Opposite Sex Members
 

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I don't think so. Unless some one makes their sweethearts pledge. That would suck.

I know there was one national fraternity that initiated a woman who had volunteered for them for years and years. Unfortunately, I can't remember which one it was.

There were also some individual chapters of fraternities that tried going co-ed in the 70s. I'm not sure if they were sanctioned by their nationals or not. I do now that they have pretty much all reverted to single-sex.

I was always curious to know what happened if a member got a sex change!

My university's chapter of Phi Gamma Delta went under in the 1980s because they actually Initiated a woman! Fiji HQ came in and pulled their charter faster than you could say "co-ed." The members took things underground and formed a group called the Yuai Community. Their motto is "Promoting Tolerance, Diversity, and Hedonism." They have underwear parties. They do more drugs than the rest of the campus combined. They have orgies. They drink all the time, and they haze like mad. Their initiation involves the Babies (that's what they call their new members) running around campus half naked in February, carrying a large wooden cross, among other things. They still use bits of Fiji ritual; most of their songs are Fiji songs. It's pretty sick.

I often wonder what would happen if Fiji ever wanted to recolonize at my school and happened to meet the Yuais. :eek: I don't think they'd know what to do.

That gives me an idea. Toga!! TOGA!!!!!

There was a chapter of a national fraternity at my school that wanted to go coed and sought their national's blessing. The answer was no, so they become a local coed fraternity, taking their chapter designation as their name.

Later, the national fraternity recolonized and wanted to retain the chapter designation. The local fought to force the national to choose a new chapter name, but unsuccessfully - the national got to keep its chapter name.

ariesrising, I know that several NPC sororities (but not AEPhi) had men who helped them establish themselves and craft their ritual. I think Chi Omega is one of them. But as a rule, it doesn't happen.

At my school, three societies have gone coed. One lost its charter entirely. The other two are still affiliated with their national headquarters, but relations are strained--they are somewhat the "black sheep" of their respective nationals, which is sad because they do some pretty cool things on campus.

Well no org that isn't co-ed already has ever had opposite sex members ... however... we did get a cross-dresser come through rush once.... :D

Well, way back when, Delta Gamma founders initiated George Banta (a Phi Delta Theta) in order for him to help with our expansion. He was our only male initiate.

From what I understand about Chi Omega history, the man that help found the sorority was himself a Kappa Sigma initiate, and he helped the women organize and created the ritual and much of the symbols. I do not think he ever went through the Chi Omega initiation ceremony he created, so he is not "officially" a Chi-O.

Of course if you ask certain persons that once frequented these boards, they would say that this man created his own harum by starting the sorority and was granted "privledges" with any new pledges. Certainly a bunch of hooey, but kind of funny if you think about the highly-restrictive Victorian period in history that Chi Omega was founded in.

I did read somewhere (it might have been the Robert Egan book) that Psi Upsilon (a NIC fraternity) can technically initiate women and they actually did (like 3 or less). The women in the chapter felt a bit like they were in a men's locker room. I will try to look it up and will post more if I find it......I think it might have been at "Middlebury College"?

Maybe I'm alone in thinking this, but I just find it strange that a woman would want to join a mens' organization, and vice versa. :confused:

You're definitely not alone! ;)

I think that back in the day there were some honorary members of Phi Mu that were male but I don't think they were ever initiated.

Stonewall Jackson and Robert E Lee, but they are honoraries, so I don't think our ritual is revealed to them.

i believe that SAE had a women initiatied. her name was Lucy Pattie. all the guys were going out to fight in war and they gave her everything to keep (documents and rituals) until they come back. she was told not to give it back to anyone unless they can give her the hand shake. she is believed to be the only women.

There are actually a couple of instances that I read about...I will try to find the article/book and see if I can post a little bit of that here.

In the past, a number of men were initiated or helped found some women's organizations, and thus have been held with special status in those groups, i.e. "founder" "initiated member", etc.

George Banta (Phi Delta Theta) was initiated in Delta Gamma to help them with their northern expansion....according to Baird's Maual, " A chance meeting between a Mississippi Phi Delt and a fraternity brother from the north , George Banta, brought about the imporant move by Delta Gamma onto campuses in the Midwest. Mr. Banta was initiated by Delta Gamma's Psi chapter in 1878 and deputized to install a chapter at Franklin College. His fiancee, Lillie Vawter, was a charter member of this gorup. The couplpe provided contacts and encouragement, for a number of other early chapters in the region."

