TRAPPED IN A MASONIC WORLD

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Most have a period of ‗pledgeship‘ before extending to full membership. Some have changed the name
of ‗pledgeship‘ due to negative connotations to the process such as calling pledges ‗postulants‘ instead, or
have given up the process in favour of other joining requirements.. Upon completion of the pledgeship and
other requirements, they are then termed ‗pledges‘. Those existing members of the fraternity will then
invite the ‗pledges‘ to be initiated, and when do so, will become full members of the fraternity, - initiation
of new members often includes secret ceremonies and rituals. Organisations governed by the IFC, NPC,
NALFO, NMGC and NAIC have very different recruitment processes. Requirements vary, so specify a
minimum grade point average, the wearing of a pledge pin, learning about the history and structure of the
fraternity, and performing public service, such as charity work or volunteering.
When a school places an age or tenure requirement on joining, this is called ‗deferred recruitment‘, as
joining is deferred for a term period or year. The pledgeship time also serves as a probationary period in
which the fraternity, its other members, and the pledge themselves can decide if they are compatible or not,
if the existing members of the fraternity take a dislike to one of these new ‗pledges‘ whilst still on a
probationary period, and they wish to get rid of them, then often enough bullying in the term known as
hazing is then often employed by the other members.
Public Ivy - is a term coined by Richard Moll in his 1985 book Public Ivies: to refer to universities
which provide an Ivy League collegiate experience at a public school price. The eight institutions are
Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University,
Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University. [6] Baird‘s Manual of American
College Fraternities is a compendium of fraternities and sororities in the United States and Canada first
published in 1879. It covers national and international general [social], professional, and honour
fraternities, including defunct organisations, with an overview of each society‘s history and traditions,
ideals and symbols, and membership information. The 20th and most recent edition, published in 1991,
was over 1,200 pages long.
Don‘t think because these fraternities were mainly formed in the 1800‘s, that it‘s an ancient thing,
because it‘s not, as today in 2011, these groups are very much alive and kicking with far greater numbers
of members than there has ever been before. As I‘ve mentioned, some college fraternities in the North
American fraternity and sorority system have been organised into groupings called ‗Triads‘, or ‗Duos‘. [7]
The Union Triad are three general fraternities all founded at Union College in New York: the Kappa Alpha
Society established in 1825, - as of 2011 there are eight active chapters in the US and Canada.
Sigma Phi formed in 1827 is the second oldest Greek fraternal organisation in the United States. In
addition, its Union College chapter has been in continual operation since it was founded, making it the
oldest fraternity chapter in the United States. The practices and rituals of the Sigma Phi Society are still
relatively unknown, as they have continued as a secret society, - and the Delta Phi founded in1827, was the
third and last member of this Triad, the organisation has never disbanded, making it the oldest
continuously running social fraternity, and in fact these three are the oldest continuously existing Greekletter
social fraternities in North America.
Union College along with Miami University [for the Miami Triad] are considered the ‗Mother of
Fraternities‘.
Delta Phi [8] and the other fraternities of the Union Triad were established during a time of strong anti-
Masonic sentiment in the United States, and because fraternities were ‗secret societies‘ at the time, they
also became targets of the anti-Masonic movement. This led Phi Beta Kappa, the original fraternity, to
abandon ‗secrecy‘ and become an ‗honour society‘. In the 1830‘s member John Jay Hyde went on to
design the badge still worn by members of Delta Phi, which includes a Maltese Cross, the symbol used by
the Knights of Malta, and this connection with the Knights of Malta led Delta Phi to become known as the
St. Elmo Club, a name first used by the ‗Omicron chapter‘ at Yale University, which since has transformed
into a senior secret society known as the St. Elmo Society.
The ‗brothers‘ there used the name of ‗St. Elmo‘, the patron saint of mariners and the Knights of Malta.
Some of Delta Phi‘s chapter houses are also known as St. Elmo‘s Hall. St. Elmo Society, Elmo‘s as many
refer to it, is a secret society at Yale University, founded in 1889 as an independent entity for seniors
within the nationally chartered fraternity, Delta Phi [ΓΦ], Omicron Chapter [1889-1925]. St. Elmo‘s Sheff
predecessors Berzelius [1848] and Book and Snake [1863] both still exist today in 2011. [‗Sheff‘s‘ as in
Sheffield Scientific School founded in 1847, named so in 1861 in honour of Joseph E. Sheffield.] [9]
The Yale societies limited their membership to 15 or 16 in a class year, and it‘s common to find similar