THE BUILDER MARCH 1925
American College Fraternities

By BRO. CARL A. Foss,

NATIONAL SECRETARY OF THE INTERCOLLEGIATE MASONIC FRATERNITY OF
SQUARE AND COMPASS, NEW YORK

THIS article, to be concluded next month, should prove of permanent
reference value, it is so rich in history and fact. Bro. Foss is a
member of Alexandria Lodge, No. 297 Alexandria Bay, N.Y., and of
Rockbridge Chapter, No. 44, R. A. M., Lexington, Va. He was one of
the founders of Square and Compass, is now National Secretary of
that Fraternity and editor of "The College Mason." Among other
college fraterizities he holds membership in Phi Delta Theta, Phi
Delta Phi (legal), and Delta Sigma Rho (forensic).

WHEN, on the 24th day of June in the year of our Lord, 1717, a
number of Master Masons met in an ale-house in London, known by its
sign of the Goose and Gridiron, and completed the organization of
a Grand Lodge of Freemasons which they had begun the year previous,
they started something whereof the end is not yet seen. Without
entering into a discussion as to whether their step was a new
beginning or a re-organization of a Grand Lodge, it safely may be
assumed that this action of the English Masons was the popular
beginning of what is now one of the most extensive features of
civilized human society, especially in our own country. The
inauguration of Symbolic Freemasonry is not only the beginning of
a fraternal system of ethical principles and conduct, with a
world-wide membership, but has led also to the foundation of other
organizations that have copied, to a greater or less extent, the
fundamental teachings of Freemasonry and many of the characteristic
forms and practices of the Craft. The number of such organizations
is almost incalculable and new ones are being started every year.
Imitation is the sincerest commendation.

It is said that Americans are a nation of joiners. We doubt whether
Americans are born with any greater urge to become members of
secret or fraternal organizations than are the citizens of any
other country or the members of any other race. It is probable that
the large number of such organizations in the United states is due
to the early popularity of the Masonic Order in America. When
Washington and almost all of his major generals were Masons, when
Franklin, Hamilton and Marshall and a majority of the signers of
the Declaration of Independence were loyal members of the Craft, in
short, when practically every man of consequence in the early days
of the American Republic wore the lambskin, it is not to be
wondered that men were eager to be enrolled in the Brotherhood.
Neither is it to be wondered that other fraternities were started
which sometimes provided a means of social intercourse that was not
possible to Freemasonry under some conditions and in some
localities and that these newer organizations received, in many
cases, those who also bore allegiance to the Craft. Some of the
newer fraternities, because they were young and less conservative,
have often times accepted those rejected by some Blue Lodge, but no
reproach should be made against them for this. There have been for
many years in this country certain fraternities that have had and
do have a particular appeal to certain classes of American people
and, of course, many American social organizations have been
founded with different motives and principles with a consequent
appeal to those in sympathy with such ideas. The fraternal
organizations, offering the benefits of insurance, have combined
the benefits of a social organization with the advantages of an
insurance company, but in the case of some of these it is sometimes
difficult to recognize the jointure as the insurance features
predominate over those of a social character.

DEMOCRACY ACCOUNTS FOR THEIR GROWTH

Events have proven that the Anti-Masonic period was less of a
catastrophe than it was an occasion of an awakening interest in
secret societies, for new organizations sprang up by the dozen
during this period and closely following it.

We believe that the principal reason for the growth in number and
membership of American fraternal organizations has been the
democracy of membership. Probably no country in the world, with the
possible exception of Canada, has a greater democracy in fraternal
membership than the United States. This democracy has been
inherited from the Freemasonry of Revolutionary days when a Masonic
lodge included judges and farmers, generals and private soldiers,
statesmen and fishermen. Freemasonry in England today includes the
king's uncle and the king's sons and we suppose half of the House
of Lords, and it may include the king's servants for all we know,
but we doubt if the Craft in England is composed of such a mixture
of wealth and influence and lack of them as in America. This may be
caused, to some extent, by the English practice of limiting the
membership of a lodge to members of a particular calling or
business, and we may presume that in the natural course of events
more lodges will be made up of the wealthier and more influential
classes than of those less able, in wealth and influence, to
maintain a lodge. In America we have few "class" lodges and may the
good Lord preserve us from them for democracy in membership has
been the natural result of almost every lodge in the United States
being made up of rich and poor, professional man and laborer,
doctor, lawyer and Indian chief. We have such a multitude of
fraternal organizations in America, in consequence of the democracy
and early popularity of membership in the Masonic Order, that there
isn't an American, no matter how poor, who cannot belong to at
least one. This is a good thing.

