Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents an excerpt of a pdf about freemasonry and the development of Greek letter fraternities. No author is given for that pdf except for tnlor.org and no
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Click for the closely related 2024 pancocojams post entitled "Black Greek Letter Fraternities & Sororities Were Patterned After White Greek Letter Fraternities & Sororities That Were Patterned After Free Masonry".
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PDF EXCERPT - FREEMASONRY AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF GREEK-LETTER FRATERNITIES
http://tnlor.org/?p=24&print=pdf
"Masonic symbolism and philosophy had a strong influence in the early development of many of the so-called “Greek-letter” organizations so commonly seen and accepted on college campuses throughout the United States. In some cases, the influence is little more than an association of ritual and secrecy, but in many cases the relationships between Freemasonry and college fraternal organizations are strong and even enduring.
During the half century before the Revolutionary War, college fraternities had a meager yet building existence. Prior to 1776, Yale College, the College of New Jersey (Princeton University), and the College of William and Mary all had student fraternal organizations (Voorhees, 1945). The establishment and development of these fraternities closely mimicked the maturation of the American branch of Freemasonry. These fraternities supported fidelity, scholarship, and the development of speaking skills through debate and literary circles.
PHI BETA KAPPA: It was in the year of 1776 that the age of college fraternities took a secretive turn (Torbenson, 1992). That year marked the founding of the first Greek-letter society, the college fraternity Phi Beta Kappa at the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia. Although not sanctioned by or directly connected to Freemasonry, Phi Beta Kappa patterned its initiations, oaths, and modes of proliferation after those of Freemasonry (Voorhees). Two of the founding members and a total of ten early members of Phi Beta Kappa were Freemasons (Torbenson).
Similarities between Phi Beta Kappa and Freemasonry are easily seen. First, both organizations held their meetings within a shroud of secrecy. Freemasonry and Phi Beta Kappa both required new initiates to take voluntary oaths of fidelity. The oaths of Phi Beta Kappa mentioned the “Holy Evangelists of Almighty God” and a “Supreme Being,” both of which are commonly referenced in Masonic lodge ritual (Voorhees, 1945, p. 1). The three Greek letters stood for Philosophia Biou Kybernetes, “Love of Wisdom, the Guide of Life,” a parallel to Freemasonry’s reverence for “Light,” or knowledge.
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RITUAL EXPOSURE: 1826 was the year of the disappearance of Captain William Morgan in upstate New York, allegedly abducted and murdered for publishing and exposing Masonic ritual. The storyof Morgan’s disappearance and the subsequent anti-Masonic period, lasting until about 1840, should be well known to all Freemasons, because this period marked the beginning of an explosion in published ritual exposures.
The crisis faced by Freemasons spilled over to Phi Beta Kappa in 1831 with John Marsh & Company’s publication of A Ritual of Freemasonry, Illustrated by Numerous Engravings; with Notes and Remarks, to which is added a Key to the Phi Beta Kappa, by Avery Allyn, an anti- Masonic lecturer of the time. This well known ritual exposure would be reprinted time and time again.
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THE FRATERNAL MOVEMENT: It would still be several decades before the chaos subsided enough to hasten in the heyday of American fraternalism. However, the number of Greek letter societies continued to grow throughout the mid- and late-1800’s. The new fraternities formed during this time patterned themselves after Phi Beta Kappa’s original model. Based upon this fact alone, it could be stated that all American college fraternities owe at least a little of their heritage to Freemasonry.
The unified fraternities that were organized during the last half of the nineteenth-century exhibit strong influences derived from Freemasonry; however, these fraternities held no official ties to it. During this era in American history, men going to college were often of an older age, and it was not unusual for these men to have either been inducted into the Masonic fraternity before enrolling in college or while under the tutelage of professors who were Masons (Torbenson, 1992). Three of the fraternities with Masonic similarities that were established during this period are Phi Kappa Sigma, Delta Tau Delta, and Kappa Alpha Order.
PHI KAPPA SIGMA: Phi Kappa Sigma was founded at the University of Pennsylvania on 16 August 1850. The primary leader of the movement was Samuel Brown Wylie Mitchell who later became a noted physician, and who was a member of Franklin Lodge No. 1341 , Philadelphia.
A quick perusal of the Phi Kappa Sigma website will reveal a few images and principles that will be familiar to Master Masons (About Phi Kappa Sigma). The arms of the badge of the order, designed by Mitchell, resonate with Masonic and Knight Templar influence. The shield bears a cross patée, the pin of the order, at its center, while the crest consists of a skull and crossbones
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DELTA TAU DELTA
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The crest of the Delta Tau Delta badge consists of an all-seeing eye, and the shield includes the symbol of the blazing star. Albert Mackey, in his encyclopedia, states that the blazing star is one of the most important Masonic symbols and is symbolic of “a true Mason, who, by perfecting himself in the way of truth, that is to say, by advancing in knowledge, becomes like a blazing star, shining with brilliancy in the midst of darkness” (Mackey, p. 130).
KAPPA ALPHA (KA) ORDER: Kappa Alpha Order was founded on 21 December 1865 at Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) at Lexington, Virginia, by James Ward Wood and three others. During their lives, all four were Master Masons. Wood was a member of Moorefield Lodge, Moorefield, West Virginia. The ritual for Kappa Alpha was created by Samuel Z. Ammen, ultimately earning him the title “the practical founder of Kappa Alpha Order” (www.kappaalphaorder.org). Ammen, who had already been inducted into Freemasonry in Friendship Lodge, Fincastle, Virginia, later stated: “I drew heavily upon my experience as a Master Mason in crafting the new ritual.” That ritual utilizes the symbolism of the Masonic Knights Templar as much as the symbolism of Craft Masonry. The ritual transformed the fraternity into an order of Christian knighthood, which sought to preserve the masculine virtues of chivalry, respect for others, honor and reverence for God and womanhood.
Other examples of Greek-letter fraternities with Masonic influences granted by either founding members or early members include Alpha Tau Omega, Sigma Nu, Phi Delta Theta, Sigma Chi, Phi Gamma Delta, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Phi Kappa Alpha, Zeta Psi, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Psi Upsilon, and Delta Psi. The last of these, according to the 1899 Cyclopedia of Fraternities, “was dressed up by someone who had access to rituals of the bastard Masonic rites of Misraim and Memphis” (Stevens, p. 346).
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AN UNTAPPED SOURCE: The association and connection between Freemasonry and college fraternities is only one example of the great impact the Freemasonry has had upon American society. Although the Masonic fraternity has in many ways lost a great deal of its former influence, there exists an immense need for men to be indoctrinated with the spirit of Freemasonry.
There is no other organization today, either on college campuses or in the world at large, that offers the moral and spiritual lessons of Freemasonry. It has been mimicked and copied many times but never surpassed. Freemasonry has a great deal to offer young men, and old men alike, who have experienced the initiation rites of lesser orders."
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