Category Archives: Beta Theta Pi

U.S. Vice Presidents Who Belong to Fraternities and Sororities

How many U.S. Vice Presidents have been in a fraternity or sorority? A goodly number, it turns out. Here is a list of Vice Presidents since 1869,* when Schuyler Colfax became the first fraternity man to become Vice President. I’ve … Continue reading

Posted in Alpha Phi Alpha, Beta Theta Pi, Calvin Coolidge, Dartmouth College, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Delta Tau Delta, Delta Upsilon, DePauw University, First Ladies, Fran Favorite, Harvard University, Howard University, Ohio Wesleyan University, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Gamma Delta, Presidents, The Anchora of Delta Gamma, University of Chicago, Yale University | Tagged , , | Comments Off on U.S. Vice Presidents Who Belong to Fraternities and Sororities

1839 – on the Eighth Day of the Eighth Month at Nine in the Evening – Happy 174th Birthday, Beta Theta Pi!

August 13, 1839, was Commencement Day at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Five days earlier, on August 8, at the first official meeting, eight young men established Beta Theta Pi, the first men’s fraternity founded west of the Allegheny Mountains. … Continue reading

Posted in Beta Theta Pi, Founders' Day, Fran Favorite, GLO, Greek-letter Organization, Greek-letter Organization History, Miami University | Tagged , , | Comments Off on 1839 – on the Eighth Day of the Eighth Month at Nine in the Evening – Happy 174th Birthday, Beta Theta Pi!

William Raimond Baird, BΘΠ, Opens Fraternity Congress, 1893 Chicago World’s Fair

The post previous to this one is about the Fraternity Congress at the Columbian Exposition (aka Chicago’s World’s Fair) in 1893. After it was posted, I came across the program of events. I was elated to find out that one … Continue reading

Posted in Alpha Phi, Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities, Beta Theta Pi, Conventions, Delta Gamma, Fran Favorite, Fraternity Magazines, Fraternity meetings, GLO, Greek-letter Organization, Greek-letter Organization History, Sorority History | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on William Raimond Baird, BΘΠ, Opens Fraternity Congress, 1893 Chicago World’s Fair

NPC Women Meet for Lunch at Marshall Field’s, Chicago, July 1912

On July 1, 1912, ten years after the first National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) meeting in May of 1902, and nine months after the 1911 annual meeting, eighteen women representing eight of the sixteen NPC organizations met for lunch. The Pan-Hellenic … Continue reading

Posted in Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Phi, Beta Theta Pi, Chi Omega, Conventions, Delta Delta Delta, Fran Favorite, GLO, Greek-letter Organization, Greek-letter Organization History, National Panhellenic Conference, Pi Beta Phi, Women's Fraternity History | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on NPC Women Meet for Lunch at Marshall Field’s, Chicago, July 1912

And Then There Were Three – The Nearly Extinct Men’s Colleges

American higher education began as an all-male bastion in 1636 when Harvard College was founded primarily to provide the colonies with an educated clergy.  It was not until 200 years later in 1837 that Oberlin College in Ohio enrolled four … Continue reading

Posted in Alpha Phi Alpha, Beta Theta Pi, Chi Phi, Fran Favorite, GLO, Greek-letter Organization, Greek-letter Organization History, Hampden-Sydney College, Iota Phi Theta, Kappa Alpha Psi, Morehouse College, Omega Psi Phi, Phi Kappa Psi, Wabash College | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on And Then There Were Three – The Nearly Extinct Men’s Colleges

The Graduation Edition – Alumna / Alumnae /Alumnus / Alumni

I love the pomp and circumstance of graduation ceremonies. After all, I earned a degree based mainly on the color of the hood (two of my favorite colors wine and silver blue, which just happen to be Pi Beta Phi’s … Continue reading

Posted in Beta Theta Pi, GLO, Goucher College, Greek-letter Organization, Greek-letter Organization History, Knox College, Syracuse University | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Happy Founders’ Day, My Dear Pi Beta Phi!

When Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois opened in September 1856, 26 of the 99 students were women. Ten years later, when the 1866-67 academic year began, the cost of the first term was $12 in tuition and $9 for each … Continue reading

Posted in Beta Theta Pi, Delta Tau Delta, Founders' Day, GLO, Greek-letter Organization, Greek-letter Organization History, Monmouth College, Phi Gamma Delta, Pi Beta Phi, Sorority History, Women's Fraternity History | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Happy Founders’ Day, My Dear Pi Beta Phi!

Champaign’s Virginia Theater – Home of Ebertfest

(This blog was posted a week or so before Roger Ebert’s death. I am so sorry to hear of his passing. I also discovered that a P.E.O. friend and Knox College alumna was Ebert’s childhood friend and neighbor. What a … Continue reading

Posted in Beta Theta Pi, GLO, Greek-letter Organization, Greek-letter Organization History, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Kappa Sigma, National Panhellenic Conference, Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Delta Theta, Pi Beta Phi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, The Arrow of Pi Beta Phi, University of Illinois | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Champaign’s Virginia Theater – Home of Ebertfest

Happy Birthday Stephen Sondheim, Musical Theater Genius and a ΒΘΠ

Happy Birthday Stephen Sondheim! He is one of my favorite composers and I have wonderful memories of attending Sondheim shows on Broadway with my daughter while she was at Mount Holyoke (who says college family weekends need to be spent … Continue reading

Posted in Beta Theta Pi, GLO, Greek-letter Organization, Greek-letter Organization History, Williams College | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Happy Birthday Stephen Sondheim, Musical Theater Genius and a ΒΘΠ

Baird’s Manual of American College Fraternities Debuted 135 Years Ago

My thanks to Christopher Walters, a fraternity history enthusiast and a member of Phi Mu Alpha, for writing this blog post. In 1879 a revolution occurred in the fraternity world. It was in March of that year when a little booklet, … Continue reading

Posted in Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities, Beta Theta Pi, GLO, Greek-letter Organization, Greek-letter Organization History, NIC, North-American Interfraternity Conference, Sorority History, Women's Fraternity History | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Baird’s Manual of American College Fraternities Debuted 135 Years Ago