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

Posted on February 19, 2015 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

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 the only Fraternity (as far as I can tell) that can boast of a U.S. President who was an active member of two chapters and served as a delegate to the fraternity’s Grand Arch Council (Convention).

Woodrow Wilson became a member of Phi Kappa Psi in 1879 when he was initiated into the Virginia Alpha chapter at the University of Virginia. He was 23. He had already graduated from Princeton and was at UVA to study law. In 1883, he affiliated with the chapter at Johns Hopkins University.

The minute books from the Virginia Alpha chapter include mention of Wilson. On January 31, 1880 a successful motion was made to “subscribe $3.00 each to pay the expenses of Bro. Wilson, our delegate to Washington.” On February 28, 1880, it was noted in the minutes that “Bro. Wilson, delegate to the G.A.C. made a verbal report of his trip and was listened to with marked attention.”

Phi Kappa Psi’s Woodrow Wilson Leadership School, held in the odd, non Grand Arch Council year, is named in his honor. From 1902-10, Wilson served as President of Princeton University. In 1911, he became Governor of New Jersey. In 1913, he began his term of office as the 28th President of the United States. This year’s Woodrow Wilson Leadership School will take place in June at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.

To read The Shield article about Woodrow Wilson’s time in the Virginia Alpha chapter, see . To read last year’s post about Phi Psi’s unique headquarters, see http://wp.me/p20I1i-1s8.

Woodrow Wilson, Phi Kappa Psi

Woodrow Wilson, Phi Kappa Psi

***

February 19 is also Founders’ Day for  La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Incorporated, a fraternity for Latino students. It was founded at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York on February 19, 1982, by 11 undergraduate men, a faculty advisor, and a Cornell administrator. The majority of the founding members were in pre-med and engineering majors and they  had little free time to devote to creating a fraternity of their own. But create it they did; in the ensuing years, the fraternity has grown to more than 55 undergraduate chapters and more than a dozen alumni chapters. Happy Founders’ Day!

Lambda_Upsilon_Lambda_Crest

© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2015. 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/

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Minnie Freeman and the Schoolhouse Blizzard of 1888

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Can anyone in America today imagine not knowing that a big snowstorm was heading his/her way? With instant weather alerts, 24-hour cable and television stations, internet radar, smart phones, etc. the weather is hardly ever a surprise. 

Minnie Freeman (Penney) was an 1885 initiate of the Pi Beta Phi chapter at Methodist Episcopal College of York, Nebraska. I recently ran across this account of her heroic actions in an 1888 Arrow, and it reminded me that I’ve never told her story.

She was a 19 year-old Nebraska teaching in a sod schoolhouse about six miles south of Ord, Nebraska, in an area known as Mira Valley. During a sudden, fierce Nebraska blizzard on January 12, 1888, she saved the lives of 13 of her students by leading them from her schoolhouse to the nearest farm, a mile away. The temperatures, which had been  unseasonable warm when the students walked to school, had dropped substantially, the wind was ranging, and the snow was blinding.

More than 200 people on the Great Plains were killed by that storm called the “Schoolhouse Blizzard,” most of them children who couldn’t get home from school. In 1888, the Song of the Great Blizzard: Thirteen Were Saved or Nebraska’s Fearless Maid, was written in her honor by William Vincent.

Freeman was given a gold medal by the State Education Board, a wax bust of her was exhibited across the country, and she received more than 80 marriage proposals.

The account as it appears in the March 1888 Arrow:

A HEROINE,

The Omaha Herald calls for a medal of honor from the state of Nebraska for Minnie Freeman and THE ARROW seconds the motion. She teaches a school in the vicinity of Ord. When big blizzard of Friday last came along, it blew the door of the school- house off its hinges, and then lifted the roof from the walls. The brave school mistress tied her thirteen young charges together, took the smallest in her arms,

They were blinded and buffeted by the merciless north wind; they were tripped up by the drifts and blown down between times; but they struggled along together, and finally reached a sheltering roof, where the nearest patron of the school lived, to be welcomed from the very jaws of death. It was the pluck and level head of Minnie Freeman that saved those thirteen lives.

Minnie Freeman, Pi Beta Phi

Minnie Freeman, Pi Beta Phi

A poem about Minnie Freeman was written by Flora Lamson, an 1884 initiate of the same chapter. It also appeared it the March 1888 Arrow:

TO MINNIE FREEMAN,

‘When e’er a noble deed is wrought,
When e’er is spoken a noble thought,
Our hearts in glad surprise
To higher levels rise.’ Longfellow
 
‘the night and the storm fell together,
On prairie and woodland and lea;
And trembling, the mighty snow-tempest
Held out its cold hand toward the sea.
Like the quick, sharp flash of the lightning
The wind swept the streets and the shore;
It wrenched off the roofs and the chimneys;
It burst ‘gainst windows and doors.
Like a savage excited and frenzied,
It surged up the prairies and down;
It screamed the harsh cry of ‘Destruction!’
O’er cottage and hilltop and town. ‘
‘Twas a night when we all love our shelter
And dare not to venture abroad;
 
When the rider clings close to his charger.
And trusts in the mercy of God.
Oh, cruel and merciless blizzard!
We sons of the pioneer know,
Whenever unfriended we meet you,
That you are our bitterest foe!
You snatch off the forms of our darlings;
You bury them under the snow;
And only the days of the future
Your cruelty ever shall know.
 
