Ethnic fraternities first developed as a result of the need to share and celebrate diversity of cultural experiences. In 1916, the first Asian fraternity was founded at Cornell as Rho Psi, which now exists as an alumni club with chapters in New York, Hawaii, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and Hong Kong. While the concept of brotherhood and unity isn't new, our dedication and commitment towards promoting it is. A new dynasty has arrived- here's our story...

Lambda Phi Epsilon was founded on February 25, 1981, by principal founder Craig Ishigo and a group of eighteen other dedicated men on the campus of University of California at Los Angeles. By forming Lambda Phi Epsilon as a new Asian American fraternity, the founders hoped to set new and higher standards of excellence for all Asian interest organizations to follow. The goal of the founders was to transcend the limitations to which traditional Asian American organizations were subject. They sought to draw their membership from all of the diverse segments of the Asian American community. Their vision was that members would eventually become leaders in their respective communities and bridge gaps fragmenting the Asian American community through their affiliation with a common organization. Unknowingly, their efforts had set the stage for the emergence of the largest organization of its kind.

By 1990, six chapters had formed at the Universities of California at Los Angeles, Davis, Santa Barbara, Berkeley and Irvine and at the University of Texas at Austin. The brothers of the first chapters of Lambda Phi Epsilon recognized that rapid expansion loomed. In order to facilitate future growth, these six chapters joined to form what became Lambda Phi Epsilon National Fraternity.

On May 28, 1990, a national governing body was established to coordinate individual chapter efforts at the first National Convention. Robert Mimaki, a Beta Chapter brother, was elected as the first National President and Memorial Day Weekend was designated as the official date for future annual National Conventions. On September 8, 1990, our national organization was admitted to the National Interfraternity Conference (NIC), making Lambda Phi Epsilon the first (and still only) nationally recognized Asian American interest fraternity in the United States. Over the years, Lambda Phi Epsilon has grown tremendously, boasting over 20 chapters by 1995. That same year, our national organization became a California non-profit corporation and was renamed Lambda Phi Epsilon National Fraternity, Inc.

During the Spring semester of 1998, the idea of bringing an Asian-interest fraternity to campus arose in a discussion among a group of friends. What sparked the conversation was a frustration with the campus' existing ethnic organizations, as well as a general lack of unity among the Asian ethnic groups. The result of this intercourse was a consensus that a fraternity would be an ideal format for addressing the problems that faced Columbia's Asian-American community: a strong brotherhood forged between men of all nationalities would combat the division created by the isolationism of the individual Asian groups. Leaders from the fraternity would then branch out to create a network encompassing the entire university campus. Thus, the fraternity would act as a focal point for the convergence of the segregated campus organizations.

After an extensive search, the group decided upon Lambda Phi Epsilon, the first and only national Asian-interest fraternity, whose goals coincided with their own. After completing the application process for pledge colony status, the group began the pledge process. On April 17, 1999, seven members of the charter class crossed into the brotherhood of Lambda Phi Epsilon. Since then, our brotherhood has grown to 55 brothers, currently 24 actives and 31 alumni.