biggest fraternities?
 

I've been searching and I can't find the membership numbers anywhere. Can somebody help? I tried looking through the threads but there are too many returned to sort through them all (over 300).

Some excellent resources are as follows.

Note: Numbers change and are only as current as reported by the organizations and often may be simple rough estimates.

Ariesrising's The Greek Info Pages

Fraternity Executives Association's Stats - Number of Initiates

As TSteven said, most of the Large GLOs status change and is hard to keep up with.

When you look at some of the largest, LXA, SPE, TKE, SX PKA, etal, are ever expanding.

LXA and TKE are both on a two pronged front:

1. Re Chartering.

2. Opening in new Territory.

TKE did just affiliate with a Local at Central Methodist in Mo. I passed it along to My IHQ.

I can relate back to the 60s when the Major IFC GLOs were not expanding except LXA and TKE. Since then, expansion has become of a thing to stay alive. Lose 1-2-3-4 and not replace, well draw your own conclusion.:)

The Union Triad were the worst and are finally realizing, Hey, we better do something soon.

Life changes, change or die.:confused:

TKE has the most chapters;
SPE has the largest number of undergrads;
SAE has the largest alumni body with 260,000+;
PiKA has the largest average chapter size;
DKE has the largest endowment;
Sigma Chi is the most well known;
Kappa Sigma is the oldest (they claim 1400 a.d.);
Lambda Chi has the best risk management program;
Beta Theta Pi places the greatest emphasis on scholarship;
Phi Delts are traditionally the athletes;
Delta Tau Delta chapters tend to have the most spectacular websites (trust me);
Phi Kappa Psi maintains the most traditional symbolism;
Delta Psi is the most secretive;
Delta Upsilon is the least secretive;
Fiji has the best social traditions;
Kappa Alpha is the most iconic;
Pi Kappa Phi is the most involved with their philanthropy;
Sigma Nu is most identified with military symbolism;
ATO has the best high-tech national website;
Phi Kappa Tau has the best looking line of gear and sportswear;
Sigma Pi owns the most beautiful fraternity house (Penn State);
Delta Chi is the only fraternity founded by lawyers;
Chi Psi has the most unique tradition: one of the Founders was hanged at sea when he refused to reveal fraternity secrets;
I'm sure I've left some out and I apologize for that. Every established national fraternity enjoys a rich tradition and heritage unique to them.

I think that is a nice tribute (blows kisses)

hehe, it says the Pi Kappa Alpha has half of an initiate: 109,322.5

and all you Phi Sigs and Alpha Sigma Taus who are posting here are zombies, cause you have no living initiaties.

eta: overall, the site is very informative, thanks for posting it TSteven. those parts just made me laugh.

Sure.....................like Delta Sigma Phi?

I think I was pinned to him for a few months when I was in school...

I have to say, he's right. I've been inside of it and yeah, its hot.

i LOOOOOOOOOOOOVEEEEEEEEEE the Sig Pi house at Penn State. I was friends with a couple of the brothers so I got to go over there a bunch. :) It was my favorite fraternity house at PSU, though the ATO house isn't too shabby either.

Sure, DeltaSigStan, you're right...I was going fast and I left out Delta Sig, Theta Chi and some others.
Delta Sig has the most exotic esoteria: the Nile, the Sphinx and all that;
Theta Chi's badge was once voted most beautiful by the NPC (and, in my opinion, Theta Chi has the coolest crest);
Psi Upsilon is unique in that in addition to the national coat-of-arms, each chapter designs their own version of the fraternity crest, changing the colors and adding symbols within an approved heraldric framework;

Its like the NPC Sorority Challenge but for NIC!

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...rity+challenge

Philip Spencer (son of the Secretary of War - John C. Spencer) -
Last person hung on a US Naval ship... and I thought it was for muntiny...

An interesting case for those of us that have studied some military law and practice.

Tom, as I understand it - and we'd have to get a member of Chi Psi to set us straight - the captain was a paranoid sort who suspected mutiny and went plundering through the personal effects and papers of his officers. He discovered on young Midshipman Spencer a sealed box containing a coded list of names on a slip of paper. Spencer refused to reveal that they were in fact the names of his Chi Psi Fraternity brothers, and he was hanged because the Captain was convinced they were the names of mutineers.
Fraternities were mush more secretive then that we are today, but even for the 1850s this sounds extreme. I must say that you've got to hand it to a fellow who will give it up for the Lodge.

Are you sure? I don't think that they are even in the top 5.

