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Fraternity Lifewhich partly answered the question what a fraternity is and how it works.
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Fraternity LifeTodd Shelton | 6/19/2003
Fraternity is a uniquely American institution. While comparable student organizations exist abroad, the college fraternity in the United States has grown up as a response to real needs among students in American institutions of higher education.In the past, on campuses all over the country, thousands of young men, many of them fresh out of high school, joined college fraternities. Many of these new members, happy with their choice of fraternity, enjoyed their time of active membership. Few of them paused, even for a moment, to examine the true reason for adopting the badge of a particular Greek-letter organization, much less to ask themselves why they pledged at all.
This generation is different. Many young men are still joining fraternities, but most are more thoughtful, more deliberate, more inclined to reject the cliches. They are less guided by the herd instinct, less enamored of the prospect of four undergraduate years of fraternal hell-raising, and more anxious to ���do their own thing.��� They disdain the image of the beer-guzzling, utterly irresponsible ���frat-man.��� For many of them, joining a fraternity represents an act of faith.
���Why should I join a college fraternity?��� is a question often heard on today���s campus. This is a legitimate question, and deserves thoughtful, honest answers.
A college fraternity exists on the premise that man is by nature a social being and wants to associate with his fellow man. He cannot associate equally with all of them, or even many of them, but he may enjoy close relationships with some of them. A fraternity provides structure, an environment in which intimate friendships can flourish and lead to true brotherhood.
Members are drawn together by shared goals and common experiences. It is also more likely than not that a young man will find in a fraternity friends whose interests and backgrounds are different from his own. Learning to live in close relationships with members of a group is a thoroughly valuable experience. Social action requires organization, and fraternities are effective promoters of group activity because of their organization.
Fraternity is a uniquely American institution. While comparable student organizations exist abroad, the college fraternity in the United States has grown up as a response to real needs among students in American institutions of higher education. Students created them, and they will survive as long as they serve the needs of undergraduates. A college fraternity, not unlike any other worthwhile human institution, encourages its members to make a commitment to something outside themselves, to something larger than themselves. In a fraternity, commitment is directed, in part, to the programs of the organization, to the things the group does as a whole, but mostly it is a commitment to people - to friends.
As students make their commitment to others, a fraternity provides a structure within which this commitment can be carried out. Their dedication may be formalized in rituals of orientation and initiation, as well as during a renewal of these vows in formal meetings from week to week. Today���s society tends to label ritual as an outdated carry-over of ���nineteenth-century hocus pocus,��� however a ritual that is well done and seriously approached makes a profound impact upon those who participate in it.
Ritual is but one way of expressing a fraternity���s ideals and aspirations. Closely associated with ritual is symbolism. Whether the student is ready to concede the point or not, we all live by symbols. Although it is true that some symbols have lost their meaning and are irrelevant to man in his present-day world, many symbols persist as graphic reminders of a man���s commitments in life. A fraternity���s name, badge, coat of arms, songs and publications, whether local or national, are symbolic and can have great value if a member is willing to permit his life to be touched by them.
Fraternities make possible a unique experience in living. The fraternity member knows that there are many things that only individuals can do, things for which no organization of people is necessary or even desirable. He knows too, however, that there are many worthwhile enterprises - on and off the college campus - that can best be accomplished by groups of people working together. Such cooperative effort is a hallmark of fraternity living.
Fraternities provide abundant opportunities for self-development. Upon examination, members of the same fraternity may prove to be remarkably diverse in tastes and talents, in thought and behavior. It is indeed advantageous to the fraternity as a whole, if members are encouraged to exercise their talents, and make their personal unique contributions, to ���do their own thing.��� Each of them can find ways to empower the chapter and to develop his own potential as a member of the group. Members are afforded an opportunity to give of themselves in their own way. That is the road to self-realization. Moreover, a fraternity is a structured organization so opportunities for leadership are many.
From a fraternity the member can learn much that complements the instruction he receives in the classroom. In addition to encouraging good scholarship, a fraternity helps the member understand more about human relations and about himself. The lessons learned in this laboratory of social education can serve a man for a lifetime.
After all has been said and done, in the context of a meaningful and manageable group relationship, friendship and brotherhood are what fraternity is all about. It should come as no surprise to anyone that fraternity���s remarkable capacity to foster the creation of enduring friendships is the chief reason for its existence and the best assurance for its survival.
The Greek Movement
Unique among the educational institutions of the world, American college fraternities are as old as the nation itself. They arose in response to a need for close personal relationships among students, and they have provided an opportunity for supplemental education beyond the formal curriculum of college.
In the early days, university studies centered around Greek and Latin. Electives were unknown, and the classics, rather than current events, dominated the classroom discussions. It was a trying time for a teenager - having been sent to college by parents to acquire discipline as much as learning. Dress and deportment were strictly defined, travel was difficult and athletic and social events were few.
