William Raimond Baird

“ Of late years, numerous societies bearing Greek names and imitating the externals of the college fraternities have sprung up in the high schools and academies of the country, but have excited the earnest and apparently united opposition of the authorities of such schools. ”

“ Certain senior societies, of which the oldest is the Skull and Bones, which are inter-fraternity societies admitting freely members of the fraternities, are more prominent at Yale than the fraternities themselves. ”

“ The alumni of the fraternities are organized into clubs or associations having headquarters at centres of population. These organizations are somewhat loose, but nevertheless are capable of much exertion and influence should occasion arise.
The college fraternity system has no parallel among the students of colleges outside of America. ”

“ In addition there are about 100 local societies or chapters acting as independent units. Some of the older of these, such as Kappa Kappa Kappa at Dartmouth, I K A at Trinity, Phi Nu Theta at Wesleyan and Delta Psi at Vermont, are permanent in character, but the majority of them are purely temporary, designed to maintain an organization until the society becomes a chapter of one of the general fraternities. ”

“ The chapter houses are commonly owned by corporations made up of the alumni. This brings the undergraduates into contact with men of mature age and often of national fame, who treat their membership as a serious privilege. ”

“ The earliest of these was the Beta Theta Pi, first issued in 1872. All publish catalogues of their members and the most prosperous have issued histories. They also publish song books, music and many ephemeral and local publications. ”