History of North American college fraternities and sororities

Fraternities and sororities began with students who wanted to meet secretly, usually for discussions and debates not thought appropriate by the faculty of their schools. Today they are used as social, professional, and honorary groups that promote community service, leadership, and academic achievement.

Latin Societies

Before 1776, collegiate student fraternal organizations that promoted scholarship, rhetoric, and ethical conduct existed at virtually all the colleges and universities in America. Cite book | last = Harding | first = Thomas S. | title = College Literary Societies: Their Contribution to Higher Education in the United States, 1815-1876 | publication-place = New York, New York | publisher = privately published |year = 1972] Citation | last = Stafford | first = David E. | date = Summer 2007
title = Aprons, Fezzes, and Greek Letters? | periodical = The Signet | publication-place = Indianapolis, IN | publisher = Grand Chapter of Phi Sigma Kappa & the Phi Sigma Kappa Foundation | volume = LXXXXVIII | issue = 3] As a general rule, there were two types of college societies, the large debating society usually categorized today as the Latin Societies, and a wide range of personal clubs that typically did not survive the graduation of the original group of members. The personal clubs could have been inspired by anything, either study groups or dining clubs, or any particular interest, common geographic origin, and even some music groups.

The Latin Societies were formal organizations, often with large assembly rooms. Some examples include the Peucinian Society at Bowdoin College, Social Friends, United Fraternity at Dartmouth College, Cleo of Alpha Chi literary society at Trinity College, the Philorhetorian and Peithologian societies at Wesleyan University, the Philologian and Philotechnian societies at Williams College, the Philomathean and Zelosophic societies at the University of Pennsylvania, the Philolexian and Peithologian societies at Columbia University, the Clariosophic and Euphradian societies at the University of South Carolina, the Demosthenian and Phi Kappa societies at the University of Georgia, the Linonia and Brothers in Unity at Yale University and Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. These organizations typically exsisted in pairs, and took roughly half the students as members. At some colleges, students would even be assigned to a society by lot. The literary exercises of these societies usually consisted of a debate, and the meetings were open to the public. In addition to a debate, members could be assigned original poems, essays, fiction, to both compose and deliver, societies typically held to its own meeting format. Different societies would include more political content, or content on social conditions, or material relevant to religious issues. [For a fictional account of a Latin society meeting, see [http://theamericanminerva.com/Articles/LongstreetDebatingSociety.html http://theamericanminerva.com/Articles/LongstreetDebatingSociety.html] .]

These organizations also often adopted mottoes in Greek or Latin, and some had Greek letter names, such as Phi Kappa society at the University of Georgia.

These organizations figure prominently in the development of fraternities and sororities because many early fraternities were considered simply 'private' versions of the 'open' latin societies, and the format of the meetings was derived from the Latin societies exercises.

The Latin Societies thrived until the Civil War. It is sugegsted that the later college fraternities undermined them. There were attempts to restore some of these organizations in the 1870's. A few do survive, either in the original society, or with one or more breaks in their history, at the Univeristy of Georgia, Yale, and until recently, New York University.

Phi Beta Kappa

The Phi Beta Kappa Society, founded on December 5, 1776 at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, established the precedent for naming American college societies after the Greek-letter initials of a secret Greek motto, and especially the method for having a chaptered society across several college campuses.

The group consisted of students who frequented the Raleigh Tavern as a common meeting area off the college campus. There is a persistent rumor that a Masonic lodge also met in the same place, but there was a different building used by the Freemasons at Williamsburg. [http://www.acacia16.org/GL/History/6.htm] Whether the students organized to meet more freely and discuss non-academic topics, or to discuss politics in a Revolutionary society, is unknown; the earliest records indicate only that the students met to debate and engage in oratory, and on topics that would have been not far removed from the curriculum. Hastings, William T., "Phi Beta Kappa as a Secret Society". Washington, D.C.: United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa, 1965, 83-85, see also [http://www.shsu.edu/~eng_wpf/frat_hist.html] .]

There were Latin-named literary societies at William & Mary, which, according to the founders of Phi Beta Kappa "had lost all reputation for letters, and [were] noted only for the dissipation & conviviality of [their] members." The new society was intended to be "purely of domestic manufacture, without any connexion whatever with anything European, either English or German." The founders of Phi Beta Kappa declared that the society was formed for congeniality and to promote good fellowship, with "friendship as its basis and benevolence and literature as its pillars." At first the only secrets were the mysterious letters used on the badge.