But see! Far off in the whirlwind,
A school-house without roof we behold,
The children crouched closely together,
Mute with terror and anguish and cold,
While the fair, girlish form of the teacher
Looks out on the snow-clouds around her
And glances with fear at her fold.
Her sweet face with courage is lighted;
And, taking a wee child in her arms,
A chain of humanity is fastened.
And hastens to brave the alarms.
But look! look! the procession is stumbling.
While trembles the brave,  fragile girl;
They struggle ‘mid snow fierce and blinding,
While the merciless winds rise and whirl.
On, on through the storm the chain plunges.
With strength unaccustomed and might.
Till bright through the gloom and fierce storm-clouds
Gleams the home or the children at night.
 
Thank God that whatever the sadness
That seems to cover this world’s feeble sight.
He always provides a deliverer, and
sends us a sweet ray of light.
Let us praise His omnipotent mercy,
Coming down with the clouds from above,
And rescued our Minnie from ruin,
And made her an angel of love.
To Minnie. brave sister Minnie,
Our message of love we unfold;
And our hearts with gladness are throbbing,
As we point to the arrow of gold.
 

Blanche M. Burns, (English), another chapter sister of Minnie Freeman’s, wrote this letter to the Arrow:

We would be glad to add some tribute to the flood of praise that comes from all to our now distinguished sister, Minnie Freeman. Truly, the ‘tiny cord’ has been transform’ed, and is drawing to her and firmly binding many friends. We are proud to claim her as ‘Our Minnie,’ and wish for her that these ties may be strong enough to hold through all the ‘storms of life’ she has to face.

 egp.pe.013

© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2015. 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/

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

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

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

Chester Arthur, Psi Upsilon, Union College

Grover Cleveland, Sigma Chi, Honorary member

Benjamin Harrison, Phi Delta Theta, Miami University and Delta Chi, University of Michigan

William McKinley, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Mount Union College

Theodore Roosevelt, Delta Kappa Epsilon and Alpha Delta Phi, Harvard University

William Howard Taft, Psi Upsilon, Yale University

Woodrow Wilson, Phi Kappa Psi, University of Virginia

Calvin Coolidge, Phi Gamma Delta, Amherst College

Franklin D. Roosevelt, Alpha Delta Phi, Harvard University*

Harry S Truman, Lambda Chi Alpha and Alpha Delta Gamma, Honorary member

Dwight D. Eisenhower, Tau Epsilon Phi, Honorary member

John F. Kennedy, Phi Kappa Theta, Honorary member

Gerald R. Ford, Delta Kappa Epsilon, University of Michigan

Ronald Reagan, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Eureka College

George H.W. Bush, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Yale University

Bill Clinton, Phi Beta Sigma, Honorary member**

George W. Bush, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Yale University

For the list of Vice Presidents see http://wp.me/p20I1i-11G

For the list of First Ladies who are sorority women, see http://wp.me/P20I1i-l5

Thomas Jefferson was a member of the Flat Hat Club (F.H.C. Society), College of William and Mary The Flat Hat Club was founded at the College of William and Mary in 1750.  It is believed to be the precursor of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, which was established at the same institution in 1776. The modern F.H.C. Society was revived at the College of William and Mary in May, 1972. The Flat Hat is also the name of the college’s student newspaper.

* Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon at Harvard University, also known as the “Dickey Club.” However, the national organization did not recognize the chapter because of the chapter’s stance on dual membership.

** Bill Clinton became a member of Phi Beta Sigma in 2009, in his post White House years. He became a member of Alpha Phi Omega, a now co-ed service fraternity while at Georgetown University. It was an all-male fraternity when he joined as a college student.

***

Last night Saturday Night Live celebrated its 40 anniversary. I recall the show’s birth. How can it be 40 years already? 

During those early years, John Belushi portrayed Samurai Futaba in a series of sketches. There was one that we who watched the program in the Pi Beta Phi chapter house television room called “Samurai Frat Man.” It featured Buck Henry as a dean of college and Samurai Futaba. They realize they both belong to Phi Delta Watashi. In searching for it, I found the script and that wasn’t the title. Nonetheless, if you want to read the script see http://snltranscripts.jt.org/76/76vsamurai.phtml.

John Goodman

John Goodman

Actor John Goodman, shown above, grew up in the St. Louis area. He attended Southwest Missouri State University (Today it is Missouri State University) where he pledged Sigma Phi Epsilon. He was not initiated in college. As I recall, from my reading of my husband’s SigEp Journal, Goodman was initiated as an alumnus at about the time he hosted this episode of SNL. In the closing credits he is wearing a Sig Ep sweatshirt. At the 2011 SigEp Grand Chapter Conclave, Goodman was the recipient of Sig Ep’s Citation Award. 

