Pining for Banta’s Greek Exchange and The Fraternity Month

Posted on October 5, 2018 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

“Ask an Archivist Day” took place earlier this week. “Why did you become an archivist?” is a common question that is asked of archivists. In my case, my love of fraternity history began with reading the bound copies of The Arrow of Pi Beta Phi. In some of the older issues there were ads for Banta’s Greek Exchange, a magazine featuring news about fraternities and sororities and in those pre-internet days, I looked for copies in antique stores and at library book sales. It wasn’t until graduate school that I had the opportunity to read decades worth of the magazine, in fact, all that were available at the University of Illinois. At about the same time, I discovered The Fraternity Month. I was fascinated by the information presented.

The October 1933 edition of Fraternity Month included this introduction:

Fraternity Month and its staff greet you. To tell you what kind of a magazine it is would be to be trite, for you may see for yourselves. We hope you find it all that you may expect of a new, interfraternity publication. Many of you have asked for one which will be read by undergraduates as well as by more mature members. This is the type of magazine we want to produce. Coming with regular frequency, our news will be current and vital. Our articles will be by persons prominent in their field. We will follow a policy of liberalism. Our articles will not reflect our own opinion for this is your magazine and each of you may direct the thought of it so long as you may direct the thought of it so long as  you keep within the bounds of good taste. We welcome your contributions, your suggestions and, about all, your criticisms.

It will be our earnest endeavor to publish all the worthwhile news of all fraternities and all sororities all the time. You may help us by calling our attention to items which you wish to emphasize.

We want timely news, but we are alert to the splendid history and background that Greek-letter organizations have a right to claim. So there will be articles concerning the heritage of fraternities.

We expect our magazine to be read by prominent people who do not wear a badge, and we will feel it a privilege as well as an obligation to interpret the fraternity system to the outside world in a manner fair and honest.

Controversial articles will present both sides of the question. We do not strive to be smart, but to be intelligent with enough levity to be appealing to a public whose tastes are varied. Our magazine is, first of all, a fraternal and educational journal and we expect to keep it so. It is published without profit by the Fraternity Press in a desire to be of real service to the fraternity system.

The cover of this small (3×5) notebook, a favor given at the 1936 Pi Beta Phi convention, mimicked the covers of the larger magazine. The graphic may have even been used as the cover of an edition of the magazine.

Both magazines ended publication in the early 1970s. And, yes, I agree with Phi Gamma Delta’s Curator of the Archives, Towner Blackstock. It would be wonderful to have both magazines digitized and on-line!

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The GLO Twitterverse 10/2/2018

Posted on October 2, 2018 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

A day late and a dollar short keeps coming to mind. My time has not been my own lately, but I’ve had a chance to peruse the GLO twitterverse in the last few days, and here’s what I’ve found.

I missed National Hazing Prevention Week #NHPW. Educating GLO members about hazing is a constant process. Membership is ever changing, new members join the organization and others graduate or leave. And if all you knew about GLOs was from what you watched in movies, films and Youtube videos, you would expect that hazing would be the norm. It’s not, but it can be a scourge. In the chapters where hazing rears its ugly head, it is imperative that it be stopped, not just for the good of that chapter but for the future of all of our chapters. Hence #NHPW. 

Happy Birthday to the Circle of Sisterhood! Congratulations Ginny Carroll for making it a reality.

Congratulations to the Virginia Zeta chapter of Phi Kappa Psi which was installed this past weekend. Pi Beta Phi is the only NPC sorority which names its chapters in state and Greek letter order. Pi Phi’s chapter at Virginia Tech is also the Virginia Zeta chapter.

Service projects are a big part of GLOs. Here are just two of the pictures of service projects which took place last week.

There have been a few testimonials from fraternity members which have caught my eye. Pete Derzis won Theta Chi’s highest individual award while he was a member of the University of Alabama chapter.

Joe Bertolino, President of Southern Connecticut State University, (above) and Sam Wyche’s (below) discussed their fraternity experiences.