It was indeed all work and little play. But students, then as now, found a way when there was a need. The need was to be able to enjoy the friendships and camaraderie that makes life bearable and to learn those things that cannot be taught in the classroom. In Williamsburg, Va., in 1750, a small group of students from The College of William and Mary began to meet on a regular basis. Eventually, they called themselves the Flat Hat Club. These students did not know it, but they had organized the first college fraternity. Many great men of the time, including Thomas Jefferson, were part of this organization. Lasting 22 years, it dissolved in 1772.
Good things are soon copied, but old habits are hard to break. Other groups appeared at William and Mary but they were social only to a limited extent. They were concerned with faculty approval and that meant being more like literary societies: meeting to debate or critique compositions or staging oratorical contests. Evidence of this can be found in many of their names: Ciceronian, Calliopian and Philopeuthion.
The Impetus - Phi Beta Kappa
One of these intellectual societies rejected the membership of a student who was a superior Greek scholar. That student, John Heath, selected three Greek letters for a name, gathered four friends and on December 5, 1776, held the first meeting of Phi Beta Kappa. In doing so, he organized the first Greek letter society or fraternity.
Today���s fraternities cannot only trace their roots to Phi Beta Kappa, but also some of their traditions. The reason that a ���secrecy��� exists in and among fraternities can be attributed to the founding of Phi Beta Kappa. The William and Mary faculty did not approve of its students discussing the pressing issues of the day, such as freedom and taxation, so Phi Beta Kappa developed secret signals of challenge and recognition for their meetings which were held in the Raleigh Tavern���s Apollo Room. A secret grip, motto, ritual and badge were used by Phi Beta Kappa and later adopted by subsequent Greek letter fraternities.
Phi Beta Kappa felt that other campuses would share its idea that higher education should also prepare a student for his future social responsibilities. In 1780, the Alpha of Connecticut was started at Yale, and in 1781, the Alpha of Massachusetts was founded at Harvard, with more to follow. As time went on, Phi Beta Kappa became purely intellectual in its aims, though the original cardinal principals were ���literature, morality and friendship.���
During the anti-secret society movement of the 1830���s, Phi Beta Kappa realized that they no longer needed to hide from short-sighted administrators and thus voluntarily revealed that its name meant ���Philosophy, the Guide (or Helmsman) of Life.��� Since that time it has been strictly an honorary organization and today recognizes undergraduate men and women who show superior academic achievement on more than 250 American campuses.
Growth of the System
In 1812, four Phi Beta Kappa men at the University of North Carolina organized Kappa Alpha (which is now known as the old K.A., or Kuklos Adelphon of the Southern States) which expanded in informal fashion to more than 20 college campuses and townships throughout the South. It would later dissolve during the American Civil War. This organization is not related to our Kappa Alpha Order.
The American college fraternity, as we know it today, came into being in 1825, when Kappa Alpha Society (not to be confused with either the old K.A. or our Kappa Alpha Order) was formed at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. On campus, the decline of a military marching club left a void in student life, so a group of students, including several members of Phi Beta Kappa, organized the new organization. Unlike Phi Beta Kappa, their intent was social rather than literary. Kappa Alpha Society enjoys the distinction of being the first Greek letter general college fraternity with continuous existence to date.
Due to its secrecy, many opposed Kappa Alpha Society. But there were some who admired the organization and wished to proliferate the concept. Thus, the fraternities of Sigma Phi and Delta Phi were born in 1827. Together these three fraternities are known as the Union Triad. Eventually, students founded three other fraternities, which is why Union College is recognized today as the ���Mother of Fraternities.���
A few years later Sigma Phi founded a second chapter at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. Following Sigma Phi���s lead, a few Hamilton students founded another Greek letter society Alpha Delta Phi, in 1832. Fraternities were now on the move. One year later, Alpha Delta Phi established its second chapter west of the Allegheny Mountains at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. This was a major step for the fraternity movement because this chapter served as the springboard for the founding of three other national fraternities.
John R. Knox was a prominent member of Miami University���s literary society which, at that time, was in a ���bitter dispute��� with Alpha Delta Phi. Even so, he admired the organization and the spirit of its members, but he imagined a society of ���good without the ingredient of evil.��� In 1839 he founded Beta Theta Pi, the first fraternity founded in the ���West��� and the first member of what was to become known as the Miami Triad.
The university���s administration was highly suspicious of fraternities, so both Alpha Delta Phi and Beta Theta Pi existed in secret. In 1847, members of both organizations participated in a student revolt called the ���snow-rebellion.��� This involved heaping great quantities of snow in the entrances of the college buildings, thus preventing the faculty from entering the classrooms for two days. All the members of Alpha Delta Phi and all but two members of Beta Theta Pi were expelled. Both fraternities went inactive until 1852. In 1848, Phi Delta Theta was founded to fill the void, and in 1855 Sigma Chi was formed. The Miami Triad was now complete.