In the United States we have the Owls and the Orioles, the Eagles
and the Elks, the Woodmen and the Foresters, the Knights of
Columbus and the Knights of Pythias (we were going to write the
Knights of the Ku Klux Klan), and hundreds of other organizations
called by plain names, names of animals, birds, insects, fish, the
moon and the stars. And to keep up the procession we Masons have
the Royal Arch, the Knights Templar, the Scottish Rite, the Mystic
Shrine, the Veiled Prophets, the Sciots, the Tall Cedars, the
Eastern Star and its appendages, and numerous other Side Degrees
with more imposing names but less actual worth. And then our Negro
citizens have carefully compiled a list of the entire bunch and
multiplied the number by two, using the same names and, generally,
the same rituals used by the organizations limited to members of
the white race, adding a few more organizations of their own
devising for good measure.

And, finally, not the least important members of the fraternity
system, there are the college fraternities. Baird's Manual of
American College Fraternities (10th edition) mentions almost one
thousand college organizations, either clubs or fraternities, that
have been born in the United States and have since departed or else
are still in the land of the living. Decidedly, one would think we
had sufficient organizations from which one could select at least
one to make a connection with. The number of American secret
organizations has reached an imposing figure, but the saving
characteristic of their existence is that about 99 and 44/100ths
per cent of Americans belong to at least one of them. Some of our
most careful politicians belong to at least a dozen all at the same
time.

"WELL KNOWN MEN ARE JOINERS"

To convince one that there are mighty few Americans who do not
belong to some secret organization, we have only to investigate.
President Coolidge did not join any fraternity while in college,
but has since become a member of Theta Delta Phi, a college law
fraternity. Secretary Hughes is a member of Delta Upsilon, a
college social fraternity. Neither Mr. Coolidge nor Mr. Hughes are
Masons, but it is not difficult to assume their friendliness
towards secret fraternal organizations because of their own
membership. Both Mr. J. W. Davis and Senator LaFollette are Masons.
Henry Ford was a Mason in good standing some time ago, if he is not
now, and the leader of what Mr. Ford considers his enemies -- Mr.
J. P. Morgan of Wall Street--joined one or more secret fraternal
organizations in college. Those who have received the honor of
election to Phi Beta Kappa, the college honor society for
scholarship, are legion and you will see a Phi Be Kappa key
jingling in all of the best circles. The Roman Catholic church
countenances a number secret fraternal organizations and there are
a numb of fraternities limited to those of the Jewish faith. to
Newport, Bar Harbor or Southampton and you w find most of the men
there will acknowledge membership in some secret fraternal
organization, college otherwise. And then, while the old Ford is
running good, run into some less desirable places for living an ask
the men you see there if they ever heard of a secret society. Even
down to the lowest stratum of American society, your informant will
reply that he goes, or ought to go, to lodge every Monday night or
as the case may be. Almost everyone, from banker to ditch digger,
will acknowledge membership in one or more of the secret societies
that offer social or other benefits Because of this fact, an
anti-secret society period, such as that of the Anti-Masonic
agitation, will not recur in America; no one is left to become the
plaintiff in the case. (This is neither the time nor place for a
discussion of the merits, or lack of them, of the agitatior against
the Ku Klux Klan. In the matter of practice: and principles, that
society has made such startling in novations that its enemies are
fighting less its character as a secret fraternity than the
innovations it has adopted.)

