Beta Theta Pi Information
Beta Theta Pi Information
Beta Theta Pi Information
o
o
CHORUS
Salve! BetaThetaPi,tureginapura;
Cara tu meo cordi, cara, cara, cura.
Stella quisquay scintillet,
Sunt omnes aequales,
Nunc adsint si quillibet,
Internos sodales.
o
CHORUS
Inter fratres veritas,
Honor amicitia,
Fides, virtus jus et fas,
Omnes sint notitia.
CHORUS
Again, the Beta is distinguishable and distinguished from all other kinds of fraternity men whatsoever by
just a little warmer and stronger, just a little tenderer and more enduring fraternity feeling than any of
them can attain to. For it was always so.
I do not in the least know how it happened, nor why it persisted after it happened, but a long time ago
there came into Beta Theta Pi a fraternity spirit that was, and is, and apparently will continue to be,
unique. We know it, who are inside and they see and record it who are outside the Beta Pale.
Whether young or old, in college or out, from the small school or the great university, we are conscious
of a heritage of genuine fraternalism that has not been vouchsafed in like measure -I say it deliberatelyto any other of the great college fraternities.
And we cannot doubt that in this, as in other respects, our future will copy fair our past and that in the
world of fifty years from now, as in that of years ago -as in that that lies around us today- the first mark
of a beta will be his beta spirit.
--Willis O Robb, Ohio Wesleyan 1879
Bells:
The Peal of the Bells in this Tower was dedicated to the service of Miami University by Beta Theta Pi
one hundred years after its foundation here on August 8, 1839
This tower was presented to Miami University by Beta Theta Pi the first college fraternity to be founded
west of the Allegheny Mountains
Beta Campanile
Visitors of the Beta Administrative Office north of Oxford can view it through a
telescope which is trained on the bell tower which peeks above the Elms a half-mile away
Bronze plaques affixed to the Beta Campanile attest to Betas founding and the
dedication of the bells
Badges
Kirby Badge
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Four straight edges on previous badges were curved inward to made all 8 sides
concave.
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Known as the Kirby badge because it was manufactured by Kirby in New Haven,
CT
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Authorized exclusively for chapter presidents today
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Newman Badge
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Frist attempt at a standard badge made by the convention of 1878
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Wearing the Badge
The standard badge of the Fraternity is to be worn over the heart and in a manner
befitting the honor and dignity to which the badge is entitled. The use of the badge as a
ring, as a decoration or as a graphic element on printed matter or T-shirts or in any other
manner, other than as the official badge of Beta Theta Pi, is specifically prohibited.
A member may, however, permit his mother, wife, daughter, sister or fiance to wear the
standard badge or the miniature Mothers Badge.
Origin of Fraternities
Marshall mentions a student known as Grimke Swan (George A. Swan) who threatens to
expose the society if he is not initiated
Linton, Hardin, Marshall, and Knox agree to do a mock initiation of George Swan
Died in 1840
Wooglin-on-Chautauqua
On its way to 1883 Convention at Saratoga Springs, NY, at the urging of Charles J.
Seaman, Denison, 1871 a party of people met at Chautauqua Lake in western New York
Not official
1892 Convention created the Execuitve Committee which was in conflicting interests
with the Board of Directors which had been created in 1879
1897 Convention revised Constitution and created the leadership of the fraternity that is
still in place today
Constitution committee
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William A. Hamilton, Northwestern, 1879
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Wyllys C. Ransom, Michigan, 1848
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General Secretary J. Calvin Hanna, Wooster, 1881
!
Most important Beta of 19th century with the exception of
the founders