In recalling that those early SNL episodes, I abruptly remembered that the NBC station in Syracuse would sign off the air soon after the show finished. The American and Canadian anthems were played and then there was nothing on the station until the next morning. Makes me feel 105! Yesterday, when I read tweets from the Canadian Greeks celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Canadian flag, “O Canada! Our home and native land!” came ringing in my head.

The Maple Leaf flag was inaugurated on February 15, 1965. Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, Delta Upsilon (University of Western Ontario), delivered on his campaign promise to seek a unifying flag for Canada. 

Flag_of_Canada.svg

© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2015. 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/

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The College of Wooster GLO Situation, February 13, 1913

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

On February 13, 1913, the fraternity and sorority system composed of national organizations at the College of Wooster ceased to exist. Some of the chapters were more than 30 years old. The list below is from the statement issued by the University of Wooster Alumni Inter Fraternity Committee. It is entitled: Giving Sequence of Recent Fraternity Events in Said University Prior to and in Connection with Resolution of Board of Trustees Prohibiting Further Initiations Passed February 13 1913. 

1866, University of Wooster, Wooster Ohio chartered

Sept. 7, 1870, University opened and formally dedicated

June 1871, Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, Ohio Gamma Chapter installed

May 12, 1872, Beta Theta Pi Fraternity, Alpha Lambda Chapter installed

Dec. 1872, Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, Ohio Delta Chapter installed

March 2, 1873, Sigma Chi Fraternity, Beta Chapter installed

June 1875, Kappa Alpha Theta Women’s Fraternity, Epsilon Chapter installed

May 15, 1876, Kappa Kappa Gamma Women’s Fraternity, Beta Gamma Chapter installed

1880, Delta Tau Delta Fraternity, Psi Chapter installed

May 26, 1882, Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity, Rho Deuteron installed

Dec. 20, 1888, Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity, Beta Mu Chapter installed

July 1907, Beta Theta Pi Fraternity Chapter purchases ground for its Chapter House in proximity to the University campus

Sept. 20, 1910, Pi Beta Phi Women’s Fraternity, Ohio Gamma Chapter installed

March 23 1912, Delta Delta Delta Women’s Fraternity, Delta Delta Chapter installed

June 1, 1912, Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, Ohio Delta Chapter installed

June 18, 1912, Phi Gamma Delta and Sigma Chi Fraternity Chapters purchase ground for Chapter Houses on site adjoining the campus upon Trustees Approval thereof

Feb 13, 1913, Trustees Resolution prohibiting further fraternity initiations

Postcard_of_Birds_Eye_View_of_The_College_of_Wooster_Campus_addressed_to_Agnes_E_Scott_recto

The Ohio Gamma chapter of Pi Beta Phi was chartered in 1910. At that time, the method of affiliating with the national organization included several inspection visits to a petitioning group. Once given the go-ahead to petition the convention body, the group was expected to prepare an elaborate petition, a book actually, which was sent to all other Pi Phi chapters and national officers. The book included supporting letters from administrators, faculty, local alumnae, and prominent townspeople. Although I have never seen the Ohio Gamma petition, I would bet that it includes a letter from the college president and Dean of Women endorsing the group. This report is from the April 1913 Arrow of Pi Beta Phi:

Early last fall President Holden mapped out a course for additional growth in the university involving an expenditure of one million dollars and immediately began his campaign for the money.

Mr. L. H. Severance, President of the Board of Trustees and a large donor to the school, was approached; he replied that he had reached the irrevocable decision that he would give no more to Wooster while fraternities remained because he was convinced that they are in their influence inimical to the best interests of the college.

The various chapters of men’s and women’s fraternities were requested ‘to surrender their charters and to discontinue their organizations in the university…for the sake of the larger good of the college.’ The fraternities did not accede to the request. The matter was then brought before a special meeting of the Board of Trustees, and after discussion the decision was postponed until the regular meeting on February 13. On that day the trustees met at one-thirty p.m. and after a session lasting until midnight adjourned, having decided by a vote of thirteen to ten to discontinue fraternities in the school. So strong was the feeling among the Trustees that three of them resigned, feeling that the university ideals had given way to considerations of policy and financial gain .

As no charge had been made against fraternities either at Wooster or in general, except Mr. Severance’s indefinite attack, it is impossible to believe that the decision was made on justifiable grounds. The Trustees naturally paid close attention to the opinion of their Dean of Women, who, though a fraternity woman herself. showed an unreasoning hatred toward fraternities.