But we meant to write about college fraternities. To most men who
have never gone to college, these organizations are more than
secret; they are unknown. An yet, the American college fraternity
system is a very vital part of the entire American fraternal system
an not simply an adjunct of more or less value. There may be those
who believe that Freemasonry would be stronger if there were no
other American fraternities if so, they are blind indeed. In the
opinion of the writer there is no factor that lends such great
strength to the Masonic Order as the existence of our America
college fraternities. To some this statement may appear to be
unsupported by the evidence, but we believe that acquaintance with
college secret societies leads thousands of the future leaders in
America to become Masons as soon as they are eligible. Anyone who
wishes may read the evidence in favor of the college men. The
Federal government tells us that less than one per cent of American
boys go to college and yet eighty-five per cent of the men listed
in "Who's Who" are college men. The facts of the case are all with
the college man and as long as Freemasonry keeps pace with, or
exceeds the progress of our country, the Craft will need college
men.

THEY ARE INDEBTED TO FREEMASONRY

American college fraternities owe a great deal to Freemasonry. Some
of the customs of college fraternities that are known to us are
copied directly from Masonic practice and are probably the result
of some of the founders of the oldest fraternities being also
Master Masons. In the case of Phi Gamma Delta, founded in 1848 at
Jefferson College, Canonsburg, Pa. (since united with Washington
College at Washington, Pa., to become Washington and Jefferson
College), and now one of the largest and best known of the college
societies, all of the five founders were, at the time of founding
the fraternity and writing its ritual, members of the Craft. It is
not unlikely that were we Phi Gams we might recognize many points
of similarity in ritual and practice between Freemasonry and the
college fraternity. However, notwithstanding this connection of the
college fraternity system with Freemasonry, there is one point of
difference that is universal in the college system with the
exception of the organization of which the writer has the honor to
be a member and an officer. This difference is in the method of
becoming a member. As is well known, to become a Mason we first
apply for membership. In the college system, if one wishes to
become a member of a certain fraternity he simply waits until he is
asked to join. College custom is so severe that if one were to
intimate to a member that t he wished to join Alpha Beta Gamma, for
instance, he probably never would be asked to join that particular
organization, for, strange as it may seem, visible preference for
an organization is viewed in the light of a faux pas so pronounced
that the guilty person cannot possibly be worthy for membership in
that society. This form of invitation to join is known in college
circles as "bidding" and we know of no college organization other
than Square and Compass that does not practice it. Square and
Compass practices the Masonic custom of application for membership.

This custom of "bidding" produces a great deal of excitement in
college fraternal circles at the time it is practiced. Some
institutions require a student to be in college a whole year before
he is invited to join a fraternity; others require a less period,
either a term or a semester. Whenever the time comes, the members
of the different fraternities are zealous in their efforts to
obtain the best men for their respective societies. Rules are
adopted for the same reason that we have Marquis of Queensberry
rules and International Law governing the methods of so-called
civilized warfare. And then it is considered significant by some
that the rules are generally drawn up and enforced by a council
(nearly always called the Pan-Hellenic Council, meaning, all Greek)
known to the students by a name that would appear to outsiders as
having the significance of a group made up of the damned. A
prominent freshman will generally receive two or more "bids" and so
he will be invited to numerous luncheons and parties, so far as the
purse-strings of the "bidders" will allow, in order to induce him
to believe that one fraternity is better than another. He will be
told that some President of the United States, long since dead and
almost forgotten by everyone except the chosen orators of that
fraternity, was a faithful member of the society and thought more
of it than anything else in the world. And then there are Senators
So-and-So and other celebrities seeking to convince the young
freshman that the greatest mistake he could possibly make would be
to accept the other "bid" and not the one from that fraternity. Old
and learned professors indulge in this persuasion. A dear friend,
professor of philosophy at one of the state universities, has told
us he always felt more or less foolish when he sat down with some
green freshman to try and convince him there was just one
fraternity for him to join when he knew there were a dozen along
the row in which the freshman would probably be just as happy.
After a "bid" is once accepted, it is the height of college
dishonor to accept a "bid" and initiation from another fraternity.