This tweet from Beta Theta Pi reminded me that soon there will not be any fraternity man or sorority woman who remembered listening to President Roosevelt’s “Day of Infamy” speech on a radio in the chapter house. Soon they will all be gone. Kudos to the Maine Betas for hosting Robert Buchanan.

Danny Thomas was an honorary initiate of Tau Kappa Epsilon. President Ronald Reagan became a TKE at Eureka College. Reagan loved to visit TKE chapter houses and treasured his fraternity membership. The president of the Eureka chapter was invited to President Reagan’s funeral, an act which I find quite touching.

A shout out to Towner Blackstock, Curator of Phi Gamma Delta’s Archives. I learn so much from his twitter posts.

I missed two events this past weekend. One was Greek Sing at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, an event that is older than 50 years. Although the meaning of “sing” has evolved over the decades, the enthusiasm the chapters have for the event has not. The second was the Friends of Carbondale Public Library fall book sale. I love being part of the crew that sets up and runs the book sales. It was also the debut of our book quilt on the wall opposite the entrance to the building. I had nothing to do with this except taking dust jackets off of books. 

Where would I like to be this weekend? Plymouth Notch, Vermont for the “I do not Choose to Run” walk. Alas, it will have to wait until a future year. (For those who are not regular readers of this blog, Calvin Coolidge was a member of Phi Gamma Delta and his lovely wife Grace was a Pi Beta Phi. They are the first President and First Lady initiated into GLOs while in college.)

 

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26% of NPC Sororities Celebrate Founders’ Day in October

Posted on October 1, 2018 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

October is a busy month for Founders’ Day celebrations. Seven of the 26 National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) organizations will be a year older before Halloween gets here. While I always try to write a post for the NPC groups on their respective Founders’ Day, I am not sure I will be able to this year. I’m presenting the info here, along with a fun fact off the top of my head, in case this is the only opportunity I have this year to wish them well on another year!

On October 10, 1872, Alpha Phi was founded at Syracuse University in New York. Alpha Phi’s original birthday is September 18, as recorded in the minutes of the November 4, 1872, meeting. However, Founders’ Day is celebrated on October 10. Alpha Phi is the oldest of the Syracuse Triad and it is the first women’s fraternity to build its own home.

The Alpha Phi chapter house on University Avenue in Syracuse. It was the first house built and owned by a women’s fraternity. The house was sold in 1902 and the chapter moved to its current home on Walnut Place.

 

On October 13, 1870, Kappa Kappa Gamma was founded at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois. Kappa Kappa Gamma and Pi Beta Phi are known as the Monmouth Duo. The amazing thing about the pair is that their Alpha chapters were forced to close by the college authorities and by the 1880s both chapters ceased to exist. Luckily, expansion had taken place and those chapters kept the organizations going despite the loss of the mother chapters. 

Photo by Melisse Campbell, a KKG alumna

 

On October 15, 1885, Alpha Chi Omega was founded at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, home to Kappa Alpha Theta’s Alpha chapter. At first membership in Alpha Chi was limited to music students, and its badge is the lyre. 

 

On October 15, 1898, Zeta Tau Alpha was founded at the Female Normal School (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia. In 1903, Themis was chosen as the patron goddess. It is also the name of the Zeta magazine.  

 

On October 23, 1897, Kappa Delta was founded at the Female Normal School (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia. It is the oldest of the Farmville Four, the sororities founded there. Interestingly, the two Farmville Four members founded in October are the ones which chose to close their Alpha chapters in order to join the National Panhellenic Conference.

White Rose with Larkspur painted by Kappa Delta alumna Georgia O’Keeffe, circa 1927. The white rose is the flower of Kappa Delta.

 

On October 24, 1902, Delta Zeta was founded at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Today, its headquarters is in Oxford, Ohio. One of my favorite fun facts about Delta Zeta is about founder Julia Bishop Coleman; she was also the first president of the Ohio State Chapter of P.E.O.

 

On October 24, 1909, Alpha Epsilon Phi was founded at Barnard College in New York City. Its seven founders were Jewish and they created the organization because Jewish women were not typically invited to join the established sororities.