Fraternity expansion continued at various campuses until the American Civil War erupted. Only one fraternity, Theta Xi, was established during the war. It was formed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. Even though the war ended fraternity expansion, fraternity bonds accounted for many prisoners being exchanged or given better treatment.
The first fraternity to be established after hostilities ceased was Alpha Tau Omega, which was founded at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington, Va., in September 1865. On December 21 of that same year, our Kappa Alpha Order was born at Washington College, now Washington and Lee University (W&L) in Lexington (the university is geographically situated directly beside VMI). In 1869, Sigma Nu was founded at VMI, thus rounding out the Lexington Triad. One other fraternity, Kappa Sigma Kappa, was founded in Lexington, but it only lived a short life. However, it was later resurrected and, in 1962, it merged with Theta Xi.
At the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Kappa Sigma and Pi Kappa Alpha were established. These groups, along with the members of the Lexington Triad, are known as the Virginia Circle.
Finding Our Niche
In the early days, most educational institutions existed primarily to prepare young men for the learned professions. Emphasis was placed on the classical studies, especially Greek and Latin. When fraternities came along, it was natural for them to draw on those teachings. Literary exercises were a common part of all chapter meetings, where the presentation of essays and debates were customary. At first, meetings were held in rented rooms, but soon the chapters acquired halls which they furnished as club rooms. Eventually, chapter houses became common sights on college campuses.
As more and more men began to enter college, the curriculum expanded and many colleges became universities. New institutions, along with the private and state-supported institutions, grew to fill the need for mass education.
Those organizations which lacked sufficient leadership soon passed out of existence; those which had it, expanded at a rapid rate. The 20th century began with the realization of the importance of fraternity and interfraternal endeavors. However, the growth enjoyed by the institutions and the fraternities didn���t mean that fraternities were unstoppable. In fact, it was and it continues to be a ���roller-coaster��� ride for fraternities. There was a brief lull in growth during World War I and then, just when numbers started to rise, the Great Depression caused many national fraternities to fold or merge with another in the 1930s.
During the 1940s, World War II caused many fraternity chapters to close. In some cases, entire chapters were drafted or volunteered and many of their houses were used by the government for military housing. The end of the fraternity system was feared by many and predicted by some.
However, the storage of ritualistic equipment did not mean the end of fraternal spirit. Brothers met on battlefields, in faraway camps and on ships at sea. They recognized each other by badges, rings, insignia or in the exchange of experiences ���back in the states.���
When peace prevailed, men flocked back to campus to resume their studies and fraternity life as well. Matured by the war, they had a serious approach toward academics, an impatience with juvenile hazing practices, and an openness to social change. The growth of the huge, impersonal education complex resulted in an increased need for fraternities and their personal contact and relationships within a smaller group. The cycle of growth began again and the ���golden age��� of fraternity was in full-swing.
The late 1960s and early 1970s was a period of ���do your own thing��� in America and students challenged all that was traditional. Fraternities, highly visible and identifiable, were considered to be part of the ���establishment��� and not germane to the era.
In fact, membership began to decline and many chapters folded in the early 1970s. However, the Greek system responded - adopting national philanthropies, encouraging civic involvement and taking measures against alcohol and drug abuse. Students again responded by recognizing fraternities as a means for personal development and achievement. As a result, fraternities once again began to flourish. Today, there are more than 650,000 undergraduates belonging to more than 11,000 chapters of 96 national fraternities and sororities.
The Greek Community
The American college fraternity system began when much of America was a wilderness. Over the years, it has kept pace with the economic and spiritual growth of the American people. It has survived world wars, economic upheaval and ���counter-cultures.��� It has had its good times and bad times, and it has come to stay. It has positively affected countless numbers of men and women. Thousands of friendships and families have developed because of the Greek system.
As mentioned previously, America���s higher education complex has expanded at a rapid rate, and fraternities and sororities have grown right along with them. The Greek system, which is only comprised of social fraternities and sororities, is just one part of the overall Greek community. The Greek community is comprised of social, academic and professional societies along with administrators, campus and national organizations. Just as national fraternities developed infrastructures to assist their chapters, colleges and universities developed their own infrastructure to work with the various organizations that exist on their campuses. Greek-wide organizations also developed to assist the entire Greek system or community on an interfraternal level.
Since Kappa Alpha Order is part of this community, it is important to learn about these various groups, administrators, organizations and the terminology used when discussing Greek affairs.
It���s All Greek
Fraternities have drawn heavily upon the Greek language for terminology in their designations for national organizations, individual chapters, offices, publications and other special programs.