PHI BETA KAPPA IS OLDEST

But to get back to the beginning of the college fraternity system.
The oldest American college fraternity that exists today is the Phi
Beta Kappa, founded on Dec. 5, 1776, at Williamsburg, Va., by five
students of the College of William and Mary. The society was
preceded by the Flat Hat Club which numbered among its members
Thos. Jefferson, George Wythe, Edmund Randolph and others who later
became famous. A number of these men were Masons but whether they
were Masons before becoming members of the Flat Hat Club, or
whether any of the founders of Phi Beta Kappa were Masons is
unknown to us. We are not certain why the founders of Phi Beta
Kappa selected the Greek alphabet from which to find a name, but
the fact that they did so has resulted in American college
fraternities being called Greek-letter fraternities, for most of
the college organizations have followed the practice of Phi Beta
Kappa. It is customary for the founders of a college society to
select a secret motto made up of two or three Greek words and call
the society by a name composed of the first letter of each word, or
this can be reversed by finding a motto that will fit the letters
chosen. (To one unfamiliar with the Greek alphabet it should be
explained that the Greek words used are simply the English forms
for words used by the Greeks to represent the letters of their
alphabet, i. e., A, B and C in Greek are Alpha, Beta and Gamma.
Although there are many points of similarity, the Greek and English
alphabets are not identical in limit, meaning, sound and writing.
Ancient, not modern, Greek is used.) Phi Beta Kappa was secret and
members were required to take an oath of fidelity. In December,
1778, the society adopted a provision where by non-collegians could
become members and plans were laid for extending the fraternity by
means of "branches." Five charters were granted for "branches" but
nothing is known of the fate of these offshoots.

In the early part of 1779 Elisha Parmele, a graduate of Harvard,
was initiated and he asked for permission to establish a "branch"
at Harvard and another at Yale, near where he lived. In November,
1780, Mr. Parmele's efforts resulted in a chapter being established
at Yale College. The Yale chapter called itself "Alpha of
Connecticut" instead of "Zeta" as contemplated. In January, 1781,
Phi Beta Kappa at Williamsburg disbanded on account of the approach
of the British Army and in September of the same year the "Alpha of
Massachusetts Bay" was established at Harvard.

The original charters had granted to Yale and Harvard the right to
establish new chapters in their respective states, while the mother
chapter reserved the right to establish chapters in other states.
However, in 1787, because of the lapse of the chapter at William
and Mary, the Yale and Harvard chapters united in establishing a
chapter at Dartmouth, called the "Alpha of New Hampshire." In 1817,
the three chapters in existence united in chartering "Alpha of New
York" at Union College, Schenectady, N. Y., and the establishment
of Phi Beta Kappa at Union furnished the spark that began the
inauguration of social fraternities which later took place at this
institution.

One last word as to Phi Beta Kappa. In 1831 the Harvard chapter
divulged the secrets of the society due to the agitation against
Freemasonry and other secret societies. As a result, the fraternity
lost its social character and there grew up the practice of meeting
once each year at commencement and electing the honor men (in
scholarship) of the succeeding senior class. Women were first
admitted in 1875 and now have equal standing in the society with
men and with its long and illustrious career, election to Phi Beta
Kappa is easily the highest award in the American college world.
(To Be Concluded.)

THE BUILDER

I built my house on the Sands of Time
A house that I built to stay-
But the tide came in--as the tide will come,
And it washed the sands away.
Then my house fell down, as a house will fall,
And hope went out with the tide
But I built again, as a man will build,
If he be a man of pride.

Then came the storm with the fierce whirlwind
And my house was wrecked again.
And I stood and looked at my labor lost,
And it all seemed so in vain.
But I built again in another place--
Where the storm and the tide came not,
And I felt safe in my new strong house--
But one thing I forgot.

It was the flames with their red-hot tongues,
That came in the still of night,
And they ate it up--as the flames will eat,
Though I strove with all my might.
And again I looked at the house that was,
Then knew it was not to be,
For a well built house won't fall three times,
When built for eternity.

Now why should I build a house three times,
And why should it three times fall?
Were it better I built a house that falls
Than never to build at all?
Then came a thought from the Great Somewhere,
I had not followed the rules,
For a well built house won't fall three times
When built with the Master's Tools.

So I built again with the Master's Tools
The Level, the Plumb and the Square
Each ashlar hewn from the Rock of Faith
Was polished and laid with care;
And the plans I used were the Plans of Life
And my house it faced the sun
Now I dwell therein as a man should dwell
When the Craftsman's work's well done.
--Bro. Herbert N. Farrar.
