Tag Archives: Amherst College

Silent Cal, My Favorite Phi Gamma Delta, on Its Founders’ Day

Calvin Coolidge is my favorite Phi Gamma Delta, hands down. It is my feeling the press did not understand the Vermont zeitgeist of the 30th President, but that is neither here nor there because it is Fiji’s Founders’ Day. On … Continue reading

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U.S. Presidents and Fraternity Men – First Ladies and Sorority Women

Ever wonder which Presidents belonged to fraternities? Or which First Ladies were in women’s fraternities/sororities? Or which Presidential offspring belong to these organizations?  National Panhellenic Conference women who have served as First Lady Lucy B. Hayes, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Ohio … Continue reading

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

Burt Reynolds, an initiate of the Florida State University chapter of Phi Delta Theta has passed away at age 82. *** Vice President Mike Pence, a Phi Gamma Delta alumnus from Hanover College, made an unannounced visit to Plymouth Notch, … Continue reading

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Sometimes You Can Go Home Again and a Happy Founders’ Day Phi Gamma Delta

I spent Friday and Saturday in Monmouth, Illinois, where Pi Beta Phi was founded on April 28, 1867. I was able to stand in the very room where the organization came to life 150 years ago and I shared that … Continue reading

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Calvin Coolidge and Kappa Alpha Psi Share January 5th

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

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Chi Psi, the Lodge in Ann Arbor, and the Two Clarence Birdseyes

On May 20, 1841, Chi Psi was founded at Union College in Schenectady, New York. It was the fifth fraternity founded at Union College. Its founders are Philip Spencer, Robert Heyward McFaddin, Jacob Henry Farrell, John Brush Jr., Samuel Titus Taber, … Continue reading

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Phi Gamma Delta + Calvin and John Coolidge = Fiji Sires and Sons

Phi Gamma Delta was founded on May 1, 1848. John Templeton McCarty, Samuel Beatty Wilson, James Elliott, Daniel Webster Crofts, Ellis Bailey Gregg and Naaman Fletcher – the Immortal Six – were students at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, when they founded … Continue reading

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

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

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“When He (Calvin Coolidge, Jr.) Died, the Power and the Glory of the Presidency Went With Him,”

On June 30, 1924, the day that the above photograph was taken, Calvin Coolidge, Jr. and his older brother John played tennis on the White House court. Calvin Jr. wore tennis shoes, but not socks. Afterwards, he developed a blister … Continue reading

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Happy Birthday Calvin Coolidge, a President (and FIJI) Born on the 4th of July!

John Calvin Coolidge, Jr., the 30th President of the United States, was born on July 4, 1872 in Plymouth Notch, Vermont. He attended Amherst College in Massachusetts where he became a member of Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI). After graduation, while … Continue reading

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