Past Convocation History

It is customary that Convocation be held every two years, but the Grand Chapter on occasion, has met in Convocations that were not regular or biennial. These Special Convocations were held, upon necessity, in 1909, 1919, 1921, 1937, and 1947 (the Golden Anniversary Convocation.)

There have been several instances in which regular Convocations were postponed due to extenuating circumstances. The first such postponement, in 1918, was due to World War I; the postponements in 1932 and 1936 were products of bad economic conditions in the United States. To compensate for these postponements, the Fraternity combined the 6th & 7th, 13th & 14th and 15th & 16th Biennial Convocations of the Grand Chapter.

Two Convocations (1942 and 1944) were outright canceled on account of the large number of chapters rendered dormant during World War II.

The 2020 Convocation was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On May 7, 8, and 9, 1908, there was a national meeting held in Vincennes, Indiana that was not a Convocation but was termed a “congress” and marked the commencement of the career of Sigma Pi as a national fraternity. At this meeting were representatives of the Sphinx Club at the University of Illinois and Phi Kappa Phi at Ohio State University. Charters were granted to these local organizations creating the Phi chapter at the University of Illinois and the Gamma chapter at Ohio State University, respectively.