The society was given the motto, _el. Φιλοσοφία Βίου Κυβερνήτης or "Philosophy is the helmsman of life," now officially translated as "Philosophy is the guide of life". [Citation | last = Everett | first = Edward | title = Importance of Practical Education and Useful Knowledge | place = Boston | publisher = Marsh, Capen, Lyon, and Webb | year = 1840 | page = 382
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=0sMKAAAAIAAJ] Greek was chosen as the language for the motto because Heath, "was the best Greek scholar in college."

One official historian of the society, William T. Hastings, and others, believes that the "S" and "P" on the badge, which meant "Societas Philosophiae", Philosophical Society, was the original name of the Society and that the name Phi Beta Kappa only came to be taken as the society name over time. The heading on the original list of members states: "A List of the members, who have been initiated into the S.P. alias Phi Beta Kappa Society."

Later, in May, 1777, two new signs of recognition were designed: "a salutation of the clasp of the hands, together with an immediate stroke across the mouth with the back of the same hand, and a return with the hand used by the saluted"; these new gestures were for the purposes of distinguishing Phi Beta Kappa members "in any foreign country or place."

By a stroke of good fortune, the society initiated a Yale student before disbanding at the advance of British forces. This student brought Phi Beta Kappa to Yale and Harvard, and from there the society was able to continue. As Phi Beta Kappa developed, it came to be a very influential association of faculty and select students across several colleges. The chapters became larger and focused on rhetoric and class elections while abandoning the close social bond that had defined the first chapter. Membership was becoming more of an honor and less part of a functioning society.

However, Phi Beta Kappa was very different than a typical college fraternity of today in that the membership was generally restricted to upperclassmen, if not seniors, and faculty, (made members earlier in their careers) played an active role. The annual Phi Beta Kappa exercises at Yale were public literary exercises, with as many or more faculty members of the society than undergraduate.

No other Greek letter student society was formed until the inception of Chi Delta Theta, a senior class society at Yale, in 1821. This group, like Phi Beta Kappa had now become, was largely focused on literary debates and elections. Similar groups without Greek letter names (but still clearly inspired by the Greek language) had already been formed like Hermesian, Adelphi, and Philalethean.Citation
date = November 1880 | title = The Scroll of Phi Delta Theta | periodical = The Signet | publication-place = Gettysburg, PA
publisher = Phi Delta Theta Fraternity | volume = V | issue = 2 | pages = 138 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=zgMTAAAAIAAJ]

A group called Chi Phi claims to have been was founded in 1824 at Princeton.. However, most independent authors have expressed a high degree of skepticism about Chi Phi's claims to have have been founded before the publicly verifiable date of 1854. [cite book |author = Stevens, Albert C. |year = 1907 |title = "Cyclopedia of Fraternities: A Compilation of Existing Authentic Information and the Results of Original Investigation as to the Origin, Derivation, Founders, Development, Aims, Emblems, Character, and Personnel of More Than Six Hundred Secret Societies in the United States" |publisher = E. B. Treat and Company]

The first fraternities

The first general Greek letter fraternity is considered to be the Kappa Alpha Society, established at Union College in Schenectady, New York on November 26, 1825 by John Hart Hunter. Kappa Alpha's founders adopted many of Phi Beta Kappa's practices (Phi Beta Kappa had been established at Union College in 1817), but designed their organization as solely for students. Students liked the organization but the faculty was opposed to the small secret society.Citation | last = Birdseye | first = Clarence Frank
title = Individual Training in Our Colleges | place = New York | publisher = The McMillan Company | year = 1907 | page = 209
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=Bv7ZFGz9MCYC]

Following the establishment of Kappa Alpha Society, an event occurred that would come to shape the public perception of fraternities for decades. In 1826, a man named William Morgan who was a member of the Freemasons published the degrees of Freemasonry through the Royal Arch degree. He then disappeared and was assumed murdered or abducted. Public interest in the case led to a severe anti-secret society sentiment. Fraternity members faced expulsion and general suspicion which only increased the secrecy of the early organizations. On the other hand, the anti-masonic conventions which followed published all the degrees of Freemasonry, [citation | last = Bernard | first = David |title = Light on Masonry | place = Utica, New York |year = 1829] > which provides endless amounts of raw material for new college fraternity initiations.

The spirit of emulation, or competition, was strong among the students of Union College and the Sigma Phi Society formed in March 1827, followed by Delta Phi in November. Kappa Alpha Society, Sigma Phi, and Delta Phi are often called the Union Triad.

