University of South Carolina Columbia - Garnet and Black Yearbook (Columbia, SC)

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I f '7x I fx U r Qs ' - ' 1, -- , f ,',' , .- The Greek System Moves Up By Karen Petit za While the same fraternity cry to go Greek has penetrated the Carolina campus for years, the role of the tradi- tional fraternity member has gradu- ally changed. From early years as underground groups seeking reorgani- zation in 1927, and a later more party- goer and philanthropist combined, the campus Freddie Fraternity and Susie Sorority have become involved in a whirlwind of social activities since early formation of the groups. Never let it be said that the Caro- lina male has ever been at a loss for something to do. When fraternity life came to campus in the form of Delta Psi in 1850, another dimension was added in Carolina history. This frater- nity, along with Delta Kappa Epsilon 118525 and Beta Theta Pi 118585, was to exist until the outbreak of the Civil War. Two others, however, Phi Kappa Psi 118575 and Kappa Psi 118585 continued even after the war. Initiation fees and dues at the time were srnall because of impoverished' conditions. Phi Kappa Psi lasted until 1892 with Kappa Psi dying out in 1897. As the campus expanded in post war years, so did the number of frater- nities - Kappa Alpha 118805, Sigma Alpha Epsilon 118825, Phi Theta Delta 11882j, Alpha Tau Omega 118835, Sigma Nu 118865, Chi Psi 118895, Kappa Sigma 1189Oj, and Pi Kappa Alpha 118901. And, with the spread of fraternity growth, the future of Euphradian and Clariosophic liter- ary societies became jeopardized as they took a subordinate role to the new social activities. Society office became less an honor in itself and more a prize to be won by one frater- nity in competition with another. To be a lion on campus, or today what we call a greek brother, a male had to belong to one of the social fra- ternities. Within the fraternity, the early frat found an organization for both fellowship and social exclusion. It was this social existence and elitist barb that aided in S.C.C.'s being con- sidered an aristocratic school in the late 19th Century. Opposition to fraternity groups came from a group called barbarians, or non-members. The hostility between frats and non-frats, who felt themselves socially ostra- cized, grew as the years passed. In pro- test to what they called aristocratic privilege, 42 barbarians', petitioned in 1896 for the abolition of fraterni- ties. These non-Greek students blamed the fraternities for their cultural snob- bery and stated that the Greeks were responsible for many of the school's ills. Among these were lacking in school spirit, attending literary society meetings only to vote their brothers into office, and bringing the death of the honor system by refusing to report cases of cheating. The 51 Greek members rallied to defend themselves by denying charges of political power play. Searching back into history, they even noted instances when testimony by frater- nity men had resulted in the convic- tion of fraternity brothers. While trustees formed a committee to review the charges, the barbarians found sympathetic listeners in their cause in the state legislature. In 1897 Rep. Calvin W. Garris of Colleton County introduced a bill to prohibit Greek letter fraternities on campus. The measure passed both houses and became law in the same year. Chapters of Kappa Alpha, Pi Kappa Phi, and Sigma Alpha Epsilon went underground to maintain their organization despite their prohibition in 1897. In 1913 these groups finally agreed to abolish their chapters. When a bill to permit fraternities at the University was narrowly defeated in 1920, USC President William S. Currell said the groups were again flourishing as sub-rosa chapters. The Democratic Club was formed by anti- fraternity men to protest the sub-rosa chapters. Bitter antagonism arose between the groups from 1920-1921. In 1927 the General Assembly agreed to lift its ban on social fraterni- ties. With restrictions lifted, fraterni- ties and newly formed sororities began a new era in USC history. This was the age of the flapper and bath- tub gin and Greek organizations became social leaders rather than bas- tions of privilege. Sororities were introduced to the changing USC environment in 1927 when the Scarabean Club's petition to Alpha Delta, Pi was sponsored by the Columbia Alumnae Club of that sorority. In Pebniary 1928, the Beta Epsilon chapter of ADPi was char- tered and ADPi became USC's first national sorority on campus. Chi Gmega and Delta Zeta soon became campus sisters.

