With a new academic year on the horizon, there is a lot going on in the world of fraternities and sororities. Recruitment is in full swing on some campuses and others are preparing for it.
The Circle of Sisterhood, that wonderful organization started by Ginny Carroll, Alpha Xi Delta, unveiled a new video. It’s worth the watch! http://youtu.be/tewkku1iJW4
Carolyn McFarland Hunter, Kappa Kappa Gamma, is a regular reader of this blog and I appreciate all the kindness she has shown me. Her husband Drew Hunter just finished up four years as Lambda Chi Alpha‘s Grand High Alpha (Board President). This tribute video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLXKz8-GbEc&feature=share) is a reflection of his dedication to Lambda Chi. It also could be repeated for nearly all the volunteers who serve GLOs across the country and Canada. The jobs are a labor of love and dedication to founding principles and ideals. They are not often easy jobs, the pay is nil, and the hours long. The paybacks, however, are immeasurable and make it all worthwhile.
Theta Xi is celebrating a big milestone at its convention in Troy, New York, where the Fraternity was founded 150 years ago. Happy 150th Theta Xi!
As a Beta Theta Pi mom twice over, I also need to note that Beta Theta Pi is celebrating its 175th anniversary with a convention at its founding home in Oxford, Ohio. My Beta sons are unable to attend, but I hope that someday they will get to Oxford and see the brick they each received last year as a Christmas gift.
Last night the Campanile at Miami Universty was lit in delicate shades of pink and blue, Beta’s colors.
The Campanile was presented as a Centennial gift of the Beta Theta Pi national fraternity, founded at Miami in 1839. The cornerstone was laid on November 10, 1940 and the tower dedicated on May 17, 1941. The bells, arriving in Oxford in July 1939, were temporarily hung in the east tower of old Harrison Hall, pending construction of the Beta Tower. Individually inscribed with the Greek letters Beta, Theta, Pi, and “1839-1939,” the four bells weigh 3,000, 1,200, 800, and 600 pounds and ring in the keys of E flat, A flat, B flat, and C respectively. They were first sounded August 8, 1939, on occasion of their presentation to the University at the Beta Theta Pi Centenary Convocation. They were moved to the Campanile during Spring vacation 1941, and sound the Westminster series on the quarter hour, the large bell striking the hour. (Picture and text from Miami University Library website)
Tau Kappa Epsilon recently opened its Heritage Center. The story behind it is a fun one and my hat is off to Robert E. Smith for his vision and dedication in bringing TKE’s history to life in the Heritage Center displays. To read more, see http://www.tke.org/news/2014/08/05/teketuesday__frater_dean_bob.
A display from the Tau Kappa Epsilon Heritage Center
(c) Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2014. All Rights Reserved. If you enjoyed this post, please sign up for updates. Also follow me on twitter @GLOHistory and Pinterest www.pinterest.com/glohistory/
