University of Vermont. Fraternities and Sororities, Lambda Iota

The Lambda Iota Society was founded by a group of 13 undergraduates at the University of Vermont in 1836. It was originally a secret literary society, dubbed Phylos Kapnon (“lovers of smoke”), established in response to UVM President John Wheeler’s decision to ban the smoking of tobacco on campus. Its creation marked the beginning of Greek Life at the University of Vermont.

Phylos Kapnon became known as the Lorillard Institute and in 1844, as Greek letter societies came into fashion, the name was changed to Lambda Iota, keeping its initials the same. At this time, it became public rather than secret. It remained a solely local fraternity, with no affiliation to a national Greek organization for over 100 years. In 2007, the fraternity was derecognized by the university for a period of eight years, meaning members were not able to recruit new members or hold events. At this time, Lambda Iota was the oldest existing local fraternity in the state of Vermont and the eighth oldest fraternity in the nation. In 2011, the Lambda Iota Society celebrated its 175th Anniversary.

The Lambda Iota Society takes the goddess Minerva as its muse and her symbol of the owl as its mascot. The society owns the historic building at 440 Pearl St. in Burlington, known as “The Owl House” or “The Nest," which was built by and for the Lambda Iota Society. It first opened its doors to undergraduate members in 1913. In 2013, the group marked the centennial anniversary of its completion and engaged in meaningful renovations. In 2018, Lambda Iota merged with the fraternity Pi Kappa Phi whose UVM chapter was renamed from Kappa Rho to Lambda Iota and members returned to the Pearl Street residence.