Quote:
Originally Posted by badgeguy
Fraternities and sororities founded after the civil war seem to have closer ties to Masonic and other fraternal orders rather than the old literary society base.....
BG
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Acacia was originally founded as a masonic Club - meaning you had to be a mason to join. This also meant a member had to be (roughly) 22 years old. Up until the 1920's, college students didn't usually start at 18; a campus was full of students mostly in their twenties.
Many of the early Acacians were members of other fraternities, and dual membership was allowed for a while. For much of Acacia's early history, other masonic fraternities existed, and they acted as fraternities (not masonic clubs) - participated in rush, had houses, were members of IFC, etc.
Prior to Acacia, two other fraternities discussed the idea of being a Mason-only fraternity. In the early 1800's, Psi Upsilon talked about it, but the anti-masonic political activity of that era pretty much ruled it out. In the late 1800's, TKE had considered being mason-only (actually, the group that formed the Knights of the Classic lore explored the idea). But when TKE formed, they opened up to all, and not mason only. TKE did stay close to masons, and when Sigma Mu Sigma, a mason only fraternity, folded in 1935, a few chapters became TKE and the official national was absorbed by TKE's headquarters.
It would be interesting to hear someone from Psi U or TKE report on this part of their archives and history.