Zeta Psi

Letters	ΖΨ
Name	Zeta Psi
Crest
Founded
Birthplace	New York University
Type	Social
Scope	International
Chapters	43 Active, 32 Inactive
Colors	White
Motto	ΤΚΦ (Tau Kappa Phi)
Flower	White Carnation
Publication	The Circle
Factoid	The first coast-to-coast Greek-letter organization, The first international Greek-letter organization, The first intercontinental Greek-letter organization
Philanthropy	Zete Kids USA
Address	15 South Henry St
City	Pearl River
State	New York
Country	USA
Free label	Nickname
Free	Zetes (“zetes”)
Homepage	http://www.zetapsi.org

The Zeta Psi Fraternity of North America (ΖΨ) was founded June 1, 1847 as a social college fraternity. The organization now comprises about fifty active chapters and twenty-five inactive chapters, encompassing roughly twenty thousand brothers, and is a founding member of the North-American Interfraternity Conference. It has historically been selective about the campuses at which it establishes chapters, focusing on forging new territory and maintaining a presence at prestigious institutions: it was the first Fraternity on the West Coast at the University of California at Berkeley June 10, 1870, the first Fraternity in Canada at the University of Toronto, March 27, 1879, and the first Fraternity to have a chapter at an Ivy League institution. It is also the only fraternity to have chapters simultaneously at all eight Ivy League schools with the chartering of Eta at Yale University in 1889 (though this claim lasted only a few years, owing to burgeoning faculty opposition to the Princeton chapter). The fraternity became bi-continental on May 3, 2008 with the chartering of Iota Omicron at the University of Oxford.

Its international headquarters is located in Pearl River, New York. Its current president is M. Lauck Walton, who was elected in 2010.

History

1847 to 1860: Foundation and early expansion

On the first of June in 1847, three young men gathered in a New York City bungalow with a purpose in mind: the constitution of a new Greek-letter society. Their names were John Bradt Yates Sommers, William Henry Dayton, and John Moon Skillman.

Then students at New York University (itself a young campus, only founded in 1831), the three men formed the core of the first chapter, Phi. But William Dayton was stricken with poor health, and departed New York shortly afterwards for more temperate climes. He retired to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where the warm weather and liberal policies were expected to improve his humors, intending to begin a chapter there. But the move was inauspicious: Dayton died within the year, and the University of North Carolina was without a chapter of Zeta Psi for over a decade.

The Phi chapter at NYU persisted in his absence, and graduated its first member the next year with George S Woodhull (Φ '48). The second chapter was established as Zeta at Williams College in Massachusetts. The Delta chapter was founded at Rutgers University later that year,

But expansion proceeded apace throughout the 1850s at a rate of several chapters per year: Epsilon was chartered at Brown University and Rho (later re-chartered as Rho Epsilon) at Harvard University in 1852; Psi (later re-chartered as Psi Epsilon) at Dartmouth College in 1853; Kappa at Tufts University in 1855; Theta at Union College in 1856; Tau at Lafayette College in 1857; Xi at University of Michigan in 1858. Also in 1858, the Upsilon chapter was finally founded at the University of North Carolina, fulfilling the purpose of Brother Dayton in his last journey south. And in that year an abortive attempt was made to colonize Amherst College with the Pi chapter, which was rechartered at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1865 as the war among the several states loomed large.

Nor was Zeta Psi content even to remain a national Fraternity, but also pressed northward into Canada. The brothers of the Xi chapter at the University of Michigan in 1879 constituted the Theta Xi chapter at the University of Toronto, making Zeta Psi the first international Fraternity as well. Since then, Zeta Psi has actively bolstered its Canadian presence, commissioning a director solely for Canadian chapter development and amassing a long list of successful chapters there.

