Originally posted by dtdfever1

Slick are you sure SAE doesn't worship Minerva? I watched one time when they were moving and I saw a statue of a greek goddess. I looked it up on the internet and it looked like Minerva. Why have a statue, an idol if you please, if you don't worship it?

I'm pretty sure no GLO worships anything but God and Jesus, if they even do that. Like I mentioned, Sigma Alpha Epsilon's patron goddess is Minerva. I'm sure they look up to her and a lot of their ritual is telling the story behind Minerva, the goddess of wisdom. If you go to the SAE website you will notice that their headquarters is a fancy church looking like building. Very beautiful.

If there are any SAE's out there maybe they can refute me or back me up. I haven't researched or studied their ritual so I can't be for sure.

As far as Phi Beta Kappa goes if my history serves me correctly they were the 1st Greek Letter Fraternity. Before they were able to get really rolling with it though the schools forced them to identify all of their members and to reveal their ritual, this was during the greek witch hunt. After that they remained an open society. And eventually they transformed into an academic honor society. Most schools still have the honor society (NERDS ONLY!!:lol j/k and from what ive heard there isnt anything like an initiation ritual its just a declaration that person A has met the requirements for admission into Phi Beta Kappa and then there is a reception where everone compares the size of their calculators

I have a copy of their ritual and they are heavily rooted in Greek culture, as in using lots of references to mythology and greek language. No statue worshiping here I dont believe, but then again it was a tough read due to the antique language and I skipped over the dragging sections the first time I read it. I had better not go any further than that in the open but ill discuss it further in a u2u if you want.

Star, are you talking about SAE or Phi Beta Kappa. If it's Phi Beta Kappa then maybe I don't want it. It sounds kind of boring. Sounds like a normal honor society's initiation. If it's SAE's then that's sad. Oh well.

There's a local sorority in Nebraska called Willard that claims they are the oldest and largest local sorority. I think their founding was in 1889. I don't know how large it is or how many alumni they have. Does anyone have any other locals who could probably refute this? Is there any other info out there. I found out they revere some old lady named Willard because she was the symbol for perfect womanhood.

Originally posted by dtdfever1
There's a local sorority in Nebraska called Willard that claims they are the oldest and largest local sorority. I think their founding was in 1889. I don't know how large it is or how many alumni they have. Does anyone have any other locals who could probably refute this? Is there any other info out there. I found out they revere some old lady named Willard because she was the symbol for perfect womanhood.

Look them up in Baird's. They have info on everything, including locals.

OK sorry I gotta back this up just a second. What is the FLA? Is it like a second NIC? Why/when did it form and by who? Owww my head hurts

[edit on 15-7-2004 by nikkerbokker]

The NIC is the North American Interfraternity Conference which is the major trade association of national fraternities. There are 64 members, I think.

During 2002-2003 some national fraternities felt that the NIC wasn't following the purpose for which it was founded, basically be the voice for the national fraternity movement toward the public, colleges, and govt.

The NIC in recent years has been moving toward more programming toward undergraduate students (Leadership conferences, alcohol programs, etc) rather than making sure colleges maintained GLO's, and other things.

Two organizations broke away from the NIC, Phi Delta Theta and Kappa Sigma. Kappa Sigma and some other fraternities still in the NIC, including a black national fraternity founded the Fraternal Leadership Association for the purposes that they felt the NIC should have followed. Phi Delta Theta remains unaffiliated I believe.

National fraternities pay dues in the tens of thousands. So when you get 60+ organizations that's a pretty hefty sum to put on programs that pretty much every fraternity already has. Those orgs that broke away felt that they were not getting their money's worth from dues and decided it was a better business decision not to pay the dues and not participate.

I hope that answers your questions.

Sorry for the obscurity above SAE has the heavy greek influence, and PBK is the academic honor society. As far as I can tell PBK just maintains their place in the history books as the 1st but they are really just an honor society bestowed for making decent grades now. Sort of like the order of omega and that ("blue key?" i think ) group. Simply scholastic in nature.

OK Thanks for the crash course Slick. Kappa Sig had been kicked off our campus in 2001 I think, and we've never had Phi Delt, that's probably why I had no idea what was going on That and, being in a sorority, we didn't hear too much about what was up with the fraternities on a national level.

