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Part of the confusion here is terminology. "Honorary membership" can be confusing, witness the embarrasment between Mrs. Obama and one of the NPHC groups. Hayes, Cleveland, McKinley & Truman were all actually initiated as members after college in, we presume, the traditional ceremony. By contrast, there is no record anywhere that either Eisenhower or Kennedy were ever initiated. It is likely they were made "honorary" members either by citation by the national or some local chapter just deciding to do so. The first president to be legitimately initiated as an undergraduate was Garfield and the last was Bush II. I don't mean to split hairs but many Greek organizations allow special initiations of people beyond college age and they probably should not be called "honorary." My conception of that term is someone who is not really a member but deserve the title because of the respect the organization has for them.
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