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Cecilia Saxon, a graduate of the first class and a teacher then at Booker T. Washington. Upon hearing an account of the class's experiences, Mrs. Elliott returned to the University to find history pages void of the information. She was told then by University offi- cials that theqsubject was taboo on campus and should continue as it had before - buried, untouched, and forgotten. It wasn't until Gov. Ben Till- man's administration in 1894 that coeducation would be instituted. The years just prior to World War I constitute the second phase of coeducational growth. Located at the Preston-Hampton mansion was the College for Women, a Colum- bia independent college closely associated with the Presbyterian Church. President of the college was Miss Euphenia McClintock, a very efficient and popular presi- dent, who nevertheless was a poor business manager. With the Euro- pean crisis threatening American security and involvement, Miss McClintock found her college's 360,000 debt insurmountable. For 1915 this was a lot of money, too much money for her school. With no future as an independent col- lege, she pleaded with the state leg- islature to take over her school and combine it with the University. But 360,000 was also too great a debt for the poor state and the leg- islature refused her appeal. When Chicora College merged with the ailing school, much antagonism arose between these two institu- tions. Supporters of McClintock's college established a professorship at USC to be given in southern studies in honor of Miss McClintock. Also, McClintock dor- mitory is named for her. According to Mrs. Elliott, Miss McClintock should have been USC's first dean of women. The state should have taken over her school and combined it with USC. The McClintock era overlaps the opening World War I years and the next phase of coeducation at USC. As many male students left school to join the war, university officials looked at the declining enrollment with alarm. Fearing a during the years 1924-35. possible repeat of Civil War condi- tions when the academic halls sud- denly emptied, the administration decided to allow Coeds to live in University dormitories. Mrs. B. L. Parkinson who became advisor to the female students moved into Rutledge with the girls. While Mrs. Parkinson was actu- allyfirst dean of women, the Uni- versity did not give her the title or consider her a member of the fac- ulty. This second female occupa- tion of Rutledge lasted only for the war's duration. The close of World War I intro- duced the final chapter in coeduca- tion as well as the beginnings of Mrs. Elliott's association with USC. In 1922 both the South Caro- lina Federation of Women's Clubs and USC President William Mel- ton began full campaigns for offi- cial coeducation at the University. During December, 1923, Mrs. Elliott, then Miss Irene Dillard, met with Melton. He said USC was going to have a dormitory for women, a dean of women, and offi- cial 'coeducation within the coming year. Melton's criteria for the dean of women included that she must have a Ph.D., have a full professor- ship with membership on every committee relevant to coeducation, and the same salary as her male peers. When Mel- ton offered Mrs. Elliott the job, she refused saying that she already had a job offer in LaGrange, Ga. A graduate of Randolph Macon Women's College and professor there for seven years, Mrs. Elliott was currently working on her dissertation at the University of North Carolina at the time of Mel- ton's offer. In june, 1924, she received the first Ph.D. given to a woman at that school and accepted the position of dean of women at USC. As first dean of women, she also became USC's first female faculty member. She served as dean from August, 1924, until June 30, 1955, when poor health caused her to resign. A shortage of English pro- fessors in 1946 brought her back to USC where she taught until 1964. Those last 18 years were her happiest years of teaching, she said. Looking back on the deanship I worried and grieved over problems that naturally arose. Her dedication to the University continues today and she seems to know more about current campus life than most students do. A charming and gracious lady, Mrs. Elliott has given USC a rich legacy in coeducation. This Darwinian web of coed evolution clings delicately to for- gotten pages and lies hidden in untold memories. USC owes Mrs. Elliott more than a debt in her coeducation story. We owe her a tradition. Editor's Note: In preparation for this story, Mrs. Elliott was inter- viewed at her Columbia home where she still resides.

