The University of Illinois is 150 years old today. It was on February 28, 1867 that Governor Richard J. Oglesby signed the Griggs Bill. The Illinois Industrial University, as it was then known, received its charter. 1867 was a very good year! A few months later, about 157 miles northwest of Champaign, another organization near and dear to my heart was founded at Monmouth College. I worked on compiling a 150 year time line of Pi Beta Phi’s history and I know first-hand that it is not an easy task.
I went to the timeline celebrating 150 years of the University’s existence (http://150.illinois.edu/) and was disappointed to find absolutely no mention of the University’s place in the Greek-letter world. Delta Tau Delta, the first fraternity at the University was founded in 1872. It was followed by a Sigma Chi chapter in 1881. Both chapters faced serious anti-fraternity sentiment. The Delta Tau Delta chapter was short-lived. The Sigma Chi chapter’s first decade was difficult and the chapter was sub-rosa for a time and faltered. Things changed when Dr. Thomas Jonathan Burrill became president in 1891. The anti-fraternity laws were rescinded a few months later. Sigma Chi came back to life.
The 1890s ushered in an era of GLO expansion. The first women’s organizations, Kappa Alpha Theta and Pi Beta Phi were installed within days of each other in the fall of 1895. The Kappa Alpha Theta charter from the chapter at Illinois Wesleyan was transferred to the University of Illinois. The Pi Phis had to wait for the Grand President to travel to Champaign from Galesburg, Illinois.
By 1920, the campus had more than 30 men’s fraternities and about a dozen National Panhellenic Conference sororities. Moreover, nothing was mentioned in the timeline about Thomas Arkle Clark, who is recognized as the nation’s first Dean of Men. Clark was a charter member of the Alpha Tau Omega chapter. During Clark’s tenure he founded the honorary, Phi Eta Sigma. Maria Leonard, the Dean of Women and a Pi Beta Phi, founded the honorary organization Alpha Lambda Delta. None of these facts were highlighted in the timeline. The only mention of organizations with Greek-letter names included in the timeline were those about chapters of professional fraternities. The lack of mention of Phi Eta Sigma and Alpha Lambda Delta seemed quite odd to me, considering both were founded on campus.
Thomas Arkle Clark (Courtesy of the University of Illinois)
Maria Leonard
It was fun, however, to note the Kappa key on the picture in the information about Katharine Lucinda Sharp, the pioneering librarian. She also served as Kappa Kappa Gamma’s Grand President.
Alta Gwinn Saunders, the first woman to teach in the University of Illinois’ College of Business and then later the first woman to head a university department of Business English, was given a nod in the timeline. She was also a dedicated member of Delta Gamma. She edited The Anchora of Delta Gamma. She lost her life in a plane crash on the way to the Delta Gamma convention in Swampscott, Massachusetts.
In 1964, Sybil Mobley became the first woman of color to earn a Ph.D. at the University of Illinois. She was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Moreover, the center of the Greek-letter organization research world is located at the University of Illinois. The Student Life and Culture Archives is a vital resource for those who study GLOs. The collection of GLO magazines, histories, and collections of items relating to the organizations is astounding.
A banner in the University of Illinois Student Life and Culture Archives.
I know that it is difficult to condense 150 years of history into a manageable timeline. It would have been wonderful to see the timeline reflect the position that the University of Illinois has in fraternity and sorority life. Homecoming, the tradition of alumni returning to campus in the fall, on a day when the football team plays a big rival, had its start in 1910. The first effort was championed by two fraternity men, with cooperation from the GLOs. News of the event was spread in the chapter reports of the University of Illinois GLO chapters which appeared in the GLO magazines. The idea spread like wildfire, boosted in large part by cooperation from the fraternities and sororities.
As disappointed as I was about the lack of recognition for the fraternity and sorority system in the history of the University of Illinois, I offer my sincere congratulations on the University’s 150th anniversary. I enjoy visiting the campus and doing research at the Student Life and Culture Archives. Truth be told, it reminds me of my Alma Mater, with fewer hills and less snow (http://wp.me/s20I1i-9360). Happy 150th Illini friends!
© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2017. 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/