Sigma Phi became the first "national" fraternity when it opened a second chapter at Hamilton College in 1831. The tradition of expansion would continue when Kappa Alpha Society chartered a second chapter at Williams College in 1833. [Citation | title = A Biographical Record of the Kappa Alpha Society in Williams College | place = New York
year = 1881 | page = 7 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=BMVBAAAAIAAJ]

The establishment of Alpha Delta Phi by Samuel Eells at Hamilton College in 1832 was significant in that Eells proposed a society that would not just be a club, but a complete commitment of character and personal development. His society was formed out of dissatisfaction with the elections to Phi Beta Kappa. Not only did Alpha Delta Phi include a personal commitment to ethical integrity, members were encouraged to support or even criticize the character of fellow members in any aspect of their lives. Further, Alpha Delta Phi adopted a vigorous in-society curriculum meant to supplement the academic curriculum. Eells basically raised the stakes of fraternity life from a social pastime to a comprehensive plan. Virtually all fraternities came to adopt this plan later.

The Mystical Seven at Wesleyan (1837) expanded to Emory University and the University of Georgia in the early 1840s, spreading the concept to the South, where for two decades before the Civil War, these kinds of organizations were called "Mystic Associations". The Mystical Seven was also the first society to initiate women as members. In 1833, the Skull and Bones Society was organized at Yale University among members of the senior class as a of Phi Beta Kappa. This spawned other similar secret societies that differentiate themselves from Greek-lettered societies.

The incidents involving William Morgan had not been forgotten, however, and Phi Beta Kappa came under public scrutiny. The increasing influence of the society came to seem undemocratic and contrary to the free flow of intellectual ideas in American academia, and under great pressure, the undergraduate members at Harvard revealed the secrets of Phi Beta Kappa in 1831.

In 1833, the Skull and Bones society was organized at Yale University among members of the senior class, following in the pattern established by Phi Beta Kappa and Chi Delta Theta, and formed in a dispute over elections to Phi Beta Kappa. From this point, the class societies followed a different line of development from the fraternities. "See Collegiate secret societies in North America". In 1834, Delta Upsilon fraternity was founded at Williams College. Delta Upsilon was established as the nation's first open, non-secret fraternity in that it still to this day does not maintain secret admonitions, handclasps, etc. and does not safeguard its rituals, which are open to public speculation. Delta Upsilon was founded to counter what was believed to be the unjust dominance by secret societies of the time over the student affairs at Williams College. [ [http://www.deltau.org/default.aspx?action=Content&ContentId=63 Delta Upsilon Fraternity ] ]

Beta Theta Pi was founded at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in August, 1839, in response to the chartering of the west-most chapter of Alpha Delta Phi. Phi Delta Theta (1848) and Sigma Chi (1855), also founded at Miami University, emulated Beta Theta Pi's focus on establishing new chapters. These three constitute the Miami Triad. Zeta Psi, founded in 1847 at New York University, similarly pursued expansion.

Influences from Freemasonry would still be explicitly clear in the development of fraternities such as Phi Kappa Sigma, founded 1850, and Delta Tau Delta, founded 1858, as were Zeta Psi, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Psi Upsilon, and Delta Psi.

As with men's fraternities, women's fraternities would largely be inspired or preceded by student societies with Greek-inspired names but without Greek letters. The Adelphean Society was established in 1851 at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia, making it the first secret society for collegiate women. The Philomathean Society (not associated with the Philomathean Society of the University of Pennsylvania) was also founded at Wesleyan College in 1852.

The first Greek letter women's fraternity, Chi Theta Delta, was formed in 1856 at Troy Female Seminary. It was formed by female students who had become so intrigued and impressed by the fellowship displayed by the men's fraternity Theta Delta Chi that they sought membership. This being an impossibility, the Delta chapter of Theta Delta Chi helped them form their own group which would last only a few years when Troy Female Seminary ceased being a board school.Citation | title = The Shield: Official Publication of the Theta Delta Chi Fraternity | place = Elmira, New York | publisher = The Elmira Advertiser Association | volume = XIII | issue = 1 | date = March, 1897 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=w94SAAAAIAAJ] 1856 would also see the establishment of Kappa Sigma (not to be confused with Kappa Sigma fraternity) at Elmira College.

