of Grand Sire Archon Robert Franklin, Northeast Regional Sire Samuel Massie, and Archons Ted Pryor and David Thompson of Alpha Psi in Hartford. The first Sire Archon of Beta Tau was William J. Massie. In 1987, Beta Tau hosted the Northeast Regional Boulé on the Yale University campus. Beta Tau Archon Alvin Johnson served as Sire Archon of the Northeast Region (2001-2003). As of 2019, Beta Tau had thirty-nine members, including six officers.
Promising Scholars Board of Directors
Founded in 1904 in Philadelphia, PA, by Henry McKee Minton and a small group of his colleagues, Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity is the oldest African-American Greek-lettered organization
Minton established Sigma Pi Phi to help provide professional and social support to Philadelphia’s growing number of black professionals. Today, the Atlanta-based fraternity continues to offer such support across its members and to mentor young men in the African American community.
Sigma Pi Phi’s distinguished fraternal membership includes Martin Luther King, Jr., Benjamin E. Mays, Ulysses Kay, Arthur Ashe, and W.E.B. DuBois, whose name graces one of the Sigma Pi Phi Foundation’s legacy awards. The fraternity currently has nearly 5,000 active members affiliated with 134 member boulés across the United States and in Nassau, Bahamas, and London, UK.
Visit the Sigma Pi Phi website for more information about the fraternity’s history and mission.