Gertrude Friedlander and her Alpha Epsilon Phi sisters at the University of Pittsburgh

 


 

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Celebrating a Centennial Mountaineer Style

Posted on September 24, 2018 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Centennial celebrations happen only once every 100 years. This weekend I was in Morgantown, West Virginia, helping the women of the West Virginia Alpha chapter of Pi Beta Phi celebrate its first century.

In April of 1916 a group of  female students at West Virginia University founded an organization called “The Circle.” Its name honored a distinctive campus feature in front of Woodburn Hall.

In the fall of 1916, The Circle became interested in Pi Beta Phi. However, they were at a disadvantage because there was not a Pi Phi alumnae club in West Virginia. They did not give up hope and in 1918, two national officers and delegates from the chapters at George Washington University and Dickinson College “inspected” The Circle.

Pi Phi’s 1918 convention took place in Charlevoix, Michigan. It was to have taken place in 1917 and plans were well underway to celebrate the fraternity’s 50th birthday with a celebration, but the U.S. entry into World War I caused the plan to be cancelled at the last minute. 

May Lansfield Keller was Grand President from 1910-1918. She presided at that 1918 convention where on Tuesday, July 2, 1918 at the morning business meeting, the petition of The Circle of West Virginia University was presented and it was moved that a charter be granted to the group. The vote was unanimous. At the end of the business session, after her successor, Anna Lytle Tannahill was installed, Keller was given the title of Grand President Emerita. Although Keller was no longer a Grand Council member, she lived in Richmond, Virginia where she was Dean at Westhampton College. It made perfect sense for her to install the two eastern chapters authorized by the 1918 convention – Pennsylvania Delta at the University of Pittsburgh and the one at West Virginia University.

On September 21, 1918, The Circle became West Virginia Alpha of Pi Beta Phi. The installation took place at the home of faculty member Dr. Francis L. Strickland. His wife, the former Antoinette Louise Brown, was an initiate of the Gamma Phi Beta chapter at Syracuse University. Prior to coming to Morgantown, the Stricklands were in Indianola Iowa where Simpson College is located. Dr. Strickland was President of Simpson for several years and no doubt became acquainted with the women of Pi Beta Phi’s Iowa Beta chapter.

Mrs. Strickland hosted a luncheon and then turned over the large third floor of her home to the Pi Phis, and that is where the chapter was installed. Eighteen actives and two alumnae were initiated. Afterwards, the group headed to a banquet at the Hotel Madeira. The wives of faculty members and the chapter’s patronesses took the place of town Pi Phis, since there were none. Other NPC groups were represented including Kappa Kappa Gamma, Gamma Phi Beta, Chi Omega, and Alpha Xi Delta.

The charter active members of West Virginia Alpha of Pi Beta Phi

I loved being a part of the weekend’s festivities. One of the best things about being at a chapter anniversary celebration is seeing alumnae pick up conversations where they left off years and decades ago. Seeing them look at old composites and scrapbooks and reliving chapter memories is a precious experience. It was also great fun to meet a fan of this blog, Dr. Matthew Richardson, the Director of the Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life.

It is always fun to meet someone who reads this blog!

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Friday GLO History News and Notes

Posted on September 21, 2018 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

It’s Friday and here’s my collection of interesting items that came over my twitter (@GLOHistory) and facebook feeds.

Robert Vandal, a Worcester Polytechnic Institute security officer has been serving as the Sigma Pi chapter advisor and this summer he was honored for his service.

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I’ve written about my adventures as Pi Beta Phi’s Archivist and how wonderful it is to get treasures delivered to HQ. What a treasure this pocket watch is and I am glad it is now in Beta’s collection.

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I came across some television and movie related posts this week, so here they are.

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Two NPC women who like to drive fast cars have come on to my radar screen in the past few weeks. The first one is a Hillsdale Pi Phi alumna who was in the chapter at the same time as my friend Susan.

To read more about Krista Peden Williams

Collete Davis, an Embry-Riddle Theta Phi Alpha is featured in this new Kia Forte commercial.