Although the Trustees’ decision was not reached until midnight, even in that ‘lights-out-at-ten-thirty’ dormitory the girls were soon informed of the result in typical college fashion. Every college girl who has ever lived in a dormitory knows the sensation made by a group of college men counting off a score and chanting college songs; but instead of a score of a victorious game, this was the number of trustees voting on each side of the question, and the regular college songs were modified into Wooster dirges. Members of all four girls’ fraternities gathered in one room and decided upon a Pan-Hellenic meeting at once. In those wee small hours, pledging was set for seven-fifteen that morning, and before chapel Pi Beta Phi had pledged and initiated nine splendid members. These, with the old members of the chapter attended chapel at nine-thirty and heard the formal announcement that no chapter should initiate anyone that day or any day in the future. The entire student body heard this decree in absolute silence. Many expressions of sympathy by non-fraternity students proved the sincere good feeling existing among all students.

Kappa Alpha Theta and Kappa Kappa Gamma also initiated women before chapel exercises. For that transgression, the three groups had to turn in their charters immediately. The Dean of Women, Winona Hughes, was an alumna of the Wooster Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter. (An account of the situation appeared in the 1932 History of Kappa Kappa Gamma and it is available at http://wiki.kkg.org/pages/Beta_Gamma.)

Wooster’s Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter shortly before it was disbanded.

And while the college dismantled its fraternity and sorority system in anticipation of a million dollar donation from Severance, it never saw one dime of the promised money. Severance died suddenly on June 25, 1913 without a will. 

Another account of the situation is from a 1914 Palm of Alpha Tau Omega:

The Wooster chapter has surrendered its charter and Ohio Beta Mu is no more. When the Wooster authorities announced that, in order to secure the Severance endowment, the fraternities would be ousted from its campus, in common with the whole Greek world, we protested against the outrageous crime. However, undismayed by its impending doom, our chapter continued to perform its duties and functions, and retained its charter in the hope that the ban might yet be lifted. Shortly after the passage of the resolution abolishing fraternities Mr. Severance died. He left no will and had not entered into any legal obligation binding upon his heirs or estate. This circumstance afforded some basis of the hope for the eventual reinstatement of the fraternities. 

Consequently the chapter continued to maintain its existence, although unable, because of the trustees’ resolution, to recruit itself by initiations. But President Holden has stubbornly resisted every effort to obtain a repeal of the odious ruling. It would seem that the only reason for the rule having vanished the rule itself should be abrogated. The man who purchased the honor of the institution having died without paying the tainted thirty pieces, there was no earthly reason why the college should not retrieve itself. But there are and there have been no assurances for a repeal during this administration of the college. In the meantime the chapter was reduced to numbers so small that it could not longer properly and adequately perform its constitutional obligations.

A surrender of its charter was inevitable and with the advice and consent of the Worthy Grand Chief and the High Council that step was finally taken.

The groups which had once been part of a national organization, with national oversight, became local organizations. It appears that they continued to act as organized groups (sections and clubs are two of the names the groups took on). In the years since then, many have taken on Greek letter names.

© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2015. 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/

Posted in Alpha Tau Omega, Beta Theta Pi, College of Wooster, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Tau Delta, Fran Favorite, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Gamma Delta, Phi Kappa Psi, Pi Beta Phi, Sigma Chi, Sigma Phi Epsilon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The College of Wooster GLO Situation, February 13, 1913

The GLO Celebrity Apprentice Showdown Among Other Things

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Congratulations to Leeza Gibbons, who won the competition!!

It’s down to two competitors on Celebrity Apprentice. In the Season 14 finale, which will air on Monday February 16, 2015, Leeza Gibbons and Geraldo Rivera compete for the title. Gibbons became a member of Delta Delta Delta while she was a student at the University of South Carolina. Rivera, who graduated from my high school before I did, is a member of Tau Delta Phi.

Gibbons was the opening keynote speaker at the 2014 Tri Delta Convention held in Indianapolis. What a thrill it must have been for the collegians and alumnae to hear her speak! 

Leeza Gibbons speaking at the 2014 Tri Delta Convention.

Leeza Gibbons speaking at the 2014 Tri Delta Convention.

***

Pete Smithhisler, president and CEO of the North-American Interfraternity Conference, responded to an opinion which was published in Newsweek a week ago calling for the fraternity system to be dismantled at all colleges and universities. Smithhisler’s excellent response is at  http://www.newsweek.com/praise-frat-life-campus-305518.

“Haters gotta hate,” to usurp a popular meme, has been going on for as long as Greek-letter organization have been around. The post previous to this one is about George Ade, a Sigma Chi (http://wp.me/p20I1i-21y). I didn’t mention it in the post, but the Sigma Chi chapter at Purdue, the chapter to which Ade belonged, had won a court battle to establish the chapter at the university a short time before Ade became a member. To see the 1915 version of Smithhisler’s letter, written by a Delta Tau Delta, see  http://wp.me/p20I1i-1is.

***

On February 11, 2007, Sigma Sigma Sigma member Carrie Underwood won a Grammy Award for Not Ready to Make Nice.

Celebrating birthdays today are Sheryl Crow and Burt Reynolds.