Dr. Guy Potter Benton, President of Miami Univ. of Ohio (Phi Delta Theta) according to the Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities, "Delta Zeta had the acitive assistance of Dr. Guy Potter Benton, president of Miami, and past national president of Phi Delta Theta. Because of his continued interest, Dr. Benton was made grand patron."

SAE did initiate Lucy Pattie, and I have heard of a couple of other male orgs...and will try to get a little more info.

Thanks for listening.

don't forget Jefferson Davis

DU debated the issue of female members in the 1970's. The vote went overwhelmingly against female members. The vote in 1972 was 15 chapters in favor 39 against, in 1974 the vote was 10 chapters in favor 51 against (Conflict, Challange and Change The one Hundred Fifty Year History of Delta Upsilon,1984).
The University of Chicago Chapter proposed coed membership and may have sub rosa initiated one or two females.
The Alpha Delta Phi Society is Coed.

Opie25, thanks for mentioning this. I'd like to add a little to it. Dr. Benton assisted our founders in writing our ritual. However, he was never initiated into Delta Zeta. We hold him in high esteem for his support of our organization in its earliest stages, and he holds a permanent spot in our history book because of that. :)

There are 236 female Sinfonians, all alumnae. This results from Phi Mu Alpha's history as a social, then a professional, and then a social fraternity. The short version of the story is like this.

In the 1970's, Phi Mu Alpha called itself a professional fraternity. As a result of Title IX (passed in 1972, and which prohibited, upon risk of losing federal funds, educational institutions from sheltering single-sex organizations, except for social groups like social GLO's), many chapters of Phi Mu Alpha found themselves under pressure from their sheltering instututions to admit women or lose affiliation. At the 1976 National Assembly, after a great deal of passionate debate, the Fraternity amended its governing documents to allow individual chapters to amend their by-laws so as to initiate women, while at the same time affirming that Phi Mu Alpha would continue to operate as a body oriented toward a male membership.

The three main music sororities took different routes. Mu Phi Epsilon and Delta Omicron decided to go co-ed nationally. Sigma Alpha Iota, on the other hand, appealed the federal Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare's determination that it had to go co-ed, and ultimately received from HEW an exemption from Title IX.

In 1977, Phi Mu Alpha declared a moratorium on further female initiations until the Fraternity could seek an exemption similar to the one granted SAI. For a variety of reasons, that exemption was not received until 1983. At the next National Assembly in 1985, the Fraternity voted both to officially return to single-sex status and to officially return the Fraternity to status as a social fraternity.

Between 19776 and 1985, 22 chapters -- usually chapters in true danger of being kicked-off their campuses -- initiated 236 women. All of these women were "legally" initiated and are considered true Sinfonian alums.

After 1985, one chapter sought exemption from the Fraternity's single-sex status because of state laws (South Dakota); by the time the situation could be worked out (an exemption from the co-ed requirement under state law), the conflict had already done in the chapter. One other chapter (and all of its active members) were expelled from the Fraternity in 1986 when the chapter initiated women after explicitly being told it could not do so.

Okay, that was a longer version of the story than I intended. :)

Just a little more info. The Alpha Delta Phi Society is a literary society and is an off-shoot of Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity -- a number of ADF chapters were allowed to divide from the fraternity in 1992 and form a parallel organization that would have the local option of initiating women. Together, the fraternity and the society form Alpha Delta Phi International, Inc.

I thought that Mu Phi Epsilon & Delta Omicron were single-sex (women). Did they eventually receive the same or a similar expemtion as SAI & Sinfonia?

Just curious since Phi Beta is a fellow NIMC member & I think I should know these things. ;) (Although we're not restricted to music).

Incidentally, Title IX is the reason that we went coed (originally women only). I can't imagine not having the guys be part of my fraternity experience!

No. I don't think MFE or DO even sought an exemption; they simply went co-ed nationally. There may be some chapters that have no male members, but they are both co-ed fraternities.

I can't speak for SAI, but Phi Mu Alpha's situation helped in obtaining the exemption: we were founded as a social fraternity and Title IX (among other things) prompted a return to those roots; our principles and activities have never focused on professional development or support, and perhaps most importantly we have never restricted membership to music majors/minors, nor do we require that members even take a music class. There are chapters of Sinfonia with no music majors/minors. Ours is simply a fraternity where one of the strong, foundational ties that binds us together is our love of music and belief in the power of music as a uniting force.

