K. K. K. was a local fraternity established at Dickinson College in 1893. Very little is actually known about this small brotherhood, which dissolved in 1897. However, there appears to be no connection between the Dickinson fraternity and the national group bearing these same initials.
The Delta Charge of the Kappa Gamma fraternity was founded at Dickinson College in 1894. The organization was an inter-fraternity letter society, and its “founding” actually took place at the College’s commencement ceremonies in 1894, when the society’s “yell” was first heard. The group dissolved in 1902.
An organization designed to “promote friendship among a diverse group of women,” the Epsilon Omega Chapter of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority was established at Dickinson College in the fall of 1978.
The Library Guild of Dickinson College was formed on February 20, 1903 after a suggestion from Professor Bradford O. McIntire and was authorized by the Board of Trustees on March 5, 1903 to build an endowment for the purchase of books for the Library. The first constitution directed a board to be appointed and the first trustees named were Dean Mervin Filler, McIntire, John Rhey, class of 1883, and Frysinger Evans, class of 1892. The receipts for the first year were $263.
Classes were asked to participate as they graduated, beginning with the class of 1903, and by 1924 the Guild was receiving gifts from around 350 alumni. By that time the Guild had an endowment of $13,836.36, providing an income which could only be used to purchase library books. During 1923, for example, the Guild was able to purchase 356 new volumes.
Dickinson College’s second literary society for women, the McIntire Literary Society, was founded in 1921. It was named in honor of Professor Bradford O. McIntire, who had been teaching at the college for 30 years at the time the society was established. The McIntire Society seems to have been active for only one year.
Omega Psi was a local sorority founded at Dickinson College in 1899. A national sorority, Chi Omega, adopted the organization in 1907.
During the early twentieth century, hazing was on the rise on many American college campuses. Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania was no exception to this increase, with its main concentration founded in an organization called The Sophomore Band. The Sophomore Band had its own publication entitled The Onion, which was published sporadically from about 1907 to 1911. A copy of the newspaper could be purchased for five cents from the U.S. Lease's News Depot on West Main Street in Carlisle.
The first issue of The Onion stated, "We print ALL THE NEWS, fit or unfit, with preference to the latter." This publication also claimed to be "Published in Hell, under the direct supervision of the Devil." The editors of the paper, members of the Sophomore Band, were attempting to improve and make for a better Dickinson College.
Phi Alpha Pi was a local sorority founded at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1898. It is said that an earlier chapter of this sorority existed on the campus, but had “died a natural death from want of support.” In any case, the latest chapter of Phi Alpha Pi remained a local organization until 1903, when Pi Beta Phi, a national sorority, absorbed it.
The honorary fraternity of Phi Beta Kappa was organized as a student literary society at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, on December 5, 1776. Although the approach of General Cornwallis forced William and Mary to close its doors for a time, by 1779 the group granted charters for the establishment of chapters at Yale and Harvard where the Alpha of Connecticut was created in 1780 and the Alpha of Massachusetts in 1781. These chapters flourished and began to issue other charters in turn. The celebration of the Harvard chapter's centennial led to the formation of the National Council of the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa in 1883, creating a central authority for the 107 year-old order with exclusive power to issue charters.
On September 5, 1886, at its next triennial meeting in Saratoga Springs, NY, the National Council authorized establishment of a chapter at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Dickinson's charter members met April 13th, 1887, preceding the chapter at Lafayette by two days and that of Rochester by five days. Although the margin was close, Dickinson fortuitously became not only the Alpha of Pennsylvania but also the holder of the first charter issued by the United Chapters.
Election to Phi Beta Kappa is based upon overall academic excellence and is determined by the resident members of the chapter. Membership in the fraternity remains the highest academic honor a Dickinson student may attain.
Phi Kappa Delta was a local fraternity founded at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1913. Little is actually known about the organization, but it appears that it drew its members from both the College and the Dickinson Law School. Although the group existed for only one year, some of its members were later listed as members of the Phi Epsilon Pi fraternity, which was established in 1914.
The Phi Nu Theta fraternity became the first Greek organization in the history of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Also known as the Eclectic Fraternity, this organization was founded on May 12, 1852, and consisted of Professor Herman Merrills Johnson and three students. The chapter was short-lived, however, as the College suppressed it after only two months. The faculty condemned any group that would not allow them immediate access at any time, and forced the organization to disband.
