page_title: Upsilon Sigma Phi
section_title: Early years (1920-1941)
hierarchical_section_title: Upsilon Sigma Phi / History / Early years (1920-1941)
caption_attribution_description: Wenceslao Vinzons (1910-1942)
context_page_description: The Upsilon Sigma Phi is the oldest Greek-letter organization and fraternity in Asia. It has only two chapters: the combined U.P. Diliman/U.P. Manila chapter and the U.P. Los Baños chapter. Membership to the fraternity is exclusive and is by invitation only. Its members are called Fellows or Upsilonians.
  Its vast network of influential alumni both in public service and private enterprise has led several publishers to cite it as the most prominent and influential fraternity in the Philippines.
context_section_description: Its early years set its tradition of exclusivity where invitations for membership are given out only to individuals who served in leadership positions, or individuals which the Fraternity deemed in possession of leadership potential or regarded as excellent in their respective fields.
  On campus, thirteen of its members chaired the UP Student Council from 1930-1949 (including Jose Laurel Jr., and Sotero Laurel, sons of Jose P. Laurel, himself an Upsilonian). Its members were prominent contributors in campus publications, a number of whom served as Editors-in-Chief of the Philippine Collegian (such as Arturo Tolentino and Armando Malay) and the now defunct annual publication, The Philippinensian.
  During this time, then UP Student Council President Wenceslao Vinzons earned himself the title of "Father of Student Activism" when he, together with members of the Fraternity, led demonstrations before the Philippine Congress to protest the insertion of a provision in the appropriations act that gave lawmakers a salary increase.
  Three Upsilonians were later elected to the 1934 Philippine Constitutional Convention which created the 1935 Constitution of the Philippines: Wenceslao Vinzons, Conrado Benitez, and Jose P. Laurel.
caption: Wenceslao Vinzons, World War II guerrilla leader and "Father of Student Activism in the Philippines."
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