Because Greek letters are prominently used, the term ���Greek��� is commonly applied to members of all general college fraternities and sororities. However, a number of fraternities, such as Farmhouse, Triangle and Acacia, do not use Greek letters for their names, and other groups use Greek letters in their names but are not based on Grecian principles.
Adding to the peculiarity of the fraternity language is the fact that a few Greek letters, particularly Xi and Phi, have several pronunciations. After a consonant, they are pronounced ���z-eye��� and ���f-eye.��� After a vowel the pronunciation changes to ���z-ee��� and ���f-ee.��� For example, Alpha Xi Delta is pronounced, ���Alpha Z-ee Delta,��� and Theta Xi is pronounced ���Theta Z-eye.��� (A complete glossary of Greek terms can be found in the appendix.)
It should also be noted that when referring to a group, the phrase, ���the house��� refers to the chapter���s home (the physical structure), while ���the chapter��� refers to the membership (the people) as a group.
Nicknames
Almost every Greek group has one or more nicknames for itself and its members. For example, a member of Kappa Alpha Order is known as a ���KA��� while a member of Delta Chi is known as a ���D-Chi.��� Some others that have shown variety in their names are: Beta Theta Pi, where members are known as ���Betas;��� Tau Kappa Epsilon, where members are known as ���Tekes;��� Phi Delta Theta���s members are known as ���Phi Delts;��� and Phi Gamma Delta, which is sometimes called ���Fiji,��� members are called ���Fijis.���
Women���s Organizations
In the mid-1800s, colleges and universities began to admit women in large numbers. Following their desire to affiliate in a social nature, young women on various campuses began to organize themselves into groups patterned after the men���s fraternities.
There are two firsts among women���s groups. The first sisterhood was founded in 1851 as the Adelphean Society in Macon, Ga. at Wesleyan College. In 1904, this society changed its name to Alpha Delta Pi. However, Kappa Alpha Theta was the first national women���s fraternity to be founded using Greek letters. This group began in 1870, at Indiana���s DePauw University.
In the beginning, the women���s groups were called fraternities because the word ���sorority��� did not exist. In 1884, when Gamma Phi Beta was founded, the word ���sorority��� was coined by a professor of Latin who thought the word ���fraternity��� was ill-advised for a group of young women. So, Gamma Phi Beta may properly be credited with the honor of giving the word ���sorority��� to the English language.
Due to the fact that men���s organizations and fraternities had been around for many years, the founders of women���s groups would often enlist the aid of a brother or friend, who had a fraternal experience, to assist them in founding their organization. Such was the case with the founding of Zeta Tau Alpha in 1898. Founded at Longwood College in Farmville, Va., Zeta Tau Alpha relied heavily on the brother of one of its founder���s to help them. Plummer Jones, an 1893 initiate of KA���s Alpha Zeta chapter at the College of William and Mary assisted his sister, Maud Jones, and her friends in forming Zeta Tau Alpha. Plummer was the author of the sorority���s first pledge ceremony, their constitution, by-laws and ritual. Today, he is remembered and honored nationally by the sisters of Zeta Tau Alpha.
Other Greek Letter Societies
Not all fraternities and sororities are social in nature. Hundreds of other specialized collegiate Greek letter organizations exist as honor societies, professional fraternities and recognition societies. These organizations do not compete with the social fraternities and sororities (such as Kappa Alpha Order or Alpha Delta Pi) for membership. Any student, whether a member of another Greek letter organization or not, has the opportunity for membership in these other societies as long as he or she meets their respective qualifications.
Honor societies, such as Order of Omega, Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa, recognize students that have shown exemplary achievement in leadership, scholastics or character. A professional fraternity is a specialized society that limits membership to a single vocation or professional field. Examples of professional societies are: Delta Sigma Pi - business, Phi Delta Phi - law, and Phi Chi - medicine. A recognition or departmental society confers membership in honor of a student���s interest or achievement in a restrictive field of study or interest. Examples include: Alpha Phi Omega - service, Pi Delta Phi - French, and Beta Beta Beta - chemistry.
All of these groups admit men and women and initiate members of social Greek letter societies.
African-American Organizations
Another group of Greek letter societies that exist on college and university campuses are those that are ���historically��� comprised of African-Americans.
The African-American Greek letter movement commenced in 1906 with the founding of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at Cornell University. Two years later the first African-American sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, was formed at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Over the next 14 years, six other organizations sprung to life to fill the needs of African-American students. Each of these eight organizations, four fraternities and four sororities, was formed when African-Americans were being denied essential rights and services afforded to the other students.
These groups are social fraternities and sororities in nature, but on the campuses where they exist, they form their own Greek systems and may not part of local Interfraternity or Panhellenic Councils.
