Category Archives: Presidents

@BettieLocke Meet @PrezCoolidge

Bettie Locke, the force behind the founding of Kappa Alpha Theta in 1870, is on the run this week. On Thursday, September 22, 2016, the Indiana Bicentennial Torch Relay will wind its way through Putnam County from 5-8 p.m. Putnam is the Indiana … Continue reading

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Which Children of U.S. Presidents Belong to Fraternities and Sororities?

Below is a list, as best as I can uncover, of the fraternities and sororities to which the offspring of U.S. Presidents have been members. Additions and/or corrections are always welcomed.   Chester Alan Arthur II (Chester A. Arthur), Zeta Psi? … Continue reading

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Tau Kappa Epsilon and Ronald Reagan

On January 10, 1899, Tau Kappa Epsilon was founded at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois. In a meeting at 504 East Locust Street, Charles Roy Atkinson, Clarence Arthur Mayer, James Carson McNutt, Joseph Lorenzo Settles, and Owen Ison Truitt formulated plans … Continue reading

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Calvin Coolidge and Kappa Alpha Psi Share January 5th

Two days after her 54th birthday, Grace Goodhue Coolidge became a widow. The 30th President died suddenly on the morning of January 5, 1933. Calvin Coolidge was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta chapter at Amherst College. His wife was … Continue reading

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Grace and Calvin Coolidge, Baseball, and the Two O’Haras

On Friday, July 3, 2015 another president made his debut in the fourth-inning mascot race during the Washington Nationals baseball game. It happened to take place on the evening before his birthday. The new guy just happened to win the … Continue reading

Posted in Delta Kappa Epsilon, First Ladies, Fran Favorite, Gamma Phi Beta, Grace Coolidge, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Phi Gamma Delta, Pi Beta Phi, Presidents, Psi Upsilon, Stanford University, The Arrow of Pi Beta Phi, University of Vermont | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Grace and Calvin Coolidge, Baseball, and the Two O’Haras

Convention Bound, Choo Choo! #reachingnewheights

As I pack for the Pi Beta Phi Convention in Chicago, I can’t help but think back on a convention which took place 100 years ago. In 1915, Berkeley, California was the site of Pi Phi’s first west coast convention. … Continue reading

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“Bro. (Woodrow) Wilson, our Delegate to Washington”

Phi Kappa Psi was founded on February 19, 1852 in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, at Jefferson College (now Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania). Phi Kappa Psi’s founders are William Henry Letterman and Charles Page Thomas Moore. Phi Kappa Psi is … Continue reading

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Presidents’ (not all but 2) Day, the Canadian Flag and #SNL40

Happy Presidents’ Day! What better day to do my annual debunking of the “All but 2 US Presidents born after 1825…” myth. Fraternity men who have served as President of the United States  Rutherford B. Hayes, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Honorary member James Garfield, Delta Upsilon, Williams College … Continue reading

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On the 4th of July – Lou Gehrig, the Iron Horse, ΦΔΘ, and Silent Cal, ΦΓΔ

July 4, 1939 was “Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day” at Yankee Stadium. On that day, baseball great Lou Gehrig, Phi Delta Theta, became the first major league baseball player to have his number retired. There are still people who were at Yankee … Continue reading

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A Lost Pin, the Golden Girls, and Mother’s Day

World Wars I and II wreaked havoc on the American College Fraternity system. Chapter houses emptied almost overnight. Fraternity magazines from those years tell the heartbreaking stories of the sacrifice put forth by young fraternity men. Yesterday, May 8, V-E Day marked … Continue reading

Posted in Beta Theta Pi, Fran Favorite, Kappa Alpha Theta, Phi Kappa Psi, Presidents, Wabash College | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on A Lost Pin, the Golden Girls, and Mother’s Day