The ‘Compet’ System

Phi Kappa Psi holds on to all
that was great in Cornell’s “Competition” system, developed in the late 19th century. The system has been under attack for the past half century, but we stick by it.

In that Cornell experience, a freshman “Compet” strikes out to make a name – inside the classroom, outside the classroom, and in the House – through achievement on the field, on the blackboard, and in the councils of New York Alpha. This makes us better men, trained to compete in the market place.

And as ‘compets’ we have kicked can. New York Alpha dominates the Teagle lagoon and the Schoellkopf turf. We have produced editors of the Cornell Daily Sun and the Cornellian. Brothers have mustered in Barton Hall, and with the Glee Club, Cayuga’s Waiters, and the Hangovers. Looking for that boundary to break is a House tradition.