History
Lambda Phi Epsilon was founded on February 25, 1981, by principal founder Mr. Craig Ishigo and a group of eighteen other dedicated men on the campus of the University of California of 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 the membership equally from the many diverse segments of the Asian American community. Their vision was that the members would eventually become the leaders of their respective communities and bridge the 1gaps fragmenting the Asian American community through the 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 University of California at: Los Angeles, Davis, Santa Barbara, Berkeley, Irvine, and the University of Texas at Austin. As most of these chapters were founded in the late eighties, it became evident to the brothers of Lambda Phi Epsilon, that rapid expansion loomed near. In order to facilitate this process of rapid expansion and to seek standardization throughout the nation, these six chapters came together to form what is known as Lambda Phi Epsilon National Fraternity.
May 28, 1990. The first National Convention (held at UC Irvine) established a national governing body to coordinate the individual chapters' efforts. The first order of business was to designate Memorial Day weekend as the official date for the annual convention of Lambda Phi Epsilon National. At this time, Mr. Robert Mimaki, a Beta Chapter Brother, was elected as the first National President. Later that year...with the admission to the National Interfraternity Conference (NIC) on September 8, 1990, Lambda Phi Epsilon became the first (and still the only) nationally recognized Asian-American interest fraternity in the United States. Over the years, Lambda Phi Epsilon National had grown tremendously. Between the years 1990 and 1995, Lambda Phi Epsilon increased in size to over twenty chapters. In 1995, we became a California non-profit corporation thus changing our name to Lambda Phi Epsilon National Fraternity, Inc. Once again- the first.