There is actually a book on the subject of the mutiny: A Hanging Offense: The Strange Affair of the Warship Somers. Note that the Chi Psi in question, Phillip Spencer, was indeed the 19-year-old son of the Secretary of War. Here is the review from Publisher's Weekly as shown by Amazon:

This coherent and absorbing study from Melton (The First Impeachment) is the first full-scale study of the "mutiny" aboard the U.S.S. Somers in nearly a generation. The brig Somers was on a training cruise in 1842, with more than 100 apprentice seamen aboard. The son of the secretary of war, 19-year-old Philip Spencer, began talking and writing wildly about leading a mutiny. When the captain, Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, had Spencer and his two confederates, Cromwell and Small, put in irons, several incidents occurred suggesting attempts to rescue the men. After consulting with his officers and petty officers, Mackenzie decided that in view of the "clear and present danger" of a bloody mutiny, he should hang the three suspects, and did. The Navy conducted a formal inquiry into Mackenzie's conduct, then brought him before a court-martial. Melton, professor of law at the University of North Carolina, does his best to render the ensuing legal thickets intelligible to the 21st-century lay reader, without complete success. Better are his accounts of where the Somers affair fits into maritime history and the manner in which the isolation of the sailing ship made the captain's power nearly absolute. His final verdict is similar to that of the 19th-century Navy: Mackenzie exceeded his authority, but not wantonly or frivolously, and Spencer was a clear-cut and dangerous sociopath.

Do note the "Spotlight Review" from "Phillip Spencer" himself:

O here's to Philip Spencer, who when about to die.
When crashing down beneath the waves, loud shouted out Chi Psi!

Russ, I think I've read that Phi Psi has the largest scholarship endowment. But I don't think anyone holds a candle to DKE for wealth.

I think Phi Psi has jumped into the lead.

An alum from USC and an alum from UCLA got into a fight about who could give more, and the whole Phi Psi bunch benefited.

(This is not necessarily historical fact, but makes a good story)

ahem.

Beta is not far from the top, if not at it.

ZZ-kai-

I'd allow that all of the pre-Civil War nationals prominent today have assembled great wealth. They either have it invested, or, thay have access to it through alumni channels. Those would include SAE and Sigma Chi, Beta and Phi Delt, Phi Psi, DTD, DKE, Chi Phi, Theta Chi.
In the 19th Century there was a handsome bevvy of nationals very well established at the finest schools, but for whatever reason their comparative national standing declined over the next hundred years. They include Zeta Psi, Chi Psi, Alpha Delt, St. Anthony, Psi Upsilon, Sigma Phi and Delta Phi: still elite today but not as well known or widespread.
Those of us in post-Civil War fraternities feel that our organizations have done just fine. What we lack in old money we've made up for in terms of aggression and fraternal spirit.

I agree with you, to a certain extent. Orgs like Psi U, Sigma Phi, Delta Phi, Alpha Sig and Chis Psi possibly even DKE are all old prominent orgs, however they faltered as time went on, which is why you hardly see them. It is also another reason why they are engraved in our history, yet are not real prominent anymore. Beta was near that, as you can see our expansion in the late 1800's was pretty slow..., whereas orgs like SX, Phi Delt, SAE all continued to expand, explaining their long existance with 150 or more chapters. We all agree that the old early greeks play a big role in who/why we exist today, however, they are hardly elite IMHO. I do respect them however and am thankful for them.

Hehehe. I'm not a zombie though - our colony is getting initiated this weekend! :) :D

I do wish that Beta would be more aggressive on the expansion of the fraternity. I know the philosophy they have to making one sure strong step at a time...but if they would allow the well established chapters help out more I think that would be very beneficial.

I mean, I know of two schools within about an hours drive that had a Beta chapter, or could easily support one.

Beta does this as well, unless they have discontinued this tradition. From their website:

At the urging of the Michigan Chapter, the 1909 Convention authorized each chapter to adopt its own arms. According to the laws of heraldry, the arms of the first nine chapters after Miami are "differenced" by symbols centered in the upper half of the shield. One of these symbols is the cross moline which is used on the arms of DePauw, our ninth chapter. The arms of other chapters have a device, peculiar to that chapter, in the upper left quadrant. Michigan uses the lamp of knowledge on two books from the university arms; Toronto, the maple leaf from the Canadian flag; and Middle Tennessee, the Tennessee walking horse. Each chapter has its own motto, written in Greek on the scroll in words beginning with the same letters as the chapter name.

In Beta, each chapter also has its own chapter seal, in addition to the Fraternity seal. The chapter seal is placed on a member's shingle.

DKE may have individual chapter arms as well -- I know of at least one chapter of DKE (Lambda at Kenyon) that has its own arms, based on the DKE arms. You can see it here.