At the University of Missouri, Sheryl Crow became a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, Sigma Alpha Iota, and Omicron Delta Kappa. Burt Reynolds became a member of Phi Delta Theta at Florida State University.

***

And this, from the facebook feed, just because. It has nothing to do with GLO life, but it does have to do with one of my favorite things, thank you notes. The note was written by another native Long Islander.  And it was written to a man, Michael Feinstein, whose music, radio show Song Travels (http://www.npr.org/series/150560513/song-travels), and television show (http://www.pbs.org/michael-feinsteins-american-songbook/)  I so enjoy. (I will not mention that I first saw Billy Joel perform at the Syracuse War Memorial during a snow storm or that I am impressed with his stationery.)

Michael Feinstein

Just received this! I love that Billy Joel takes the time to write a personal note – and not a text!

Just received this! I love that Billy Joel takes the time to write a personal note - and not a text!

 

© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2015. 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/

 

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Significant Sig George Ade, a Man Self-Made

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

On this day, February 9, in 1866, George Ade was born in Kentland, Indiana. When he graduated from high school, his father realized that George, one of his seven children, would not make a good farmer. George was encouraged to apply for one of the scholarships Newton County was offering to its residents in order to increase attendance at the state colleges. That year, Ade’s application was the only one from his county.  Ade was one of the 30 members of Purdue’s freshman class. He soon joined the Delta Delta chapter of Sigma Chi.

Sigma Chis George Ade (left) with John T. McCutcheon, circa 1894-1895

Sigma Chis George Ade (left) and John T. McCutcheon, circa 1894-1895

Another Purdue student, John T. McCutcheon, a talented cartoonist, became a Sigma Chi, too. The friendship of Ade and McCutcheon lasted their entire lives and their careers were intertwined. 

Ade’s academic career had its ups and downs and he later quipped that he was “at the top of my class … alphabetically.” Ade graduated in 1887.  Three years later, he was hired by the Chicago Morning News (it became the Chicago Record) where McCutcheon was working as a cartoonist. In July 1890, a freight steamer exploded in the Chicago River. Ade, the only reporter in the newsroom at the time, was sent to write about it. It was one of his big breaks.

The November 1892 Sigma Chi Quarterly included news about Ade’s career. Ade “was sent to New Orleans to portray the recent pugilistic contest (the 1892 Sullivan-Corbett fight) for the paper with which he is connected, the Chicago News Record. He also traveled through Indiana and wrote for the Record on the political outlook under the title Ariel. His latest mission was a political one to New York. Mr. Ade has been rapidly advanced since he entered Chicago journalism about two years ago the inevitable result of his faithful development of an inborn talent for bright clever original writing. Sigma Chi boasts some of the most brilliant men in American newspaper life and George Ade is one of them.” 

Ade’s stories about the 1893 Columbian Exposition lead to his writing a column, Stories of the Streets and of the Town, which gave a humorous glimpse of Chicago life. In addition to the column, he began writing books and plays and by the end of the century, he was a well-known humorist. In 1899, he left the Chicago paper and began syndicating his Fables in Slang column to papers across the country. He began writing for Broadway and his hits, in quick succession, included The Sultan of Sulu, Peggy from Paris, The County Chairman, The Sho-Gun, and The College Widow. Ade was the first playwright to have three plays running simultaneously on Broadway. He also wrote the scripts for silent films. Ade’s writing made him a rich man.

Ade was a devoted member of Sigma Chi. In 1909, he served as the 14th Grand Counsul, Sigma Chi’s top officer. Twenty years  later, he wrote The Sigma Chi Creed, “I believe in fairness, decency and good manners. I will endeavor to retain the spirit of youth. I will try to make my college, the Sigma Chi Fraternity, and my own chapter more honored by all men and women and more beloved and honestly respected by our own brothers. I say these words in all sincerity; That Sigma Chi has given me favor and distinction; that the bond of our fellowship is reciprocal, that I will endeavor to so build myself and so conduct myself that I will ever be a credit to our Fraternity.”

TheCreed

Ade was a dedicated Purdue alumnus and a proud Sigma Chi. His estate, Hazelden, in Brook, Indiana, was the site of many Sigma Chi picnics and social events. In 1935, Ade, along with John McCutcheon, were among the first to be named Significant Sigs. 

In 1912, he led the fundraising campaign to build a chapter house for his chapter. It was the first fraternity house at Purdue. At the time, it slept 18 men. Over the years, renovations expanded its capacity to about 70.  In 2007, the chapter house, which overlooks the Wabash River, underwent a $7,000,000+ renovation.

At the groundbreaking for the Purdue chapter house. George Ade with shovel.

At the 1912 groundbreaking for the Purdue chapter house. George Ade wields the shovel.

Ade served as a Trustee of Purdue University from 1909-16. He along with David Ross, helped fund the construction of Ross-Ade Stadium. He was an active member of Purdue’s Alumni Association. Ade died on May 16, 1944.