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What is a Fraternity Pin Worth?

Posted on September 19, 2018 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

What is a fraternity pin worth? It depends. There are a whole host of factors that determine the worth of a GLO pin (badge/emblem/etc.). Most are intrinsic. The love of fraternity ideals, the seriousness of the promise made, the resolve to reflect the values of the oath and living the creed come into play. And then there is the value of the precious metals and gems that form the actual pin.

Recently in a rare cleaning spree, I found this little book in with a stack of interesting items clipped from magazines. I knew I had it – somewhere – but yesterday it came into my vision and I knew I would write about it. It’s something I refer to every time someone asks about fraternity pins for sale on the internet.

The pamphlet, about 3×5 inches was in the September 1, 1997 issue of Family Circle magazine. In 1995, eBay became a thing, but it took several years for it to catch on and once it did, it proved this little book wrong. Fraternity pins and other GLO items often can make the seller a pretty penny.

At any point, there are hundreds of fraternity and sorority badges for sale on the internet. A market was quickly created, fostered in part by the desire to keep the items out of the hands of non-members.

This is my current favorite for a myriad of reasons, but I could never even contemplate buying it. If I had that kind of money sitting around waiting to be spent on frivolous items, I would help endow a scholarship in the names of my two Pi Phi friends who recently passed away – Julie Geiger Mercer and MaryMargaret McDonough. Therefore, I must content myself with looking at this picture of the badge, which I date to the 1890s, when the enameled wings were a thing. Today, Pi Phi’s Grand Council badges have white enameled wings.

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What Happens When You Don’t Get Your First Choice Sorority

Posted on September 17, 2018 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Primary sorority recruitment is a mutual selection process. Potential New Members (PNMs) rank their choices based on the Preference Parties they attended and then the PNMs are matched up with the chapter that offers them a bid, based on where the PNM appears on the chapter’s ranked bid list. It sounds like a complicated process and it is. Sometimes the PNM doesn’t get her first choice. Sometimes this causes much angst for the PNM (and perhaps her mother). Some PNMs are fine with whatever chapter appears on their bid card, but a few women decide not to accept the bid they are given and drop out of recruitment. It’s not always easy and while the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence, adjusting dreams is a good lesson for the rest of one’s life. Blooming where one is planted is a skill which can come in handy throughout life. It’s all hard to explain to a 17 or 18-year-old who feels like she is the only one in the situation. All 26 NPC organizations are essentially the same, and one will have a similar experience in any of the groups. While our colors, badges, flowers, songs, etc. are all a little different, at the core, we believe in the same values.

This heartwarming story was posted by my Zeta Tau Alpha friend Gabbie Rimmaudo. For a time, she worked at Pi Beta Phi HQ and I loved that she would stop by the Archives when I was there. She loves fraternity history. I showed her the letter we have which was signed by Dr. May Agness Hopkins, who served as ZTA President. Her thoughts on getting her second choice chapter brought tears to my eyes and I told her so. I also told her that at that moment I was at Pi Phi’s Officer Workshop using a pen with Zeta’s letters on it because I love the teal color and it reminds me of her. I hope Gabbie’s story can resonate with some women who accepted bids to their second or third choice chapters. I hope they will embrace the opportunities that may be in their future.

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The Pi Phi Officers Workshop was just what the doctor ordered. To be among Pi Phi friends catching up on what is new in Pi Phi land is good for my heart. On Friday night I happened to be standing next to a new face and said hello. She said that her Kappa friend Kylie Smith told her to say hello to me. My new friend was a collegiate member of the Simpson College Pi Beta Phi chapter when Kylie was a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter there.

I had the opportunity to sit and chat with one of my very favorite Pi Phis, the incomparable Sis Mullis. I can’t believe my luck in hearing about her latest travel adventures and her reminding me of a very funny event that happened about two decades ago. She had me laughing at the memory of it wishing that cell phone cameras had  been around to document the unscripted moment when then Grand President Jo Ann Roderick began twirling a baton during Barbie Tootle’s presentation.

