Dartmouth College Greek organizations
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Alpha Chi Alpha
Alpha Chi Alpha is a fraternity at Dartmouth College, which is a member of the Ivy League. Alpha Chi Alpha is a member of Dartmouth's Greek system, which currently has fourteen fraternities, nine sororities and three co-ed undergraduate houses that fall under the umbrella of the Greek system. Dartmouth's Greek system is especially notable as it has produced such figures as Dr. Seuss '25, a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, and in more recent years Jeffrey R Immelt '73, a member of Phi Delta Alpha and current CEO of General Electric. Many associate Dartmouth's Greek system with the film Animal House, which was written by Chris Miller '62, whose experiences as a brother of Alpha Delta fraternity are rumored to be the basis for the script.
Alpha Chi Alpha (AXA) is referred to among Dartmouth students as simply Alpha Chi. The house which is located at 13 Webster Avenue on the Dartmouth College campus is a college-owned fraternity, meaning that the brothers do not own the land or house. This also means that Dartmouth College is paying for $1.3 Million in renovations (to be completed by Fall 2004), which includes the razing of the Barn structure that was used as social space by the brothers of Alpha Chi to make way for a new expanded basement and main floor area which will act as new social space for the fraternity.
Alpha Chi was originally affiliated with Alpha Chi Rho, a national fraternal organization, but the chapter broke away from the national group and became local to only Dartmouth in 1963 due to the fact that the national chapter had a "whites only" clause in its constitution at the time, with which the brothers at the Dartmouth chapter strongly disagreed. Alpha Chi Alpha has been in continual operation ever since.
The house is nicknamed the Magic Cottage and the Cheese Lodge by its members and has the unique location on fraternity row directly across from the Presidents House. The green-shingled structure includes a sand volleyball court adjacent to the house.
When the construction is completed in Fall 2004 the newest reincarnation of Alpha Chi Alpha will be able to house 24 brothers in rooms and host hundreds of guests for a 'Beach Party' that the brothers put on each Winter and also for a 'Pigstick BBQ' each Spring.
Alpha Theta
Alpha Theta, a coeducational fraternity, was founded at Dartmouth College in 1952. Alpha Theta is noteworthy for being both one of the first collegiate fraternities in the United States to break from its national organization as a result of civil rights issues, and one of the first all-male fraternities to admit female members.
Early history
Alpha Theta was founded on 3 March 1920 by a group of seven Dartmouth students, and in 1921 became the Alpha Theta chapter of Theta Chi, a national college fraternity. The Theta Chi national constitution contained a clause limiting membership in fraternity to "Caucasians" only.
John Sloan Dickey, later President of the College, joined the fraternity in 1928 and was elected house president only two weeks later, while still a pledge.
Break from the national
In 1951, while Dickey served as President of the College, the student body passed a resolution calling on all fraternities to eliminate racial discrimination from their constitutions. On 24 April 1952, the members of Alpha Theta voted unanimously to stop recognizing the racial clause in Theta Chi's constitution. Upon learning that the Dartmouth delegation to Theta Chi's national convention later that year planned to raise questions about the clause, the Alpha Theta chapter was derecognized by the national organization on 25 July 1952.
In September 1952, the house was reincorporated as a local fraternity and adopted the name Alpha Theta.
Going coeducational
In 1972, Dartmouth admitted the first class of female students and officially became coeducational. Alpha Theta also voted to become coeducational, becoming one of the first formerly-all-male fraternities in the United States to admit female sisters as well as male brothers into the membership.
Bones Gate
Bones Gate Fraternity was founded in 1901 as the Gamma Gamma Chapter of the Delta Tau Delta Fraternity. The fraternity remained a part of the Delta Tau Delta national until 1960 when the house seceded due to a disagreement over the acceptance of minority brothers (the national sought to bar the membership of minorities). The fraternity went unnamed until 1962 when the name was changed to Bones Gate after a tavern and boarding house in Chessington, England where a number of brothers spent most of their foreign study program. The house prides itself on its 100 year tradition of existence.
Currently Bones Gate is a fraternity of variety. They have many disparities, but are united by their love for their fraternity. No BG is easily classified, nor does the fraternity want to be thought of as a place for only one kind of person. Bones Gate maintains its commitment to be leaders on campus by setting an example for all to follow. The house prides itself on its thirst for never ending fun. This Gate hangs high and hinders none. Refresh, enjoy, and travel on.