***

Over the weekend, two GLOs, alpha Kappa Delta Phi and Iota Nu Delta, celebrated birthdays. alpha Kappa Delta Phi (αΚΔΦ) is an Asian American interest sorority founded on February 7, 1990 at the University of California – Berkeley. Iota Nu Delta (ΙΝΔ), a South Asian interest fraternity, was founded on February 7, 1994 at SUNY – Binghamton (now Binghamton University).

© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2015. 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/

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Celebrating the Circle of Sisterhood on Go Red for Women Day®

Posted on February 6, 2015 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Last week, driving from southern Illinois to Indianapolis, I found myself about an hour ahead of schedule, so when I came upon the Greencastle exit, I took it. My quest was to get a glimpse of the DePauw University campus. In addition to it being the founding site of Kappa Alpha Theta and Alpha Chi Omega, one of Pi Beta Phi’s early chapters was located there, and Pi Phi’s third convention took place there in 1872. Given that the campus is about 15 minutes north of the highway exit, I knew I didn’t have time to get out of the car and wander around (one of my favorite activities on a campus). It was drizzling, too, and I had no desire to be wet and cold. One of the first buildings I saw was the Pi Phi chapter house. I was taken aback by the size of the fraternity and sorority houses. For the size of the campus, the houses are huge!

Why am I telling you this? I am not a fan of science fiction and I hardly ever think about how things would be if a critical event did not happen. But at DePauw, I found myself transported back to 1873 when there were three women’s fraternities there – Kappa Alpha Theta, founded in January 1870, I.C. Sorosis/Pi Beta Phi, founded at Monmouth College in 1867, and Kappa Kappa Gamma, founded in October 1870, also at Monmouth College. Women were admitted to Indiana Asbury College, as DePauw was known back then, in the late 1860s. Bettie Locke and Laura Beswick, founders of the Theta and Pi Phi chapters, respectively, were among the group of women first admitted to the college. In 1873, when there were three chapters of women’s fraternities there at DePauw, less than one percent of American women, whom we would consider of college age today (18-21), were enrolled in any form of higher education. Less than one percent!!! Do those young college women who live in those grand chapter houses realize that had they been born alongside Bettie Locke and Laura Beswick, they likely would not be in college?

For all intents and purposes, I am a first-generation American (my mother was born here, but her family was newly arrived from Italy; my father did not come to the U.S. until he was in his mid-20s). That is not something you’d know about me unless I told you. I kid my husband, whose grandmother, a Vassar alumna, was one of Yale University’s first female Ph.D.s in chemistry, that while his grandmother was on her grand tour of Europe, my grandmothers were barefoot and pregnant, one in Naples and the other in Sicily. How I made my way to college is a story in itself and I will not bore you with it. Suffice to say, a college education wasn’t expected of me, I had to fight for it.

Sorry it took me so long to get to the object of today’s post, the Circle of Sisterhood Foundation, a non-profit organization whose goal it is to use the collective power of millions of sorority women to help women around the world. I implore the women who wear badges to think about what their life would be like if they did not make it to college and did not have the opportunity to wear that badge. 

In November 2009, Ginny Carroll, an Alpha Xi Delta who has worked with Greek-letter organizations since her stint fresh out of college as a Alpha Xi Leadership Consultant, was watching an Oprah Winfrey interview. Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, authors of the book Half the Sky, were discussing their visits to poor countries around the world. They told of how women were victims of oppression and violence simply because they were women. Carroll felt compelled to do something. She discussed it with some of her friends who were sorority women. Within five months, the Circle of Sisterhood became reality and five months after that, the IRS granted it 501(c)3 status.

photo (70)

In their book, Kristof and WuDunn noted that, “One study after another has shown that educating girls is one of the most effective ways to fight poverty. Schooling is often a precondition for girls and women to stand up against injustice, and for women to be integrated into the economy. Until women are numerate and literate, it is difficult for them to start businesses or contribute meaningfully to their economies” (page 168).

The Circle of Sisterhood Foundation’s mission is to “to uplift girls and women from poverty and oppression through education.” To date, it has invested in the education of women and children in impoverished areas around the globe including Tanzania, Zambia, Ethiopia and the highlands of Peru. More than 170 College Panhellenics have been engaged in raising funds for the Circle of Sisterhood. Twelve Alumnae Panhellenics have also contributed. Two schools have been built, one in Senegal and another in Nicaragua. Girls and women in 18 countries and on four continents have been supported.

In four short years, the Circle of Sisterhood has done great things and it is just the beginning. By coming together and linking arms, sorority women (and fraternity men, too!) have the opportunity to change the world. For more information about the Circle of Sisterhood Foundation, visit www.circleofsisterhood.org. Please consider making a donation. 

Alpha Xi Delta Consultants, 1985. Second from left is Ginny Carroll, Circle of Sisterhood founder.

