Category Archives: Men’s Fraternities

Alpha Sigma Tau and Delta Upsilon Celebrate Founders’ Day on the Same Day

On November 4, 1899, Alpha Sigma Tau was founded by eight young women, Mable Chase, Ruth Dutcher, May Gephart, Harriet Marx, Eva O’Keefe, Adriance Rice, Helene Rice, and Mayene Tracy. The event took place at the Michigan State Normal College (now Eastern … Continue reading

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Happy 104th Birthday Lambda Chi Alpha!

Lambda Chi Alpha was founded at Boston University on November 2, 1909 by Warren Albert Cole. Most Greek-letter organizations celebrate Founders Day on the date of the founding.  Lambda Chi’s official Founders Day is March 22, according to the Fraternity’s website, … Continue reading

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Happy Founders’ Day, Sigma Phi Epsilon!

“Mommy, what’s that?” my daughter said as I pinned on my husband’s Sig Ep badge under my Pi Phi arrow while getting ready for an alumnae event. “It’s Daddy’s fraternity pin,” I said. “I didn’t know Daddy was a pirate,” … Continue reading

Posted in Dartmouth College, Founders' Day, Fran Favorite, GLO, Greek-letter Organization, Greek-letter Organization History, NIC, North-American Interfraternity Conference, Sigma Phi Epsilon, University of Richmond (Westhampton College) | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Happy Founders’ Day, Sigma Phi Epsilon!

Book Sale Trivia – Illini Style

This past weekend was spent working at the Friends of the Library book sale. Every now and then, while straightening up, I’d find an interesting book. The 2003 Illio, the University of Illinois yearbook, suddenly appeared and, of course, I … Continue reading

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Researching a Stranger and Finding a Familiar Face

The internet has made so many publications available at the click of a mouse. Last night while looking for some information about a prominent Delta Gamma, I came across, completely by accident, a digitized copy of the Goucher College yearbook. My … Continue reading

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“Let Us Start This Year Right” – Timeless and Still True

“Start the year with a resolution to make scholarship paramount, and then do it. Fraternities are judged by the outside world more by their scholarship record than by their array of captains, managers, and social stars. An efficient chapter does … Continue reading

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Sorority Hankies – “As the Late Queen Said: ‘We Are Not Amused!'”

While doing research for my dissertation  I came across this newspaper ad; it was reprinted in a 1930s Key of Kappa Kappa Gamma. I made a copy and put it in a file. I had no idea that 12 years later … Continue reading

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The West Baden Springs Hotel, the “Eighth Wonder of the World” and the Site of Several Fraternity Conventions

This past Saturday, August 24, a tweet from Phi Kappa Tau noted that “On this day in 1926, Phi Kappa Tau’s first convention at a resort hotel took place in West Baden, Ind.” In the 1920s, West Baden Springs was … Continue reading

Posted in Beta Theta Pi, Conventions, DePauw University, Fran Favorite, Fraternity meetings, GLO, Greek-letter Organization, Greek-letter Organization History, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Sigma, Phi Gamma Delta | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on The West Baden Springs Hotel, the “Eighth Wonder of the World” and the Site of Several Fraternity Conventions

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!