Chi Gamma Epsilon
Chi Gamma Epsilon was founded in 1987, after breaking away from the national fraternity organization Kappa Sigma. Chi Gam, as it is more widely known, split from Kappa Sigma due to a difference over the amount of loans the national organization could offer the fraternity.
For a period Chi Gamma Epsilon was known as Kappa Sigma Gamma, but the national fraternity took offense to the likeness of the names. After a period simply being known by its address, 7 Webster Avenue, the fraternity came upon the name it is now known by. The Gamma Epsilon is included as the fraternity was officially the Gamma Epsilon chapter of Kappa Sigma. The Chi is original.
The first president of Chi Gamma Epsilon was David Weiser.
Chi Herot
Overview Chi Heorot is a fraternity at Dartmouth College. It sits on Dartmouth's main campus, just opposite the school gym, on East Wheelock Street. It has a brotherhood of approximately 66 Dartmouth students, with a roughly equal distribution of Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors. Like many of Dartmouth's other fraternitities, Chi Heorot, or Heorot as it is most often called, draws a good deal of its brotherhood from athletic teams. Most well represented at Heorot is the Mens' Hockey Team, while the Men's Cross-Country, Crew, and Skiing teams also make up a good deal of the brotherhood. History Chi Heorot has gone by several names over the years. It was founded in 1897 as Alpha Alpha Omega, and in 1902 it became Chi Phi, the oldest national fraternity in America. It was in 1903 that the fraternity moved to its present location, tearing down the building that had previously stood there and constructing the house that still stands today. By the mid-1900s, the Dartmouth chapter of Chi Phi was having some issues with its national charter. In 1968, the house finally disbanded from the National because they wished to integrate their house, and official Chi Phi policy was against admitting black members. It was then that the house became Chi Phi Heorot, but after several suspensions in the early eighties, it re-joined the national in 1982. This was short-lived; in 1985, because of damage done to the house that the national refused to pay for, Heorot again disbanded from the national and became school-owned, as it remains today. Its official name is now Chi Heorot, derived from the medieval poem Beowulf, where Heorot is the great hall where warriors converge to tell their stories.
Epsilon Kappa Theta
Epsilon Kappa Theta is a local sorority at Dartmouth College. It was founded in 1992, when the Epsilon Kappa colony of the Kappa Alpha Theta national sorority disaffiliated. The founding class of Epsilon Kappa Theta found the strict national rules and the primarily Christian readings and rituals of the organization to be antithetical to the spirit of feminism and inclusivity that the chapter maintained. The national organization was unhappy with the colony's decision to disobey these rules and failure to observe these rituals.
On May 4, 1992, Epsilon Kappa Theta notified Kappa Alpha Theta of its unanimous vote to disaffiliate and become a local sorority. The national organization revoked the charter of Epsilon Kappa.
Since then, Epsilon Kappa Theta has resided in a 108 year old Victorian house at 15 Webster Avenue. Its membership is over 100. The organization maintains communication with both its Epsilon Kappa Theta and Kappa Alpha Theta alumnae.
The Epsilon Kappa colony of Kappa Alpha Theta was founded at Dartmouth College in 1984 as part of the school's Committee to Organize a New Sorority. The Kappa Alpha Theta colony there established was the 100th colony of the national organization. This was the fourth sorority to be founded at the college.
Kappa Kappa Gamma
The Epsilon Chi chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma is a sorority located on 24 East Wheelock Street in Hanover, New Hampshire. This chapter is affiliated with Dartmouth Colleges Coed, Fraternity, and Sorority Administration (CFS). Kappa Kappa Gamma is a national women's fraternity with 131 chapters across the United States and Canada.
The Epsilon Chi chapter at Dartmouth presently consists of over 100 female undergraduates. In order to become a sister, women must wait until the winter or spring of their sophomore year to join. They undergo a traditional rush period in order to meet the sisters and learn about what KKG has to offer. Next, the women who are offered a bid and accept this bid spend one term as a pledge. During this time, the pledges interact with the sisters and participate in bonding activities. Each pledge is given a big sister who helps to guide them through the pledging process. At the end of the pledge term, each woman is initiated into the sorority.
<p> The sisters of KKG sponsor events for the campus, go on sister retreats, hold barbeques, and have formal and semi-formal dances. They have weekly meetings on Wednesdays in order to communicate news and issues about the house, to catch up on the weeks events, and to spend time with their fellow KKG sisters. Philanthropy is also an important part of the Epsilon Chi chapters activities. The sisters cook dinners on a regular basis for Davids House, an institution that supports and houses families of sick children at a local hospital. They also cook dinners and raise money for a teen pregnancy center, Hannah House.