Alpha Xi Delta Consultants, 1985. Second from the right is Ginny Carroll, Circle of Sisterhood founder. (Photo courtesy of Alpha Xi Delta)

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The first Friday in February is the day chosen as Go Red for Women Day®, sponsored by the American Heart Association. Alpha Phi chapters are encouraged to promote awareness of women’s heart disease during February’s Cardiac Care Month and Go Red for Women Day as part of the fraternity’s philanthropic efforts. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and other sororities also support the American Heart Associaton’s efforts. For more information on Go Red for Women Day see https://www.goredforwomen.org/ornament
 (Sorry, but I keep seeing “gored for women” instead of “go red for women.” I suspect the day was named before the website was set up.) For more information about Alpha Phi’s heart related activities, see http://foundation.alphaphi.org/Home.

© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2015. 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/

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Harper Lee, Thornton Wilder, Thurmon Munson et al.

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Harper Lee, Chi Omega, author of the Pulitzer Prize winning To Kill a Mockingbird, announced the publication of her second book, Go Set a Watchman.  She finished the book in the mid-1950s and it has the same characters and is set in Maycomb, Alabama, the same fictional town as her first book. In the soon to be released novel, Jean Louise Finch, otherwise known as “Scout,” visits her aging father making it a sort of sequel to her first book.

From my Chi Omega Archivist Friend, Lyn Harris' facebook page Lyn Harris July 23, 2014 50 YRS AGO... Wonder whatever happened to that 2nd book, Harper Lee?

From my Chi Omega Archivist Friend, Lyn Harris’ facebook page dated July 23, 2014,
“50 YRS AGO… Wonder whatever happened to that 2nd book, Harper Lee?”

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Roberta Buffett Elliott, a Kappa Kappa Gamma, recently made a $100 million dollar gift to her alma mater, Northwestern University. Elliott, sister of Warren Buffett (Alpha Sigma Phi) is also a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Her gift is the largest single gift in the university’s history.

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On February 4, 1938, Thornton Wilder’s Our Town opened on Broadway. Wilder, an Alpha Delta Phi at Yale University, won the 1938 Pulitzer Prize for his play set in the fictional town of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire. Wilder wrote the play while residing at the MacDowell Colony near Peterborough, New Hampshire. Grover’s Corners is based upon Peterborough. The MacDowell Colony is one of Alpha Chi Omega’s philanthropies (see  http://wp.me/p20I1i-oM).

Thornton Wilder at Yale University

Thornton Wilder at Yale University

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On February 2, 1942, Clinton A. Pierce, Kappa Sigma, became the first U.S. General wounded in action in World War II. He and his men were involved in the Battle of Bataan. He was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal. In 1945, Brigadier General Pierce was named Kappa Sigma’s Man of the Year. He was initiated into the chapter at the University of Illinois.

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Congratulations to Olympians Meryl Davis and Charlie White who were among the winners of the 35th Thurmon Munson Awards. Munson, Delta Upsilon, a baseball catcher, spent his entire 11-year MLB career playing for the New York Yankees. He won Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards. Munson died in a plane crash on August 2, 1979. 

Hoda Kotb

Hoda Kotb (left) and Meryl Davis (second from the right) are Delta Delta Delta sisters.

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Born on February 4 – former Vice President Dan Quayle and the late civil rights legend Rosa Parks, an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. 

Quayle, a Delta Kappa Epsilon, will return to his alma mater, DePauw University, on March 31,2015  to deliver a Timothy and Sharon Ubben Lecture.  

© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2015. 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/

Posted in Alpha Delta Phi, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Alpha Sigma Phi, Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Upsilon, DePauw University, Fran Favorite, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Kappa Sigma, Northwestern University, Notable Fraternity Women, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, Yale University | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Harper Lee, Thornton Wilder, Thurmon Munson et al.

The First American Graduate School? Johns Hopkins University

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

It’s February and all over the country, college seniors are thinking about their plans after graduation. Grad school will be the default for many of them. Do those young people realize that there was a time when going to graduate school would have necessitated crossing the Atlantic on an ocean liner? For a first-hand account of what life was like for a woman pursuing a doctorate in a German university in the early 1900s, see http://wp.me/p20I1i-nN.

The model for graduate education was developed in Germany in the nineteenth century.  The first and second generation of American scholars were trained in German universities including Berlin, Gottingen, and Heidelberg. The influence and prestige of such universities was without equal even when compared to Oxford and Cambridge in England, and the University of Paris in France.

Events following World War I took their toll on German universities. The fragility of the Weimar Republic, stark economic realities, and the rise of anti-Semitism weakened the German universities. Later, the Second World War and the political partition of Germany ended the advantage they once held.

Johns Hopkins

Johns Hopkins

Johns Hopkins, a wealthy Baltimore capitalist, used his fortune to create the Johns Hopkins University which was organized in 1874. The institution opened its doors in 1875 under the Presidency of Daniel Coit Gilman. Gilman, who was previously President of the University of California – Berkeley, was attracted to the challenge of creating a new institution.

Gilman

Daniel Coit Gilman, as a student at Yale University, became a member of Alpha Delta Phi and the Skull and Bones Society. In 1856, he also co-founded the Russell Trust Association, the legal business identity of Skull and Bones.