I also had the chance to share some time with my Pi Phi Leadership Institute co-facilitator. Having the opportunity to touch base with other long time friends as well as making new ones made the weekend one of the highlights of a very stressful summer.

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#myFraternity – Sharing the Impact of Brotherhood Done Right

Posted on September 12, 2018 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Today is #myFraternity Day. It’s an opportunity for fraternity men to share how fraternity membership has positively affected their lives, and it’s an opportunity to raise the volume on the positive impact of fraternity membership.

Go to twitter. Currently #myFraternity is trending, but you can search #myFraternity and spend a few minutes reading about the positive impact of fraternity.

Usually only incidents of fraternity gone wrong make the news. There are fraternity men on campuses across North America who are credits to their fraternity and who live their fraternity’s values on a daily basis. This appeared on one of the newsfeeds to which I subscribe.

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On the Wings of Eagles

Posted on September 10, 2018 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Congratulations, Miss New York, Nia Franklin, on being named Miss America 2019! Miss Louisiana 2018, Holli’ Conway, Delta Sigma Theta, Northwestern State University was the Second Runner Up. She along with Miss District of Columbia 2018, Allison Farris, Kappa Alpha Theta, University of Alabama; Miss Nebraska 2018, Jessica Shultis, Alpha Chi Omega, University of Nebraska – Lincoln; and Miss Oklahoma 2018, Ashley Thompson, Delta Delta Delta, University of Oklahoma made it to the Top 15. There were 20 sorority women competing.

Tomorrow is September 11. Please take a look at this post remembering the GLO members who perished. Please share it with collegiate members if possible. The current chapter members likely have no recollection of that horrible day. Some might have just been born when it happened.

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Last week the Carbondale community lost one of its brightest stars. Elizabeth “Liz” Schill passed away. She was a creative, caring and dedicated woman who made life richer for anyone with whom she interacted. She was a Delta Zeta and she spent decades working with the chapter at SIUC. If there was a job to do, she would do it gladly and she would do it well. She will be missed.

I also learned of the sudden death of Harold W. “Knap” Knapheide, III, President of The Knapheide Manufacturing Company of Quincy, Illinois. He was an alumnus of the Phi Delta Theta chapter at the University of Kansas. His wife Ann is a Delta Gamma alumna from the University of Colorado chapter. He and his family funded, through a gift to Monmouth College, the building of a chapter house for the Monmouth College chapter of Pi Beta Phi. The house was given by Knapheide and his sister, Vicki Knapheide Wood (Pi Beta Phi),  as a memorial to honor their mother Mary MacDill Knapheide. A funeral is being held this morning at the new Knapheide plant in Quincy.

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A Phi Delt, Three Phi Gams, and a Kappa Alpha Psi

Posted on September 7, 2018 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Burt Reynolds, an initiate of the Florida State University chapter of Phi Delta Theta has passed away at age 82.

Notice the crest on the tie.

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Vice President Mike Pence, a Phi Gamma Delta alumnus from Hanover College, made an unannounced visit to Plymouth Notch, Vermont, while he was traveling through the state. He toured the President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site and paid his respects at the grave of his Phi Gam brother Calvin Coolidge. Coolidge’s son, John, was also a Phi Gamma Delta. Father and son were initiated into Amherst College chapter. (Notice I did not mention Grace Coolidge’s membership in Pi Beta Phi.)

Photos courtesy of the Coolidge Foundation.

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This summer I learned about Albert R. Lee when Jessica Ballard, an archivist at the University of Illinois, presented a program at the Fraternity and Sorority Archivists Conference. Lee was hired in 1897 and he was the unofficial Dean of African-American Students at the University of Illinois for 52 years and worked for seven presidents. He was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi.

Last week a new headstone for Lee, his wife Maude Marie McCurdy Lee and his son, Albert M. Lee was dedicated. I could swear I saw a picture of local Kappa Alpha Psis in front of the stone, but I could not find it. 

An exhibit honoring his work opened at the University of Illinois Archives. 

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