I can see why those orgs are upset. My sisters and I kvetched constantly about how much our national dues are. Our district officers say "its for the upkeep of your chapter house" well of course it is, no one said maintaining a house is cheap. But for goodness' sake, then replace the few dining chairs that haven't broken yet or the kid-sized mattresses with space ships and UFOs on them or fix the toilets that constantly overflow!! There are 75 girls in my chapter shelling out nearly $100 in national dues alone A MONTH. And no that doesn't count the costs of exchanges, formals or pillow fights in our underwear, we're assessed separately for that Yet we never see where that money goes, since it certainly isn't going to our chapter house, social events, rush materials, etc. Basically my point is: Kappa Sig and Phi Delt aren't the only ones who felt their national HQ weren't putting their money to the best use. I wonder if any other sororities have the same complaints, or if their national uses the "Its for your chapter house" or some other excuse. I know for a fact that most sororities on my campus have a similar complaint.

Sorry to hear that usually the chapters out in Cali have done very well. I took you to be in Cali from your avatar info. But getting back to more important subjects lets hear more details from these so-called pillow fights in your underwear!!

[edit on 7/15/04 by Star_and_Crescent]

Yeah Star unfortunately you guys got into a bit of trouble for partying and being a bit tough on your pledges...IFC gave the chapter probation for a while, then they got busted hazing their pledges again and got yanked about 3 years ago. A year or so ago they were allowed to re-colonize and have been doing pretty well. They were huge in their heyday though, rivaling with Sigma Chi for biggest house on campus (numbers- and popularity- wise).

About those pillow fights...we couldn't have them because National was too sheisty to pay for us to get new blinds And what fun would a naked pillow fight be if just anyone could stand outside and watch???

SAE about got kicked off at my school cause they were haveing rush parties wheny they weren't suppose to. Well one member got drunk and try to cross a highway and got hit by a car and died. Oh yea he was going to a strip club. but somehow they got to stay on campus, this was while they were on probation.

Hell Ill be happy to chip in for a set of new blinds for a front row seat! We can even go designer if you like!

We have those all the time at my school but we call them swaps. hehe

[edit on 16-7-2004 by qwerty99]

[edit on 16-7-2004 by qwerty99]

In regards to most members on this board, I know who is in which house (except for slick who won't tell!) but just for laughs, when did everyone pledge their GLOs?
I pledged in fall 1999, my first semester at college. I went alum in '03.

Originally posted by nikkerbokker
In regards to most members on this board, I know who is in which house (except for slick who won't tell!) but just for laughs, when did everyone pledge their GLOs?
I pledged in fall 1999, my first semester at college. I went alum in '03.

I'm an "old guy" I pledged Kappa Alpha (and was initiated) in 1987 (my Sophomore year)

-John

You're not that old John When did you join the Masons?

[edit on 16-7-2004 by nikkerbokker]

I was very much an "un-fraternity guy" my frehsman and sophmore years--ran the campus radio station, played in some bands, was pure GDI. A friend of mine from high school and i had a class together, afterward we would go to lunch and just happen to run into some of his friend--who were never introduced as fraternity brothers. After a few weeks of this my buddy started inviting me to hang out with him and his friends, who I now knew--it started to sink in that they were all in the same fraternity but now that I knew them, they didn't seem so bad. Finally was invited to a rush event and was asked to join...the next morning I woke up with a pledge pin on... No, really, I just thought it over for a day and decided to join.

It really did change my life; I started dressing better, dated prettier girls and even became a Republican. I was sort of gung ho and the chapter even had to change the by-laws so I could run for chapter president (you had to be a member for a year). Serve my term as Prez and went on to work for our Headquarters staff. So 16 years after pledging, I'm still involved with the organization.

Originally posted by nikkerbokker
You're not that old John When did you join the Masons?

[edit on 16-7-2004 by nikkerbokker]

LOL! Thanks!....but I feel awfully old sometimes....

I joined the Masonic Order when I was a Senior in College, becoming a Master Mason in 1989. In 1990 I went through the York Rite (taking the degrees of the Chapter, Council and Commandery...the final degree or "Order" of course being that of Knight Templar) Then in 1991 I took the 4th through the 32nd Degree of the Scottish Rite. I'm most active in the Scottish Rite and in 2001 was invested as a Knight Commander of the Court of Honor. I've also joined a few other Masonic "branches" or "Bodies" like the Allied Masonic Degrees, Knight Masons, Masonic Rosicrucians, Ancient Toltec Rite and some others...and I belong to a couple of other fraternal societies (Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows, United Ancient Order of Druids) but I"m not active in them..I just pay my dues each year.