History of Lambda Phi Epsilon

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Lambda Phi Epsilon, Delta chapter, was organized on the Berkeley campus in the Fall of 1988. The driving forces behind the emergence of the Lambdas at Berkeley were Douglas Nishida, Bryan Nobida, and Tan Thinh, the three founding fathers, whose leadership was instrumental in offering an alternative among the choice of Asian fraternities. The history of Lambda Phi Epsilon on the Berkeley campus can be traced to one late night in a room of Davidson Hall during the Spring semester of 1988. Doug and Tan recognized that the diversified interests of the 25% Asian population at Berkeley were not fairly represented by the existing Asian fraternity. Doug suggested that a new fraternity should be established on campus. The following day the two approached Bryan with the proposal and Bryan concurred. Doug then managed to get in contact with the founder of the Alpha chapter at University of California, Los Angeles, Craig Ishigo, and expressed his desire to open a chapter on the Berkeley campus. With the support and assistance of Interfraternity Council advisor, Bill Wrightsman, the founding fathers were quickly able to achieve their goal. During the summer, Bryan and Tan organized a picnic in Northern California to unite the

members the founding fathers had chosen to make up the Charter Class. Later that day, Bryan, Doug, and some of the members of the Charter Class met with Craig and some of the Lambda alumni to discuss procedures to procure a charter. That same summer, Doug organized a service for the Southern Californians to participate in.

On August 17, 1988, Doug obtained the Charter of Lambda Phi Epsilon from Craig Ishigo. During the first meeting of the new academic school year, Doug Nishida was elected as the Charter President, Bryan Nobida was elected Second Vice-President (Social), and Tan Thinh was elected to the office of Treasurer. In hopes of gaining closer ties to the University, the three founding fathers then approached the UC Berkeley IFC and presented their intentions and reasons for wanting to become a part of the IFC. After a tedious screening process Lambda Phi Epsilon was admitted into the UC Berkeley IFC as a colony on September 28, 1988. In hopes of gaining closer ties to the Asian organizations on campus, Doug affiliated the Fraternity with the Asian Pacific Council (APC). They promptly moved on from there, and with their twenty-two charter members, they established a reputation as a group dedicated to the fostering of leadership, scholarship, brotherhood, and the increasing of Asian awareness. The following Spring was a testimony to the Lambda's strength as its name grew in popularity and attracted a large group of interested men for the Alpha Class. On April 25, 1990, Lambda Phi Epsilon was admitted into the UC Berkeley IFC with full membership priveleges.

Lambda Phi Epsilon is an established fraternity with numerous other chapters making it a powerful force in the Asian community. Craig Ishigo formed the Alpha Chapter at UCLA on February 25, 1981. The Beta and Gamma chapters are located at UC Davis (1984) and UC Santa Barbara (1986), respectively. The Epsilon Chapter, was opened on the campus of UC Irvine during the Winter Quarter of 1989. The University of Texas at Austin, Zeta Chapter, was the first chapter outside of California (Fall 1989). On September 8, 1990, Lambda Phi Epsilon became the first National Fraternity made up of predominantly Asian American men. Since that time, Lambda Phi Epsilon has experienced phenomenal growth. Now with chapters at all the undergraduate UC campuses, Stanford University, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, and others, Lambda Phi Epsilon is the largest Asian American Fraternity in the United States of America, as well as the fastest growing fraternity in the NIC (National Interfraternity Coucil).