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tive activities. The University in 1927 considered Greek organizations valuable in the orientation and supervision of fresh- man students, keeping alive the inter- ests of alumni in the institution, and providing a common meeting ground for faculty, alumni, and students. The school did, however, fear that the groups might deteriorate into combi- nations of bridge clubs, gossip marts, political meetings and clothing exchanges. By the end of the Depression, fra- ternity pins became the popular counterpart of pull-over sweaters and many young males searched hard to find the necessary funds for the initia- tion fees. Both sorority and non-soror- ity girls were guests at fraternity dances, became Garnet and Black beauties, and served as University sponsors at campus functions. Many of these distinctions became only memories when sororities gave up rented houses in town to move to Wade Hampton dormitory. Then began the era of the 1940's when fraternities and sororities took new life in the years following World War II. After 1945 came more parties and greater emphasis on the Greek system. The sorority's parent group, the Pan-Hellenic Council, served as a court of investigation and trial to inflict punishment for the breach of any of the different sorority's various rules. Social obligations for fraternity members quietly sneaked to the back corners of the neon sign life to begin undertakings of greater benefit to themselves, their fellow men, and their alma mater. During 1945, Sigma Chi began its traditional Derby Day, a day for games and contests among sorority members in order to raise money for charity by sponsoring Derby Day. Fraternlty Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Tau Omega Chi Psi Kappa Alpha Kappa Alpha PS1 Kappa Slgm Lambda Chi Alpha Omega Psi Phi Phi Delta Theta Phi Kappa Psi Phi Kappa Sigma Pi Kappa Alpha Pi Kappa Phi Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Chi Sigma Nu Sigma Phi Epsilon Zeta Beta Tau Founded 1973 1927 1956 1927 1970 1929 1945 1973 1964 1972 1929 1927 1927 1927 1929 1928 1951 1928 Sorority parties during these years included bridge, Sunday night drop- ins, coffee hours, and of course, fried chicken feasts. For fraternities there have been tap and Spanish dancing parties, Toga parties, blanket parties, and the traditional smokers where there is no liquor or girls so the group can discuss the serious business of being a fraternity brother. Anti-fraternity feelings in the 1960's during a period of campus unrest forced many fraternities to take a long look at themselves and evaluate their standing on campus. Campus growth during these years was phe- nomenal. Yet modern fraternity mem- bership often remained stagnant. Facing an identity crisis, Greeks have currently become more inter- ested in taking emphasis off the Greek system itself with more .empha- sis on thetotal person. A sorority or fraternity is a social organization but today members consider Greek life a 24-hour-a-day experience of providing an individual with an identity and a way of caring about one another in a potentially large, impersonal college situation. Of the undergraduate en-rollment, about one in every 10 is a member of the Greek system. Philanthropic goals are also a part of the Greek system. Greeks spend many long hours raising money for such worthwhile projects as the Bab- cock Center for retarded children, Midlands Center for retarded chil- dren, and the United Fund Drive. Kappa Alpha Psi became the first black fraternity in the spring of 1970 and brought a new era to fraternity life. Delta Sigma Theta, USC's first black sorority, was founded in Febru- ary, 1973. Like the early fraternities and sororities, these organizations are both social and service oriented. In 1971, Pi Kappa Phi fraternity started a new tradition on campus for homecoming week. Deciding that something was needed in order to improve the spirit at Carolina, Pi Kappa Phi researched the activities of other schools. Finding that Clemson had a variety show and Florida the Gator Growl, the fraternity sponsored Cockfest. The event features skits, a parade, and entertainment during the homecoming week. The initial rush process for frater- nities and sororities membership dif- fer today from earlier times although once these procedures remained very similar from year to year. Sorority rush begins in early September when rushees are ushered during open house from one sorority room to another, inspected, and then either approved or rejected. After open house comes invitations and first night parties, and invitations and last night parties. There are cutting ses- sions by both groups in which girls are reviewed and selected and the final day comes when bids are given to future sorority members. Fraternity rush has changed how- ever. Selection has become much less formal and in comparison with soror- ity rush has become a bit more humanized. Rush involves two nights of open house with individual frater- Sorority Arr . A a a a p a Chli Ome Pap Delta Defta Delta Delta Sigma Theta Delta Zeta Kappa Delta Kappa Kappa Gamma Pi Beta Phi Sigma Gamma Rho Sigma Sigma Sigma Zeta Tau Alpha Founded 1928 1973 1928 1928 1973 1928 1940 1967 1931 1974 1975 1929 nities deciding on their own respec Membership in the Greek system has its advantages and disadvantages. Test files are often kept by the vari- ous groups for members' use. Yet the Greek life can be a four year program of refuge from a large campus environment, a way of culti- vating friendship, and one step on the social ladder for all. Nevertheless, less than 10 percent of USC students actually participate in the Greek system today. That's a far cry from years, past when more than half of the student body pledged a Greek organization. Apparently the reason for the fateful plunge has been the onslaught of the socially con- scious and politically active student. 29