Google Baird's manual of American college fraternities William Raimond Baird BADGES OF THE CHAPTERED FRATERNITIES. AMERICAN COLLEGE FRATERNITIES: A DESCKIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE SOCIETY SYSTEM IN THE COLLEGES OF THE UNITED STATES, WITH A DETAILED ACCOUNT OF EACH FRATERNITY. BY WM. RAIMOND BAIRD. PHILADELPHIA: J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. London : 16 Southampton Street, Covent Garden. 1879. v- \j „ CASE ft Copyright, 1879, by Wm. Baimond Baird. • • • • • • • ••"•• • •• • • •• • ••.••>•••••• • ••• « • •• • ••••• •••••• • ' PEEFAOE. The author of this book is a member of one of the college fraternities. Having occasion to make inquiries in regard to one of these organizations, he was surprised to learn that there was no general repository of facts in regard to them, that few of their members knew more than the names of those with which they had come into contact, and that the majority were ignorant alike, of the origin, principles, history, and customs of any of the fraternities, oftentimes their own included. This lack of knowledge has arisen not from the desire to know nothing of other organizations, nor from indifference to the affairs of their neighbors, but from the fact that information of this kind had never been brought together in a convenient shape. An endeavor has been made to make this book a vehicle of such information. In seeking material the author has in general met with the hearty co-operation of the fraternities themselves, and with few exceptions all facilities have been placed at his disposal. Nothing is here given to the public that an intelligent observer could not ascertain, and no attempt has been made to lay bare any of the so-called secrets of the college societies. Those facts have been given in regard to the fraternities which it was deemed would be of interest ; the historical notes in connection with the chapters have chiefly been derived from the fraternities themselves, as has the larger number of state- ments in the book. It must be borne in mind, however, that M49920 : 4 PREFACE. the condition of a chapter often changes rapidly from causes beyond its control, and many reported facts will necessarily be inaccurate a year hence. The fraternities are requested, there- fore, to report any changes that may occur. Matters of opinion have usually been excluded, and in the last chapter the argument for and against the fraternities has been presented as it appears to the average fraternity member and college student. The Directory of Chapters may be found use- ful, and some few changes have been noted in it not mentioned in the detailed account of the fraternities. In the preparation of this volume use has been made of a work entitled " Four Years at Yale" (New Haven, 1871), and treating of life at that college, " A Harvard Book," the various reports of the commissioner of education, the college periodicals, the fraternity catalogues, their song-books, and other publica- tions of a less permanent nature. In addition, the author would acknowledge his indebtedness to the following ladies and gentle- men, without whose kind assistance he would often have been at a serious loss Dr. E. D. Hudson, Jr., JJ#; Mr. Charles L. D. Washburn, AZX) Mr. Jos. K. Anderson, Jr., ATQ; Mr. John S. Good- win and Major Wyllys C. Kansom, BBU ; Mr. Wm. Sutphen, X$ ; Mr. Atherton Clark, |I 4 <g 4 §f,; Messrs. W. L. McClurg and Henry T. Brueck, ATA) Mr. E. P. Clark, ARE) Mr. Frank S. Thomas, KA Messrs. George Banta and Walter B. Palmer, ; AS ; Messrs. Frank Keck and W. F. McDowell, $TA ; Dr. Edgar F. Smith, $KW\ Dr. Woolsey Johnson and Mr. Alfred Lee, Jr., $KZ) Mr. F. Clark, UKA Messrs. Chas. Smiley W. ; W. and C. P. Woodruff, WY) Mr. Robert T. S. Lowell, 2VP; Mr. R. H. Wildberger, ZAE) Mr. W. L. Otis, ZV; Mr. R. E. Corry, IA ; Mr. Franklin Burdge, SAX; Mr. W. R. Leaken, I. K. A. ; Mr. David B. Willson, BB ; Misses Corinne Miller and Emma J. Taggart, AT\ Miss Jodie A. Hays, KKT\ and Miss Mattie J. Ridpath, KA8. CONTENTS. PAGE Greek-Letter Fraternities.