Desert Alumnae Association
Kay Smith Larson, History Chairman 2002-2010 April 2009
How were chapters named before the 1916 Convention? I understand that since that Convention, when naming a second chapter on the same campus, “deuteron” is added to the chapter’s original name, but I am confused by Beta Beta Deuteron’s name.
The order in which chapters are named began with the Fraternity’s first chapter, Alpha, and continued through the final letter of the Greek alphabet, Omega. Once all 24 single letters were used, Beta (meaning second) was used in front of each Greek letter.
If a single-letter chapter closed, a newly established chapter on another campus was given that letter preceded by “Beta.” This was a way to keep that closed chapter’s memory alive.
Alpha Chapter closed in 1884. When a chapter was established at Pennsylvania in 1890, that chapter was named Beta Alpha. Similarly, Beta at St. Mary’s School in Knoxville, Ill., closed in 1874. A chapter established in 1881 at St. Lawrence was named Beta Beta. That chapter closed in 1903, but when a new chapter was established at St. Lawrence in 1915, it was given the name Beta Beta Deuteron – Beta Beta from the original St. Lawrence chapter and Deuteron to designate the chapter as the second Beta Beta chapter on that campus.
Tau Chapter was established in the fall of 1881 at Lasell Female Seminary in Auburndale, Mass., and was closed by the 1882 Convention. When the chapter at Syracuse was founded in 1883, it was given the name Tau in honor of the closed chapter at Lasell Female Seminary. The chapter at Syracuse was then renamed “Beta Tau” by vote of the 1890 Convention to distinguish the Syracuse Tau from the Lasell Tau, “Beta” to show it was the second Tau chapter. Several other chapters fell under this particular naming practice: Beta Gamma, Beta Zeta, Beta Nu, Beta Delta, Beta Epsilon, Beta Eta Deuteron, Beta Iota and Beta Lambda.
Perhaps the most interesting chapter name is Rho, which was given to three different chapters. Rho Chapter was originally chartered at Ohio Wesleyan University in 1880 and closed in 1884. In 1885, the name Rho was given to the chapter at Cincinnati, which closed later that year. In 1888, Rho was given to the chapter located at Allegheny College, which remains in existence.
At the Convention in 1890, Ohio Wesleyan kept Rho, as it was the original chapter to hold the name. Cincinnati was changed to Beta Rho to indicate that it was the second time Rho was used for a chapter. Allegheny was changed to Gamma Rho to indicate that it was the third time Rho was used.
How could my chapter, Syracuse, be considered the 67th chapter founded when it was established in 1883? The numeral in front of each chapter’s name does not designate the order in which the chapter was founded. These numerals were added when the Fraternity began keeping records of its members in a card catalog file at the Central Office. If you look at the Permanent Roll of Chapters, which lists the chapters in founding order, Beta Tau was actually the 25th chapter founded.
Thank goodness for the 1890 and 1916 conventions or we would have a terrible time keeping track of our chapters! It’s amazing that Kappa devised this system by 1890, which is pretty early in the Fraternity’s history. And, the decision made 93 years ago at the 1916 Convention regarding the naming of chapters is logical today. Many women’s, men’s and honorary organizations, including Phi Beta Kappa, record their chapters this way.