Gilman sought to create the first American university which emphasized research and graduate education. He systematically gathered an outstanding group of faculty who soon developed an institution of high quality.

Johns Hopkins University emphasized the research seminar, the use of laboratories for supervised experimentation, the support of field-based research, an academic press, and the development of a research library. Academic journals were also to be an important part of the enterprise and Hopkins faculty became the editors of such journals as:  The American Journal of Mathematics (1878); The American Chemical Journal (1879); and The American Journal of Philology (1880).

The success of Hopkins was not lost upon other American colleges. Harvard soon embarked upon an ambitious program of graduate education as did Yale, Columbia, and Princeton. Newly endowed private universities, such as Stanford and Chicago, also emulated the Hopkins plan.

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I am a day late for anniversary greetings to two Greek-letter organizations. On February 1, 1929, six young men of Chinese descent founded Pi Alpha Phi  at the University of California – Berkeley, signed the fraternity’s Constitution in both English and Chinese. The fraternity’s founders are D. Wing Tom, Elmer Leong, Chack Chan, Tim Jang, George Lee, and Wing Chan, the only founder to be born in China. The second chapter of Pi Alpha Phi was founded at Stony Brook University (formerly SUNY – Stony Brook) in 1990.

Early Pi Alpha Phi members

Early Pi Alpha Phi members

On February 1, 1994, Alpha Phi Gamma, an Asian-interest sorority was founded at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Its founders are Allex Choi, Candy Cunanan, Christine Nguyen, Sandie Rillera, Kolleen Kim, Grace Hsieh, and Jennifer Oku. In 1999, a second chapter was established at Northern Illinois University.

A crest

Alpha Phi Gamma crest

© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2015. 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/

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“Slipped the Surly Bonds of Earth” – Apollo 1, Challenger, Columbia and Their GLO Astronauts

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded after take off. Nineteen years earlier, on January 27, 1967, Apollo 1 was involved in a training accident which killed the three astronauts on board. And on February 1, 2003, the crew of the Columbia was killed.

Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Edward H. White II, and Roger B. Chafee were killed in the Apollo 1 cabin fire. White was a member of Phi Kappa Sigma.

Edward H. White, II, Phi Kappa

Edward H. White, II, Phi Kappa Sigma

Lost in the Challenger explosion were: S. Christa McAuliffe, a schoolteacher who was taking part in an innovative program to put teachers into space; Gregory Jarvis; Judith Resnick; Francis R. “Dick” Scobee; Ronald E. McNair; Mike J. Smith; and Ellison S. Onizuka. McNair was a member of Omega Phi Psi. 

Ronald

Ronald McNair, Omega Psi Phi

Onizuka belonged to Triangle Fraternity.

Ellison S. Onizuka, Triangle Fraternity

Ellison S. Onizuka, Triangle Fraternity

Resnick, the second woman in space, was the first American astronaut to be a member of a National Panhellenic Conference organization. Resnick, an Alpha Epsilon Phi from the Carnegie Mellon University chapter, was also the first Jewish-American in space.  Alpha Epsilon Phi’s Foundation established the Judith Resnick Memorial Scholarship as a tribute to her. Preference is given to members who are pursuing engineering, science or other related degrees. The sorority also presented a portrait of Resnick to her alma mater, Carnegie Mellon University.

Judith Resnick

Judith Resnick. Alpha Epsilon Phi

The seven astronauts killed in the Columbia explosion on February 1, 2003, were: Michael Anderson; David Brown; Ilan Ramon; Rick Husband, Willie McCool; Kalpana Chawla; and Laurel Clark.  

Clark became a member of Gamma Phi Beta while she was a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. There is a display of her NASA memorabilia on display in the Sorority’s International Headquarters Museum in Centennial, Colorado.. In 2004, the Gamma Phi Beta Foundation established the Laurel Salton Blair Clark MD Memorial Leadership Endowment which  funds Gamma Phi Beta’s LeaderShape Institute, regional leadership conferences, collegiate consultant training and International Convention education programs.

Laurel and her son Sam wrote an article for Scholastic News.

Laurel Clark, Gamma Phi Beta, and her son Iain wrote an article for Scholastic News.

President Ronald Reagan, Tau Kappa Epsilon, was to have delivered the State of the Union address the night of the Challenger explosion. Instead, he gave a tribute to the astronauts. It ended with, “The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and ‘slipped the surly bonds of Earth’ to ‘touch the face of God.'” The phrases in quotes are of the last sentence are from a poem High Flight by John Gillespie Magee, Jr., an aviator killed in a 1941 plane crash.

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Robert Overmyer, Alpha Tau Omega (Baldwin-Wallace), flew on both Challenger and Columbia missions. He died on March 22, 1996 testing an experimental airplane.

Robert Overmyer, Alpha Tau Omega

Robert Overmyer, Alpha Tau Omega

© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2015. 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/

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