As for the co-ed experience, to each his or her own. I'm glad we rejected designation as a professional fraternity (and rejected being a co-ed fraternity) and have returned to our roots. While a co-ed, professional Sinfonia might have been a great organization in its own right, it would not have been the fraternity that our founders envisioned, nor would it have provided the fraternity experience that means so much to my brothers and me.

Just my $0.02.

Thanks for the info, Mystic Cat! And just to clarify, I didn't mean to imply that coed GLOs are better than single-sex. Only that I can't imagine my GLO without the men in it, even thought that's how it used to be!

Hello, this thread was brought to my attention today. I am a 1990 graduate of the university mentioned in this comment and I would like to correct the factual inaccuracies concerning the end of the Phi Gamma Delta chapter and the beginning of the Yuai Community. Contrary to the account above, the local chapter collectively deactivated and ended their fraternity charter in response to actions by the national organization and other Fiji chapters in the country at the time. The former Fijis reorganized the house as a co-ed community. The deactivation was a decision made by the local members, not by nationals. I was one of the first women to become a member and move into the house for that year (1987-88). The student government and the university president made it impossible for the Yuais to remain in their house at the end of the year, and the group moved on to become a campus organization that promoted community, diversity, and tolerance. The Yuais also worked to found a co-op house which opened some years later and became independent of the Yuais in order to have an open membership. The Yuais in the late 80s rejected fraternity rituals, initiations, and hazing. None of our organized events resembled orgies, although perhaps that would have improved attendance at our meetings. I personally did not engage in the activities described above. Many of my friends who are Yuais, past and present, have never engaged in those activities. I do not intend to take part in a debate about this here as this will be my only post, but felt the record needed to be set straight.

In case you would like to see a contemporary version my account or read a true story about a fraternity going co-ed, you can read some the reporting of these events at the time by the student newspaper, linked to this site.

Like any student newspaper, this newspaper is also available to anyone who takes the time to look in the periodicals section of the university library. Please check your sources next time. Good bye and good luck.

I don't know about the rest of Psi Upsilon, but I can say that their Georgia Tech chapter is co-ed. (link)

Psi U is not co-ed nationwide.

There used to be one on GC who said chapters were given quite a bit of autonomy.

-Rudey

I thought the Sinfonians at WIU, Kappa Psi, used to require that everyone took at least 1 music class a semester, whether it be Theory or marching band, whatever, just as long as it was music. Although, it could have been a local by-law.

I read an article somewhere that Kappa Delta Rho's Alpha Chapter went co-ed c. 1993 (I don't think the chapter is currently active, though).

Never heard of that one. That would have had to have been a local requirement -- one that I'm not sure exactly squares with current national membership regulations, but maybe.

I have a nagging memory that there may, at one point, have been a national requirement that every member had to take at least one music course (which could include a performance group) during the course of his college career, but if I'm remembering right that such a requirement ever existed, it's been long gone.

Funny how nobody really cared in the first place.

OH SNAP!

-Rudey

Aside from the fact that I posted in it, this thread from a few years back was pretty cool.

Any more thoughts?

:: paging oldu ::

Lo and behold, the first time I tune in for weeks and someone beckons me! Sorry, I do not have direct knowledge of the Psi U information. However, most of the old eastern fraternities have always operated much more autonomously than the younger and larger ones. During the 1970s many, in fact, did initiate women in their chapters, probably unknown to the national officers because of their loose operation -- and several still do today.

In my own Delta Upsilon, the University of Chicago Chapter was initiating women for several years (Headquarters either ignorant or avoiding to know it!) to the point that they were in control of the alumni corporation and a very valuable piece of real estate. Somehow the men wrested control of the real estate and women were no longer initiated -- probably because sororities were introduced to the campus and were more attractive to join than DU.

I suspect than many fraternities with eastern chapters may have a few female members that they are unaware of. Some of you ask why? I guess it was a 70s point of rebellion.

tld221 where in the City are you located? I am just around the corner from the Guggenheim.

Ah, a Psi U Question. Though I am kind of disappointed nobody thought to ask me. We have five coed chapters, though it never started like that. The chapters that are coed all started differently. But it started with the individual chapters autonomy as was mentioned. Long story mad short, one of our chapters was forced to go co-ed by the university it was on. SO they intiatied female members on their own. Eventually somebody at national was looking at the membership records and noticed a bunch of female names of new brothers. So yeah. Our constitution does not mention any thing about gender or race, so thats how they got away with it.

Were you on GreekChat or a member of Psi U in 2002?

That's when the initial post occurred.