Kappa Kappa Kappa
Kappa Kappa Kappa is a fraternal society founded in 1842. It is one of the oldest Greek Houses in the nation and the second fraternal society ever established at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. The fraternity is local to the college. Tri-Kap was originally founded as a reading society by three men, Philbrick, Hobart, and Nash. The pillars of the society include battling against the shams of aristocracy, promoting the interests of Democracy, and promoting the general interests of the college. Daniel Webster was made an honorary member of the society.
Currently, Kappa Kappa Kappa is best known on Dartmouth's campus as having an incredibly tight-knit and diverse brotherhood. The brothers come from a variety of socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. The symbols of the society are the pillar and shield. The organization has no affiliation with the Ku Klux Klan, which unfortunately shares the same initials, KKK, as Tri-Kap. Kappa Kappa Kappa sued the Ku Klux Klan for defamation of name. They lost the case in court because the judge ruled the similarity in initials of the organizations as sheer coincidence. In the mid 1990s, Tri-Kap attempted to change its name to Kappa Chi Kappa, but under extreme protest from the alumni, the organization abandoned the idea.
Phi Tau
Phi Tau is one of the three coeducational fraternities that can be found at Dartmouth College. What is a coeducational fraternity? Well it is a fraternity whose membership consists of both men and women (and everything in between) living together in a house of sin. Phi Tau's motto is "Unitas in Diversitate" which means Unity in Diversity and we definitely live up to this motto. Our house is full of people from all walks of life and we thrive on our differences. We have members from nearly every race, religion, and political position. We also have the newest house on campus that was built in 2002 which is the envy of every other greek house on campus. We live there, hang out there, play there, cook and/or eat there, and randomly nap on couches. It is more than just a house; it is our second home. I believe that there are 2 kinds of families; the ones you're born into and the ones you create for yourself. That is what Phi Tau is to all the brothers, a family where everyone looks out for each other and a place where you can always find a game of Settlers of Catan.
Psi Upsilon
Psi Upsilon Zeta Chapter was founded in 1842 as the first fraternity in Dartmouth College. Whereas Psi Upsilon chapters have faltered in various other Northeast liberal arts schools, the Zeta Chapter has thrived, partly because of its central location and partly because of its reputation as the "keg jumping fraternity," It also holds the reputation for having the school's toughest pledge term, over a grueling 8 weeks in the dead of winter. This is likely to change soon in the face of pressure from the Dartmouth administration and chapter trustees.
The most famous alumnus of Psi Upsilon Zeta Chapter was Vice President Nelson Rockefeller.
Sigma Nu
The Sigma Nu chapter at Dartmouth College was formed in 1907. It began in 1903 as the Pukwana Club, as a result of dissatisfaction regarding the perceived elitism of Greek organizations at the time. The eight founders of the Pukwana Club were Harry Chase 1904, Reggie Frost 1905, "Babe" Haskell 1905, Dick Messer 1905, John Dunlap 1905, Don Gates 1905, Charley Goodrich 1905 and Leon Smith 1905. The clubs concept was based on the love for the traditions of Dartmouth, faithful friendship, and honorable dealings.
In 1907 the Pukwana Club joined the national fraternity system after it received permission to become the Delta Beta chapter of Sigma Nu. The Sigma Nus Way of Honor principle was reflected in the Pukwana Clubs original charter so it seemed like the natural choice.
In 1911 the first house was purchased and refurbished to serve as the house of the fraternity. Known as the Green Castle it served as headquarters until the current house was built in 1925 at 12 Webster Ave.
In 1961, in response to the National Fraternitys membership policies the fraternity went local in 1961 becoming Sigma Nu Delta. In 1984 after the policies were changed, the fraternity became National again.
Sigma Nu's popular "Early 80s" party is continually one of the best attended events on campus during the big weekends.
Still going strong, the brothers continue the spirit of Love, Truth, and Honor to this day.
External links
- Sigma Nu National
- PSIU.org
- Chi Heorot's official website
- KKG National
- Greek Houses at Dartmouth
- Dartmouth's Inter-fraternity Council
- EKT Homepage
- Alumni Directory
- Kappa Kappa Kappa
- Alpha Theta
- Bones Gate
Categories: Wikipedia cleanup | Student fraternities