The end of the nineteenth century was fecund ground for Zeta Psi. It took root at no fewer than fourteen colleges in those latter days: Omega was founded at University of Chicago in 1864; Pi at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1865; Lambda, Bowdoin College, 1867; Beta, University of Virginia, 1868; Psi, Cornell University, 1868; Iota, UC Berkeley, 1870; Gamma, first at the US Naval Academy in 1874, and then at Syracuse College in 1875 after the government proscribed Fraternities at its military academies; Theta Xi, University of Toronto, 1879; Alpha, Columbia University, 1879; Alpha Psi, McGill University, 1883; Nu, Case Western Reserve, 1884; Eta, Yale, 1889; Mu, Stanford, 1892; Alpha Beta, University of Minnesota, 1899 (The establishment of the Eta chapter at Yale made Zeta Psi the only fraternity to establish chapters at all eight Ivy-League schools). noted for his bold reorganization of civilian military control during World War I. Even after the war, Crowell remained politically powerful, and was later instrumental in engineering the repeal of National Prohibition.

Regalia and symbols

Colors

The official color of the fraternity is white, the unofficial secondary colors are gold and black.

Flower

The fraternity flower is the white carnation.

The Chapter

Published in 1869, The Chapter was a brief compilation of poems written by members of the Zeta Psi Fraternity.

Songs of the Zeta Psi Fraternity

First published in 1871, by undergraduate members of the Psi Chapter at Cornell University, Songs of the Zeta Psi Fraternity contains a collection of songs about the Zeta Psi Fraternity. Later editions appeared in 1890, 1897, 1903, 1914, and 1958.

The Circle

First published in June 1909, The Circle is annual publication of the fraternity. The corresponding secretary has the duty of filing a report for The Circle every year. The Circle was preceded by other periodic publications that were unsuccessful. These publications were "The Zeta Psi Monthly" published in 1883; "The Zeta Psi Quatrerly" published from 1884 to 1886; and "The Buletin of the Zeta Psi Fraternity of North America" first published in 1897.

The Story of Zeta Psi

Published in 1928, with two later editions, The Story of Zeta Psi contains the detailed history of the fraternity and each chapter founded up to the point of publication.

Pledge Manual of the Zeta Psi Fraternity of North America

The first published in 1954, the Pledge Manual of the Zeta Psi Fraternity of North America remains in publication and is a crucial source of information for men pledging the Zeta Psi Fraternity.

Famous members

Chapters

Zeta Psi, like all conventional university fraternities, operates as chapters at various campuses around North America and the world. Zeta Psi has chapters in three countries Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Active chapters

The active chapter is the core of the Zeta Psi experience.

Chapter governance

Zeta Psi is modeled after most modern democracies in that they have legislative, judicial, and executive branches of governance.

Greek-letter officers

There are seven Greek-letter officers that act as the chapter's executive.

Phi - Φ - President and executive head

Alpha Phi - ΑΦ - Vice-president and risk management officer

Sigma - Σ - Secretary

Alpha Sigma - ΑΣ - Corresponding secretary

Gamma - Γ - Treasurer and fiscal officer

Delta - Δ - Chapter historian

Sigma Rho - ΣΡ - Sergeant-at-arms

Chapter meeting

Each chapter meeting with due quorum has the authority to act as the legislative organ of the chapter. Most chapters run their meetings with parliamentary rules of order.

Supreme Council

The Supreme Council is the chapter's only judicial body. It has authority to rule on almost any matter and its proceedings are held in camera. It is composed of the Phi and Alpha Phi and at least three elected members-at-large.

Naming

Each chapter in Zeta Psi has a unique name composed of one or two Greek letters. A petitioning colony that receives a charter chooses a name for their chapter. From this point on, the name is fixed. Even if the chapter goes inactive—in that it has no undergraduate members—the name will be taken up by any group that re-establishes a chapter at the university campus.

The name can be based on many different factors. For instance, it is common for new chapters to take on an element from an existent chapter that has helped them form. Theta Xi in Toronto adopted the Xi from their neighbor chapter in Michigan, and in turn every chapter in Ontario has a "Theta" as part of their name from their relationship to the Toronto chapter. Other times, a name is related to other factors like the Roman Catholic Villanova University chapter being named Alpha Omega due to the Christian significance.

