1993 Volume 116 No 1–4 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

Miller's Meanderings
Did Morrison know
his Bond number
by Robert J. IVIiller, New IVIexico '50
executive vice president emeritus
Phi Delta Theta's practice of
assigning a Bond number to
each initiate is a well-established
system. Many Phis remember their
Bond numbers all their lives. I have
a friend in Nashville, Tennessee,
who, upon meeting a Brother Phi,
asks him immediately "What is your
Bond number" The inquiring
Brother knows his own Bond
number, of course, and the Bond
numbers of many of his friends as
well.
It is the practice in many chapters
of seating members at chapter
meetings by Bond number, that is, by
the order in which they were
initiated into the Fraternity. Another
idea, developed many years ago, is to
provide room assignments within the
chapter house by Bond ntimber with
the earliest initiate receiving first
choice. No doubt, there are other
ways of putting the Bond number
system to good use.
It is a little-known fact that Bond
numbers did not exist in Phi Delta
Theta at the time the Fraternity was
founded. In fact, all six Founders
entered the Chapter Grand without
knowing that they held the first six
Bond numbers in the Fraternity.
It appears that our Bond number
system began to evolve during the
summer of 1919 with what were then
called "serial numbers." During
March of that year a request went
out to the chapters asking them to
send their Bond books to the recently
established headquarters office in
Oxford, Ohio. Fred R. Cowles, Kansas
'05, had been named Assistant to the
General Council a year earlier, and
an office was provided for him in the
memorial chapter house of the Ohio
Robert Morrison
Alpha chapter. By this time, 110
chapters had been installed, 88 of
them in active operation, and
approximately 25,000 men had been
initiated.
One can imagine the confusion
which resulted in the attempt to
register serial numbers, beginning
with the first initiate in each chapter.
The idea, of course, was to assign the
numbers in the exact sequence of
initiation date. No doubt, some of the
early Bond books had been destroyed
by fire or some other
tragedy, and an effort had to be
made to recreate a list in proper
order. When the initial task was
completed, two problems remained.
As time progressed, the names of
additional initiates were discovered,
so special care was taken to put these
brothers in their proper slots by
attaching a letter to the Bond
number. For example, after Bond
numbers 338 and 339 had been
assigned to brothers initiated by
Tennessee Alpha at Vanderbilt
University, the names of two other
initiates were discovered, who, in
fact, were initiated at the same time.
One was assigned #338a and the
other was given #338b. Similarly,
after #94 and #95 had been
claimed by initiates of the
Pennsylvania Gamma
chapter at Washington &
Jefferson, evidence was
produced that an initiate of
the same era had been
separated from membership.
Even so, the person
needed to be included in the
membership roster, and he
was assigned #94a.
The second problem
involved a person who had
been assigned two numbers,
usually because the individual
transferred to a
second seat of learning and
was given a number by the
chapter with which he
affiliated. Eventually, the
numbers recorded by the
second chapter were
discovered and the name
removed. That is why, for example,
there is no name assigned to Bond
number 45 in the Ohio Beta chapter
at Ohio Wesleyan University.
Reference to "serial numbers"
continues through 1922 before we
find the term "Bond" number
appearing in the General Council
minutes for 1923.
In conjunction with this project of
assigning numbers to all initiates,
chapter officers were instructed
henceforth to list their initiates by
number when submitting initiation
reports. With the establishment of a
Central Office in Indianapolis in
1921, no doubt, the record-keeping
became more efficient, and today we
have a simplified method of accounting
for the total number of persons
initiated into Phi Delta Theta. •
170 The ScroU * Summer 1993