History of the Order:

The annual Cream Pie a Friend For Charity drive was first run in 1993 by the Engineering Students Society of the University of Victoria. In its original incarnation, the charity drive was modelled after its counterpart at the University of Saskatchewan: Engineering students put "the hit" on designated "victims" for a minimum donation to charity, and the only way to avoid being hit with a pie was to outbid the original donor. In terms of appearance, this was a simple production; Engineering students wore school jackets to identify themselves, and the victims were fitted with a shower-cap and a garbage bag for hair and clothing protection.

In 1995, it was decided that the charity drive needed a major tuning-up to enhance its entertainment value: The Antaeus Technologies Group was contracted to undertake this challenge, and the Order of Pi was the result! 8 Monk robes were constructed, the Piethagorean chant music was composed, and Victorians had their first contact with a mysterious order of medieval monks whose obsession with the Greek letter Pi was matched only by their devotion to their Monty Pythonesqe version of the Spanish Inquisition. The 1995 Cream Pie a Friend For Charity drive was a strong success, and resulted in many positive phone messages and emails congratulating the UVic Engineering Students Society for professionally executed and entertaining trials and pieings that put most singing telegrams to shame. On the charity front, over $3000.00 was raised this year.

1996 saw increased refinements in the way The Order of Pi did business:

• The Execution Stocks were designed to prevent falling pie debris from messing up carpets or floors.
• The Headgear of Meringem The Unstainable was designed to protect the clothing and hair of the condemned.
• New monk uniforms were created for each type of monk in the Order: Inquisitors, Counsellors, PieBearers and Executioner now had their own unique variation on the basic Monk outfit. The number of robes was increased to 20.
• The chillingly gothic Piethagorean Chant theme of the Order of Pi was expanded by its composer to include four new movements, inlcuding a Spanish sounding finale.

In short, things got bigger and better. Once again, the charity drive raised over $3000.00 which was split between the Queen Alexandra Children's Hospital and the Neil Squire Foundation.

1997 was the year things got interesting for the intrepid engineering students from UVic who dared to pie for charity. Pressure from the departments of Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science led the current Dean of Engineering to withdraw his official endorsement of the charity drive: All in-class pieings were forbidden, and the students were told to "find another way to raise funds for charity". Arguments concerning the "inappropriate" nature of the Monk robes (they might be offensive to some religions) and allegations that putting a pie into a female student's face was equivalent to violence against women were the only two reasons cited by the departments concerned, and it seemed that the forces of political correctness expected to have their way.

The drive was held anyway, with the refinement in policy that University Professors and classrooms were no longer valid as participants and locations for pieing. Since classroom pieings were previously a fair slice of the charity pie, the 1997 drive consisted of many more local Victoria and workplace trials, and a smaller grand total than previous years: Approximately $2000 was raised however, a glowing endorsement by the local community for the causes that the charity drive defends.

1998 saw the coming together of the UVic Engineering Students' Society, The Computer Science Course Union, and the Order of Pi: Volunteers from each of these student groups joined forces to promote, organize, and run the 1998 charity drive, and the results were nothing short of impressive: A further $2000 was raised and another year of mirth and slapstick humour went down in history.

1999 saw the continued support of both the Engineering Students' Society and the Computer Science Course Union. Greater moves were made on the part of the Order to better organize the operations of the charity drive. Again $2000 was raised and a great time was had by all. This year marked a transitioning year for the Order with the standing down of Piominous I as Grand Inquisitor, his young pupil stepped up to take his place and now bares responsibility for the Order as Piominous II.