The Civil War and Aftermath

The early 1860s were unsurprisingly uneventful when it comes to fraternities due to the American Civil War. Many colleges, and subsquently undergraduate chapters, would temporarily close during the war. Only one organization, Theta Xi, was founded (at Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1864) and it was the first professional fraternity. One very important event during the war was the passage of the Morrill Act of 1862. This act would lead to new colleges, new educational opportunities, and greater student enrollment. [Citation
last = Hill
first = David Spence
title = Introduction to Vocational Education
publisher = The Macmillan Company
date = 1920
place = New York
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=SB1FAAAAIAAJ]

After the war, the system would begin encountering racial, religious, and gender diversity and new colleges would be founded or reformed throughout the south and west. Growth in the fraternity system overall during this period would lead some to label the last third of the nineteenth century as "The Golden Age of Fraternities."Citation
last = Sanua
first = Marianne Rachel
title = Going Greek: Jewish College Fraternities in the United States, 1895-1945
publisher = Wayne State University Press
date = 2003
ISBN = 0814328571
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=1u0sPzMEwOUC]

The so-called Lexington Triad would begin its formation when Alpha Tau Omega was founded in 1865 at the Virginia Military Institute. Fraternities being founded at military-oriented schools in the south was unsurprising given the recent end of the war. The founding of Kappa Alpha Order at Washington and Lee University in 1865 and Sigma Nu at VMI in 1969 would complete the triad.

Fraternity creation would slow for a time after 1873 when the third of three secret societies was formed at Massachusetts Agricultural College. The existing fraternities would now seek to expand.

ororities

In 1867, a society called I. C. Sorosis was founded as a women's fraternity and, while it closely modeled men's fraternities, the membership was not confined to college students. As Chi Theta Delta had disbanded and the Adelphean and Philomathean societies had not yet taken Greek letter names, Kappa Alpha Theta gains distinction for the first Greek letter women's fraternity to be founded with continued existence. It was founded in January 1870 at DePauw University. Kappa Kappa Gamma followed suit when it was established October 1870 at Monmouth College.

The 1870s would also host the founding of Alpha Phi in 1872 and Gamma Phi Beta and Sigma Kappa in 1874. Delta Gamma was founded sometime in between.

Sororities had, from the beginning, the difficult objective of proving the viability of coeducational studies. That women could perform academically as well as or better than men while maintaining the Victorian ideals of womanhood was a tall order. Sororities created high academic standards and monitored the social activities of their members from their inception.Citation
last = Turk
first = Diana B.
title = Bound by a Mighty Vow: Sisterhood and Women's Fraternities, 1870-1920
publisher = The NYU Press
date = 2004
place = New York
isbn = 0814782825
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=mX7hNTTPT3MC]

Gamma Phi Beta would gain notoriety in 1882 as the first organization to be called a sorority. Their advisor was a male Latin professor who coined the term. The terms sorority and women's fraternity have always since been interchangeable with some using one or the other in only formal or informal contexts.

The social sororities were one of the few social outlets at most universities. While enrollment had opened to women at most institutions, student organizations like literary societies, student government, and other clubs were still free to restrict membership. Intense curriculum and mandatory religious involvements limited free time but the social sororities and social fraternities began a tradition of interaction. They would put together skits for entertainment, hold events for singing and waltzing after meetings were over, held socials at the houses of local members, and lower their inhibitions during annual Halloween parties.

Professional and honorary fraternities

Theta Xi was the first Greek letter professional fraternity but it would eventually become social. These groups would gain popularity before and increasingly after the turn of the century. Membership in them could be coveted a great deal on some campuses. The membership requirements and purposes of honorary and professional fraternities would often overlap.

Ethnic and cultural differences

While the late 1800s held tremendous growth for the fraternity system, it was also a time of great discrimination against the minorities who were increasingly entering the universities. Informal agreements were often codified in bylaws to restrict membership only to white Christians (but not necessarily all Christian denominations).

Christianity was huge part of college life at this time. Training for the ministry was a common application of time in a university and attending chapel was often mandatory. Jewish students could rarely gain entry into any fraternities as, at the time, just one member could often block the initiation of any new member. Even Christianity was not enough for many as there was also much discrimination against Irish Catholics. Catholic students a Brown University would create Phi Kappa Sigma (not to be confused with the national Phi Kappa Sigma) in 1889. Three Jewish students, upset at any idea of religious discrimination, would found the non-sectarian (no discrimination against race, religion, or color) Pi Lambda Phi at Yale University in 1895. On the other end of the spectrum, fourteen students would form the Z.B.T. Society (later Zeta Beta Tau) in 1898 which was "only" open to Jewish students.

