Greek chapters with literary society roots

[PGD-GRAD]

Most of the first six founders of Phi Gamma Delta were members of the Franklin Literary Society at Jefferson College in Pennsylvania. While every member of the Franklin Society did not become a founder, the majority of the founders did meet through the society and, through their debates and literary discussions, did find common ground to found our fraternity in 1848.

[m65863]

MysticCat,

Yes, that Alpha Kappa Psi sorority article is the one I meant! I brought them up only because they were more of a "finishing school", but still had a sorority and two literaries.

[pshsx1]

That's pretty interesting. Cool.

[PhoenixAzul]

The beginning of Otterbein College's Greek life came from the Literary Societies (Philomathean, Philothronean (sp?), etc). The administration felt that Greek life was antithetical to scholarly study, and that the literary societies would fulfill the need for social life on campus. Soon, underground secret societies using non-greek names (Tomo Dachi, Onyx, Greenwich, Owls, Arbutus, Talisman, Kings, Sphinx, Alps, Country Club, Jonda, Rats) made up of a combination of members from the different societies, with some intermingling. After pressure from the student body, the clubs were made public, but still without Greek letters. Finally, the administration caved and allowed the clubs to take letters, which they did at various stages. Most now keep their original "club" name in some way shape or form, and honor them in their chants and songs. The popularity of the new clubs drained the membership of the literary societies, and they became defunct.

Tomo Dachi became Tau Delta, Onyx became Kappa Phi Omega, Greenwhich became Theta Nu, Owls became Sigma Alpha Tau, Arbutus became Epsilon Kappa Tau, Talisman became Tau Epsilon Mu.

Kings became Lambda Gamma Epsilon, Sphinx became Sigma Delta Phi (no relation to others), Country Club became Pi Kappa Phi (no relation to the national fraternity), Jonda became Eta Phi Mu, Rats (sometimes recorded as Stars, but I have no idea which is accurate, I've heard it both ways) is now Zeta Phi, Pi Beta Sigma was formed out of a combination of organizations (it's complicated).