—Their Origin, Progress, Manners, Customs, etc 9 General Fraternities. Alpha Delta Phi (AA*) 25 Alpha Digamma (AF) 30 Alpha Gamma (Ar) 31 Alpha Kappa Phi (AK*) 32 Alpha Sigma Chi (A2X) 33 Alpha Sigma Phi (A2*) 34 Alpha Tau Omega (ATO) 35 Beta Theta Pi (Ben) 38 Chi Phi (X*) 43 Chi Psi (X*) 48 Delta Beta Phi (AB*) 51 D. G. K 52 Delta Kappa Epsilon (AKE) 53 Delta Phi (A*) 57 Delta Psi (A*) 59 Delta Tau Delta (ATA) 61 Delta Upsilon (AY, anti-aecret) 66 Kappa Alpha (KA, Northern order) 71 Kappa Alpha (KA, Southern order) 73 Kappa Sigma (K2) 74 Kappa Sigma Kappa (K2K) 76 Mystio Seven 76 Phi Beta Kappa (*BK, honorary) 77 Phi Delta Kappa (*AK) 79 Phi Delta Phi (*A*, law) 80 Phi Delta Theta (*A0) 82 Phi Gamma Delta (*TA) 87 Phi Kappa Alpha (*KA) 91 Phi Kappa Psi (*K*) 92 5 6 CONTENTS. PAGE Phi Kappa Sigma (*K2) 97 Phi Sigma (*2) 100 Pi Kappa Alpha (IIKA) 101 Psi Upsilon (*Y) 102 Q. T. V 107 Rainbow Fraternity 107 Sigma Alpha (2A, Black Badge) 108 Sigma Alpha Epsilon (2AE) 109 Sigma Chi (2X) 112 Sigma Delta Pi (2AII, Vitnman) 116 Sigma Nu (2N) 117 Sigma Phi (2*) 118 Theta Delta Chi (OAX) 120 ThetaXi(eH) 124 Zeta Phi (Z*) 124 Zeta Psi (Z*) 125 Defunct Fraternities 129 Local Fraternities 131 Beta Beta (BB) 131 Berzelius 132 I. K.A 132 Sigma Delta Chi (SAX) 134 Phi Zeta Mn (*ZM) 134 Phi Theta Pi (*en) 134 Phi Gamma Pi (*m) 134 Phi Sigma Kappa (*2K) 135 Phi Nu Theta (*N9, Eclectic) 135 Phi Chi (*x) 136 Lambda Iota (AI, The Owl) 136 Delta Psi (A*) 137 Kappa Kappa Kappa (KKK) 137 Local Fraternities, Defunct 139 Ladies' Societies 143 Alpha Phi (A*) 143 Delta Gamma (Ar) 143 Delta Sigma Rho (A2P) 144 Delta Chi Alpha (AXA) 144 Gamma Phi Beta (r*B) 145 Kappa Alpha Theta (KA8) 145 Kappa Kappa Gamma (KKr) 146 Class Fraternities 148 Senior Societies 148 Junior Societies 151 CONTENTS. 7 PAGE Sophomore Societies 151 Freshman Societies 153 Greek-Letter Literary Societies 158 Unknown Societies 159 Statistical Summary 160 Directory op Chapters 162 College Chapters 162 Alumni and Metropolitan Chapters 190 Fraternity Colors 192 College Colors 193 College Annuals 194 The Fraternities; Have they a right to live? . 196 Index 209 AMERICAN COLLEGE FRATERNITIES. GREEK-LETTER FRATERNITIES. THEIR ORIGIN, PROGRESS, MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. College students have always shown a more or less marked tendency to form themselves into societies. Whether founded upon a national, literary, or social basis, these organizations seem to have been coeval with the colleges themselves. Throughout the United States there is a class of students' societies, usually secret in their character, which rapidly grew in favor, and have become of great importance in the college world. They are composed of lodges or branches placed in the several colleges, united by a common bond of friendship and a common name, generally composed of Greek letters. From this latter fact they are known among non-colle- gians as " Greek-Letter Societies/' or, more frequently, from their secrecy, " College Secret Societies," but among themselves they are styled " Fraternities." Before tracing their origin and progress it will be well to give some description of their customs and practices. The name of each fraternity is composed of two or three Greek letters, as Kappa Alpha, Chi Phi, Alpha Delta Phi, Beta Theta Pi. These letters commonly represent a motto, unknown to all but the fraternity's 2 9 10 AMERICAN COLLEGE FRATERNITIES. members; which Jijdieates the purposes, aims, or actions of thjq, Qi-ganisatiQiK . The lodges situated in various col- fc leges *arer affiIEate9, ar« tod ? with one or two exceptions, termed " Chapters/' The chapters receive various names, sometimes of the Greek letters in the order of their es- tablishment, as Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, etc.; some- times without any apparent order, as Theta, Delta, Beta, Gamma, in which case the chapter letter is generally the initial of some word peculiar to the college. Sometimes they are named from the colleges, as Union Chapter, Hamilton Chapter, or from the college towns, as Water- ville Chapter, Middletown Chapter. In one case, at least, all these systems are departed from, and the chap- ter is named after some prominent member. When chap- ters have become so numerous that the letters of the alphabet are exhausted, they are combined, either by chance, as Theta Zeta, Beta Chi, or by design, in the addition of supplementary letters, as Alpha Alpha, Al- pha Beta, Alpha Gamma, etc., or Alpha Beta, Beta Beta, Gamma Beta. In other cases a regular system is em- ployed, and some wr ord or words used to denote the repetition, as Alpha deuteron, Beta deuteron, or, in case the alphabet is being used for the third time, by Alpha triteron, Beta triteron, the supplementary words being generally denoted by their initial letters, Delta and Tau respectively. The distinctive badges or pins of the fraternities are of three kinds. First, a shield or plate of gold, display- ing upon it the fraternity name, together with symbols of general or peculiar significance. This kind of badge is worn as a pin, as a pendant from the watch-chain, or as a watch-key. Secondly, a monogram of the letters com- GREEK-LETTER FRATERNITIES. \\ posing the name ; these pins are by far the handsomest of all, and are almost always jewelled. Thirdly, some symbol representing the name of the society or some of its degrees, as a skull, a harp, or a key.