The establishment and evolution of fraternities and sororities for African-Americans partially mirrored the development of social fraternities and sororities. Literary societies with Greek letters came first: the Alpha Phi literary society was founded at Howard University in 1872.Citation
last = Kimbrough
first = Walter M.
title = Black Greek 101: The Culture, Customs, and Challenges of Black Fraternities
place = New York
publisher = Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press
year = 2003
pages = 94
ISBN = 0838639771
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=m3pV_KGJT_4C] Such groups were followed by locals that existed for a short time, and only later did the oldest Black fraternity still in existence, Alpha Phi Alpha, appear at Cornell University in 1906. Precursors to Alpha Phi Alpha included Gamma Phi Fraternity at Wilberforce University, Sigma Pi Phi, Alpha Kappa Nu at Indiana University, and Pi Gamma Omicron at Ohio State University. Through 1920, the eight organizations who made up the National Pan-Hellenic Council until 1996 would be formed. Black fraternities and sororities were based on existing fraternities and sororities but cultural additions were made including calls, open hand signs, and step shows.

Interfraternity organization

The first attempt at organization between different fraternities began as a recommendation from members of Beta Theta Pi. Men representing thirteen fraternities officially and others present unofficially met in Philadelphia, PA in 1883. They had intentions of having a conference the following year and several edits formed the Inter-Fraternity Press Association. Neither of these two ideas lasted.Citation
last = Priddy
first = Bessy Leach
publication-date = 1907
title = A Detailed Record of Delta Delta Delta
publication-place = Galesburg, IN
publisher = The Mail Printing Company
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=F15DAAAAIAAJ]

Kappa Kappa Gamma began the process of attempting to organize sororities in 1890.Citation
last = Martin
first = Ida Shaw
publication-date = 1919
title = The Sorority Handbook
edition = 6th
publication-place = Menasha, WI
publisher = George Banta Publishing
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=xbU4AAAAMAAJ] The first Pan-Hellenic Convention of Woman's Fraternities was held in August 1891. Committees were created and reports were drafted but little was done to continue the organization.

Fraternities and sororities united their efforts to make an appearance at the upcoming World's Fair in Chicago in 1893. They formed the Columbian Exposition Committee on Pan-Hellenism (the Chicago World's Fair was officially called the World's Columbian Exposition) and held a number of meetings on how to put together a joint exhibit. The exhibit never came together.

Alpha Phi would take the initiative to inspire the first Inter-Sorority Conference in 1902. The conference was attended by representatives from Delta Delta Delta, Gamma Phi Beta, Alpha Phi, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Gamma, and Pi Beta Phi in Chicago. The next few conferences would establish rules and standards such as a student-run Pan-Hellenic Association on college campuses with two or more sororities and the rotation of officers in these associations and in the conference. The next decade would add many more sororities to the organization and it would be renamed the National Pan-Hellenic Conference. The decade would also hold a new emphases on community service, standardized house rules, fairness policies for member recruitment, and an official stance against all secondary school sororities.

The social fraternities would create small Pan-Hellenic organizations in various cities in the late 1890s and early 1900s. George D. Kimball of Sigma Alpha Epsilon would take initiative and call for a true national Pan-Hellenic group during a meeting of the National Religious Education Association in Chicago in February 1909. The Inter-Fraternity Conference would begin with twenty-six organizations that November in New York City. Like the sororities, the conference would call for local student-run Inter-Fraternity Councils on college campuses with more than one member organization.Citation
last = Baird
first = William Raimond
publication-date = 1920
title = Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities
edition = 9th
publication-place = New York
publisher = George Banta Company
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=1qoVAAAAIAAJ]

Changes in the 20th Century

As fraternities grew, new issues appeared. Ideas over who should be a member (often tied to racial or cultural background) differed between chapters which now spread throughout the United States and Canada. The undergraduate membership continued to grow but alumni membership had grown even more. Alumnae of women's fraternities who had fought hard to help establish the idea of coeducation now questioned whether the new generation of women really understood the value of the sorority.

There were always those against the fraternity and sorority system but it was not until the early twentieth century that a real impact was made on chapters at some campuses. In some cases, the development of fraternity and sorority housing is all that saved Greek life as some universities had far outgrown their student housing capacities. Some campuses such as Williams College, Colby College, and Middlebury College would ban Greek letter organizations and many others would form commissions to study their merits. Detractors argued that the groups hurt intellectual development, affronted religion with secret oaths, and fostered inappropriate behavior. The validity of these claims varied between campuses and organizations and, in many cases, the criticisms would remain but without any significant action for decades.

There was a peak in membership in the 1950's with students and universities adjusting to post-war conditions, followed by a sharp drop in the 1960's and 1970's, when fraternity life and ideas were in contrast to the counterculture movement. The 1980's and 1990's have brought about a resurgance in fraternity life.

ee Also

*Fraternities and sororities in North America

References