The Pennsylvania Gamma Chapter of the Pi Beta Phi sorority was established at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1903.
The first national sorority founded at Dickinson, Pi Beta Phi was first formed from members of a local sorority, Phi Alpha Pi.
Pi Delta Phi is a national honorary for students who have earned scholastic honors in French. The chapter at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania selects its members from the junior and senior classes, and was founded in 1962.
Members of the Reed Society at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania established the organization “for the purpose of advancing themselves in the knowledge of the Law, and in the acquisition of the arts of debate and public speech.”
The Reed Society believed itself to be one of the “most important educational instrumentalities” of the College. The Reed Society, which was named in honor of Judge John Reed, founder of the Dickinson College Law School, was established in 1890, and active until 1895.
A chapter of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity was founded at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1919, though the official chapter designation is unknown.
The founders of Sigma Alpha Mu, who were students at the City College of New York, were of the Jewish faith and espoused a strong Zionist perspective, although the constitution of the brotherhood was later amended to allow any student of "good moral character.”
The chapter at Dickinson remained in existence until 1921.
Sigma Delta Pi is a national honorary society recognizing scholarship in Spanish language and culture. A chapter of Sigma Delta Pi was established at Dickinson College in 1962.
A local sophomore honorary for men, Skitch-A-Genee was established in 1908. It was last mentioned in the 1924 Microcosm.
Skull and Key, a local honorary society for junior men, was established at Dickinson College in 1908. Starting in 1935, these "Black Hats" annually presented a silver loving cup to the freshman man judged to be the outstanding member of his class. The society has been inactive since 1983 when the College faculty disbanded the organization after persistent and serious disciplinary problems.
During the early twentieth century, hazing became a prominent issue on American college campuses. At Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, hazing seemed to develop in response to class rivalries, especially between the freshman and sophomore classes. Tensions increased with contests such as the annual "cap scrap" between freshmen and sophomores and the Yellow Button basketball game. On the College campus, hazing was concentrated for a time among a highly secret group called The Sophomore Band.
The Sophomore Band was founded on December 8, 1899 by twelve members of the Class of 1902. The charter members agreed upon the creed to "Raise the Devil and shun Dockie," as students at the time referred to President George Reed as "Dockie." The main purpose of the Sophomore Band was to terrorize the community as a whole, but freshmen in particular. The Band staged nightly riots, destroyed electric lamps on campus, and made clandestine attacks on other students and College buildings.
A local organization for women who had no affiliation with Greek-letter sororities, Sui Generis was founded at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1956. The organization consisted of former members of a group known as Independent Women, and was active until 1961.
A local drama fraternity, Tau Delta Pi was founded at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1922. After a short period of inactivity, the society was revived in 1938 and remained active through 1949, when the national drama fraternity, Alpha Psi Omega, succeeded it.
The Sigma Chapter of the Theta Delta Chi fraternity was established at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1861. It enjoyed a "fairly vigorous life" until 1875, when the active chapter lapsed. Graduate members reinstated Theta Delta Chi in 1880, and the restored chapter prospered until 1895, when it again ceased to function.
The Pi Pi Chapter of the Theta Nu Epsilon Society was established at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1887. Theta Nu Epsilon selected its members from among those in fraternities at the college and the law school, and occasionally accepted non fraternity students as well. The TNE adage, "Little is known and what is known is kept secret" aptly describes the Society whose chapter at Dickinson may have dissolved in 1905, the last year in which any mention appears in the College yearbook.
Zeta Eta Phi was a local sorority established at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1921. The group was the forerunner of Zeta Tau Alpha, a national sorority whose Dickinson chapter was founded in 1924.
The Alpha Chapter of the Zeta Psi fraternity was established at Dickinson College in 1852. By the next year, the College trustees had forced its members to sign written pledges promising to disband the organization, and even burned the fraternity’s record book, roll book, by-laws, constitution, and initiation ritual. Members of Zeta Psi were likely able to conduct secret meetings after this crackdown, but with the graduation of its last remaining members in 1856, the chapter was permanently dissolved.