A one or two letter name can only be re-used if the chapter possessing the name is pronounced "deceased." This has not happened since 1892.

Elder chapters

For each undergraduate chapter at a campus, there is a corresponding elder chapter composed of alumni members.

Chapter governance

An elder chapter has a similar organizational structure to the active chapter, with Greek-letter officers and a supreme council.

Greek-letter officers

There are only six Greek-letter officers in the elder chapter that act as its executive.

Phi - Φ - Elder President

Alpha Phi - ΑΦ - Elder Vice-president

Sigma - Σ - Elder Secretary

Gamma - Γ - Elder Treasurer

Delta - Δ - Elder historian

Beta Pi - ΒΠ - Elder advisor to the active chapter

Chapter meeting

Elder chapters are also required to hold annual chapter meetings to serve as a legislative body.

Supreme Council

The Supreme Council is the chapter's only judicial body. It has authority to rule on almost any matter and its proceedings. It may hear appeals and rule on matter from the active supreme council. It is composed of all the elder officers and at least three elected members-at-large.

Naming

The elder chapter has the same name as the active chapter but has different organization, powers, and is legally a separate entity.

Geographical associations

Geographical associations are similar to elder chapters, in that they are composed of alumni and have a vote at Grand Chapter. However, they are larger scope and have no active affiliation. Geographical associations mostly base their membership on alumni living in a metropolitan area.

Active geographical associations (as of 2006)

Zeta Psi Washington, D.C. Elders Association

Zeta Psi New York City Elders Association

Zeta Psi Chicago Alumni Club

Zeta Psi Boston Alumni Club

Zeta Psi Arizona Alumni Club

Zeta Psi Dallas Alumni Club

Houston Association of Zeta Psi

Southern California Association of Zeta Psi Alumni

Zeta Psi Alumni Association of Greater Pittsburgh

Zeta Psi Elders Association of Toronto

Grand Chapter

The Grand Chapter is composed of the seven grand officers and one voting delegate from each active and elder chapter and geographical association. The Grand Chapter has complete and total authority over Zeta Psi.

Chapter governance

An elder chapter has a similar organizational structure to the active chapter, with Greek-letter officers but with an executive committee in place of a supreme council.

Greek-letter officers

Grand Chapter has the same number and function of Greek-letter officers however, the name has an additional "alpha" to denote it as different. At one point in time, there were several appointed officers each designated Chi Phi Alpha (ΧΦΑ) of a particular area (e.g. Canada, or the Northwest United States) which served as geographical representatives to the Grand Chapter.

Phi Alpha - ΦΑ - President and executive head

Alpha Phi Alpha - ΑΦΑ - Vice-president

Sigma Alpha - ΣΑ - Secretary

Alpha Sigma Alpha - ΑΣΑ - Assistant secretary (appointed)

Gamma Alpha - ΓΑ - Treasurer and fiscal officer

Delta Alpha - ΔΑ - Fraternity historian

Sigma Rho Alpha - ΣΡΑ - Sergeant-at-arms (appointed)

Annual meeting of the Board of Delegates

The Board of Delegates elects the Grand Chapter officers and may amend the by-laws and act as the legislative body of the Grand Chapter.

Executive Committee

The executive committee is constituted as follows : "Phi Alpha, Alpha Phi Alpha, Sigma Alpha, Gamma Alpha, Delta Alpha, and six representatives duly elected at large from the Fraternity for one year terms." In addition one member, but no more than two, must be members of an active chapter.

Notes

External links

Zeta Psi Washington, DC Elders Association's official site

Zeta Psi members in politics

Minnesota Association of Zeta Psi

Category:Organizations established in 1847 Category:International student societies Category:Fraternities and sororities Category:North-American Interfraternity Conference