Pi Delta Epsilon was established in 1909 at Syracuse University by ten students who were on the staff of The Daily Orange.^[1][2] The founders wanted to form a closer bond around their common interest in journalism.^[2] The founders of Pi Delta Epsilon were:^[2]

The purpose of Pi Delta Epsilon was to advance journalism, support student publications, foster a fraternal bond, encourage loyalty to the university, and reward journalistic accomplishments.^[2] Its mission included "service and sacrifice of self".^[1]

Pi Delta Epsilon expanded to include chapters across the United States, beginning with a chapter at the University of Nebraska in 1910.^[2][2] It sponsored an annual national intercollegiate editorial and news story competition; winners received gold, silver, and bronze medals.^[2][3] In later years, there was a prize and a trophy.^[2]

Pi Delta Epsilon was governed by a grand council, elected at biennial grand conventions.^[2] The fraternity changed its constitution at the 1937 convention to allow female members.^[2] It merged with the women's journalism society, Alpha Chi Alpha, on July 1, 1944, accepting all chapters of the former women's society.^[2] By 1963, it had chartered 135 chapters (103 were active) and had initiated 42,000 members.^[2]

In 1956, Louis Ingelhart, the president of a similar organization Alpha Phi Gamma, contacted Pi Delta Epsilon and other collegiate journalism organizations to propose a merger.^[1] It merged with Alpha Phi Gamma to form the Society for Collegiate Journalists formed on June 1, 1975.^[1] At the time of the merger, it was the oldest honorary collegiate journalism fraternity in the United States.^[1]

The society's badge was a hexagonal gold key with a black enamel face.^[2] The Greek letters ΠΔΕ were inscribed on its face as an inverted triangle, with ΠΔ above Ε.^[2] Pi Delta Epsilon's colors were olive green and grey.^[2] Its flower was the white carnation.^[2] Its quarterly publication was The College Publisher.^[2]

Members of Pi Delta Epsilon were required to have served at least one year in the editorial or business department of an accredited campus publication.^[2] Thus, membership was open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors.^[2] It had four classes of members: active (student), faculty, honorary, and associate.^[2]

Pi Delta Epsilon chartered at least 174 chapters before its merger in 1975.^[2][4]

• Otis Bigelow (Hamilton College), Broadway actor, playwright, and stage manager
• Craven Crowell (Lipscomb University), former chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority
• Fitzhugh Dodson (Johns Hopkins University), clinical psychologist, lecturer and educator
• Geary Eppley (University of Maryland), former University of Maryland athletic director
• John Robert Greene, historian and professor at Cazenovia College
• Curtis D. MacDougall (Ripon College), journalist, professor, and writer
• Alfred Prettyman, publisher
• Barbara Rosenthal, avant-garde artist, writer and performer
• William L. Shirer (Coe College), journalist, author, and war correspondent^[5]
• W. Harry Vaughan (Georgia Tech), professor of ceramic engineering at the Georgia School of Technology
• Earl Larkin Williams (Swarthmore College), astronomer and mathematician

• Honor society