I don't watch the show often but JAG did a cold case episode on this topic. It was very interesting.

What do you mean by faltered? I do think there is a lot to be said for being at only select schools and concentrating on those.

-Rudey

I've seen the Toronto one around... specifically plaques with the COA granted as gifts to some other GLOs at UofT that they where close to before the closed down... on another note Psi Upsilon's most prominent (right now) Toronto alum: Paul Martin the Canadian PM is in a weee bit of hot water politically - the government is under attack by conservatives and seperatists... the only other party sorta helping prop his government is headed by a Sigma Chi ;)

Interesting...I don't see a Jack or John (or Jonathan) Layton listed anywhere in the Canadian Sig alumni site. Perhaps he's embarassed about his Greek affiliation????????

I'm not familiar with the "Canadian Sig alumni site". Perhaps you mean the "Sigma Chi in Canada" web site? If not, would you please provide a link to the "Canadian Sig alumni site". Thanks.

If Brother Layton (Jack) is not listed on this "Canadian Sig alumni site" - or any other site - perhaps it is a reflection on the webmaster or policies of the site. Not necessarily what may or may not be his feelings toward his affiliation.

Edited for grammar.

True, The Union Triad as it was known had a strong Listing of Old Line Greeks. Granted there were some as SN, TX, TKE, and some others who started outside of the Founding Ground so to speak. The Old Days.

The Next was the Miami Triad who seemed to be the Birth of more progressive Greeks.

While there have been Greeks started at other schools (LXA) at Boston U. for one there are others.

It just seemed that the Union Triad were less expansion minded while the Miami Triad was more so until the 1960s.

But, expansion is life and ergo some are getting a little more expansion minded, but little by little.:cool:

Yes, I meant the Sigma Chi in Canada site. My mistake.

Thanks.

And FYI: The site was last updated 01 December, 2003 and no other Sigma Chi is listed on that site as well.

Really? I could have SWORN I saw Ted Rogers's name listed somewhere...

You are correct. Brother Ted Rogers is mention regarding his generous donation to the Sigma Chi Canadian Foundation. (The only Canadian Sig noted on that page.)

I do not believe that tradition exists today. We do, however, create our own Chapters Heraldic device. This is a chapter unique 'something' placed in the upper left quadrant of our Coat of Arms.

Maybe I should have used a different choice of words. I guess what I was trying to say is that back in the day, when DKE and Sigma Phi, Delta Phi and Psi U....etc., were the only fraternities around, they chose not to expand during the times of other fraternity foundings. So, when fraternities like Theta Chi, LXA, TKE, SPE...etc. came around, they were driven to be everywhere, whereas older fraternities have been small for a long time and didn't have the resources or drive to expand rapidly.

Which tradition -- the local arms (which the Beta website said are done as you described, with a distinguishing charge in the first quarter), or the chapter seal?

I do not believe the tradition of a 'chapter seal' exists today. My chapter is fairly young and I was around when we got our chater, and we did not do a chapter seal.

All of our old chapters have them, however, I do not believe it exists today???!! Its cool, I wish it did.

Hmmm. You've got me curious now. The Beta website certainly makes it sound like a current practice. Check your shingle; according to the website, the charter would have the fraternity's Great Seal, but a shingle would have the chapter seal.

FWIW, here is the description from the Beta website:

The 1842 Convention authorized chapter seals consisting of clasped hands and the chapter letter to be used on the wax seals of letters. By the Civil War many chapters were using these seals and the use of an embossed seal consisting of the badge and chapter letter either above or below the badge became prevalent. The 1881 Convention re-adopted the original chapter seal concept specifying the addition of the three stars in a triangle surrounded by a circle containing the legend "FRATERNITY BETA THETA PI, 1839." Subsequently, the legend was modified to reflect the member's chapter. Today, the chief use of the chapter seal is on the shingle.

This is the example of the seal they show:
http://www.betathetapi.org/images/chapterseal.jpg

and here it is on a shingle:
http://www.betathetapi.org/images/single.jpg

I can tell you from personal experience that my uncle's Beta shingle had the chapter seal on it, just as pictured. A few years ago, on the fiftieth anniversary of his initiation (his "Fraternal Fifty"), he was sent a gold embossed Great Seal:
http://www.betathetapi.org/images/Seal.jpg
to place alongside the Chapter seal on his shingle. My impression was that this is part of the Fraternal Fifty recognition.

Was the chapter seal on the shingle different from the one he receivied on his fraternal fifty?

I may be misunderstanding you?!?!