Fraternities played an important role in the history of Amherst College from the founding of the first "secret society" in 1830 to the dissolution of the fraternity system in 1984 and the continuing presence of "underground" fraternity activity.
The first student-run societies at Amherst College were the literary Athenian and Alexandrian societies, open to all students. In 1830, a secret literary society was formed, Chi Delta Theta, which lasted until 1845. "Secret" and "Anti-Secret" societies proliferated in the coming decades both at Amherst and at other American colleges. The first national fraternity to open a chapter at Amherst was Alpha Delta Phi in 1837. At their peak, in the 1910s-1930s, there were fourteen fraternity chapters; in addition, non-fraternity men formed parallel groups such as the Commons Club (1941) and the Lord Jeffrey Amherst Club (1935) as a balance to fraternities' secrecy and elitism.
Fraternities and other secret societies were the cause of much concern to Amherst College's faculty and administration at various points in their history. In 1842, faculty required the two fraternities on campus to share their secret files, but were unable to enforce the request. Continuing concern brought President Edward Hitchcock to write letters to other college presidents in 1846 inquiring into their experiences with secret societies. Eventually the fraternities gained general acceptance and flourished until the disruptions of World War II. During this time most of the fraternities bought or built houses, established ties with national fraternities, formed bases of alumni support and changed focus from largely literary and academic pursuits to a greater emphasis on social events and leisure activities. In 1943, during World War II, the fraternities were shut down and their houses served as military quarters. After the war, the changing social and academic climate led to a debate on the question of whether to restore fraternities at Amherst. The fraternities were reopened, but never again enjoyed the firm support of previous decades.
On April 20, 1946 the Trustees of the college declared that all fraternities would be required to formally advise the Trustees that they did not discriminate on the basis of race, color or creed in their membership selection process. The initial deadline of October 1, 1948 was later extended to February 1, 1951 to permit extra time for local fraternity chapters having difficulty negotiating for the removal of discriminatory clauses with their national. During this period, a number of houses found themselves at odds with the discriminatory policies of their national bodies and found it necessary to disaffiliate and become locally-based organizations; the first to surrender its charter was Delta Tau Delta in September 1946, subsequently becoming Kappa Theta. The first fraternity to deal with the challenge of racial integration was Phi Kappa Psi, which pledged Thomas Gibbs (AC 1951), a black student, in 1948; it was not only the first fraternity at Amherst to do so, but the first in the nation. At the time, the local chapter did not expect to stir up controversy over this act, as there was no clause of discrimination in the national's constitution; however, that August, the Amherst delegates to the national convention were met with an order forbidding the pledging of Gibbs. The Amherst Phi Psi chapter, with the overwhelming (but not quite unanimous) support of its alumni, held fast to its decision. Accordingly, in December 1948, the national executive committee suspended the chapter. No longer affiliated with the national, Amherst's Phi Kappa Psi changed its name to Phi Alpha Psi. The whole matter caused a storm of national publicity.
The post-war issue of discrimination signaled a new attitude toward fraternities at the College: if fraternities were to continue on campus, their first allegiance would have to be to the ideals and priorities of the College, not the national body. Projecting forward to 1975, when Amherst became coeducational, their future was immediately put in jeopardy.
Major milestones since the Phi Psi controversy are as follows: the achievement of 100% rushing in 1952, the first College in the nation to implement such a system; the transfer of fraternity property to College ownership in 1963; the mandate in 1980 to include female students in fraternities; and ultimately, the formal dissolution of the fraternity system in 1984.
AMHERST COLLEGE FRATERNITIES: OVERVIEW
NON-FRATERNAL GREEK LETTER SOCIETIES
(See:
GREEK ALPHABET KEY:
Correspondence, reports, printed material, newspaper clippings, financial and business records, publications and other materials relating to fraternities at Amherst College.
This collection is organized into ten series:
The following restrictions to access apply to the Fraternities Collection: material less than 50 years old may be restricted; material containing information protected by privacy laws is restricted permanently; and particularly fragile items may be restricted for preservation purposes.
Requests for permission to publish material from the Fraternities Collection should be directed to the Archives and Special Collections. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.
Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:
[Identification of item], in Fraternities Collection [Box #, folder #], Amherst College Archives and Special Collections, Amherst College Library.
Material may be added to the collection in the future.
The materials in this collection have come from a wide variety of sources over time and items continue to be added. Where materials were received with evidence of original organization, such organization was maintained. In other instances, material was arranged by material type, subject or date.
Cutting, George Rugg, 1848-1903.
Fraternity Publications, c. 1860-1958
Quantity: 24+ linear feet
Listed by: Peter Weis, Archives Assistant
March-April 1995
Revised by: Keith Pendergrass 2010, Student Assistant
February 2010
GENERAL
ALPHA DELTA PHI (Α Δ Φ)
BETA THETA PI (Β Θ Π)
CHI PHI (Χ Φ)
CHI PSI (Χ Ψ)
DELTA KAPPA EPSILON (Δ Κ Ε)
DELTA TAU DELTA (Δ Τ Δ)
DELTA UPSILON (Δ Υ)
THETA DELTA CHI (Θ Δ Χ )
PHI GAMMA DELTA (Φ Γ Δ )
PHI DELTA THETA (Φ Δ Θ)
PHI KAPPA PSI (Φ Κ Ψ)
PSI UPSILON (Ψ Υ)
Series 1 consists of material relevant to fraternities generally or to more than one fraternity. Included in this series are materials on fraternity business management, the debate about reopening fraternities after World War II, various studies and reports on the place of fraternities at the College and materials on the closing of fraternities in 1984. Many of these topics are also represented in the files of the individual fraternities. Of particular interest is the 1846 correspondence (largely composed of modern copies) between President Edward Hitchcock and the presidents of eight other institutions regarding their fraternities.
See:
Series 2 is composed of the files of the Amherst chapter of Alpha Delta Phi. Of note is the extensive collection of student papers from student literary exercises held weekly at fraternity meetings. The papers provide a substantial record of the fraternity's literary activities from 1904-1955 and provide a fascinating window into student views, serious and silly, from those years. Other items of interest are an unusually complete record of fraternity president's correspondence from 1948-1958 and a file of examinations kept by fraternity members for their own reference.
Series 4 consists of records of the Amherst chapter of Chi Phi. Of interest is an undated letter regarding a proposed new secret honor society at Amherst named "Sarcophagus."
Series 5 is composed of the records of the Amherst chapter of Chi Psi, renamed Delta Chi Psi after its split with the national organization. Of interest is an extensive run of annual convention materials from 1872-1967 including local reports; an unusually large quantity of early correspondence; a sizable file of examinations kept by fraternity members and a large run of "Chaos," the publication of the Amherst Chi Psi chapter, from 1871-1913, many of which are handwritten and illustrated.
Series 7 is composed of records from the Amherst Chapter of Phi Delta Theta, renamed Phi Delta Sigma after its split with the national organization in 1953.
Series 8 consists of the records of the Amherst chapter of Phi Gamma Delta, renamed Phi Gamma Chi after its suspension from membership in the national organization over issues of racial discrimination in 1958. Of particular note is the extensive documentation of the trial of the local chapter by the national fraternity and the surrounding correspondence and press coverage.
Series 9 is composed of the records of the Amherst Chapter of Phi Kappa Psi, renamed Phi Alpha Psi after its split with the national organization over issues of racial discrimination in 1948. Of interest is the extensive documentation of the conflict with the national fraternity over racial discrimination and the surrounding correspondence, press coverage and trial material. This was the first instance of a local fraternity challenging its national on the topic of discrimination to gain national attention and the papers reflect the level of national interest (supportive and not) in the events at Amherst.
Series 10 includes materials from Amherst College fraternities with smaller physical presence in the collection. Fraternities represented in this series are:
Alpha Sigma Phi
Chi Delta Theta
Delta Upsilon
Delta Tau Delta/ Kappa Theta
Delta Upsilon
Kappa Sigma Theta
Psi Upsilon
Sigma Delta Alpha
Theta Delta Chi/ Theta Delta
Theta Nu Epsilon
Theta Xi/ Alpha Theta Xi
Zeta Psi