1905-06 Volume 30 No 1–5 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

38o THE SCROLL.were made to keep the meeting secret. After a few hours,the Bond having been accepted by all, they separated, C. R.Gaskill returning to Atlanta the same night. The initiationoccurred on June 9; and on June 15, Georgia Alpha granted acharter for Georgia Gamma to the six initiates—B. E. Anderson,'72; G. B. Battle, '72; T. M. Means, '72; W. R.Foote, '73; G. J. Martin, '73; A. F. Barnett, '74.Two Greek-letter fraternities had already been establishedat Emory—K A and X *, both in 1869. * The trusteesof Emory College had recognized K A and X * andenacted a rule prohibiting students from joining fraternitieswhich had not been officially recognized. This was thereason for the great secrecy which was preserved by thecharter members of * A ®. During the weeks before commencement,the new chapter met at all sorts of places and atnnseasonable hours, and succeeded in keeping down allsuspicions as to its existence.During this time they enlisted the support of Rev. AlexanderMeans, D. D., LL.D., a member of the board oftrustees and a resident of Oxford. He was initiated as anhonorary member and he became a strong champion of thefraternity. He took up the fight for recognition in the meetingof the board at commencement in July, and assured thetrustees that, to his own knowledge, 'i> A ® was founded onthe purest of principles.t The board decided to recognizethe fraternity, and on the night following the announcementthe chapter had a rally, and the members then began to wearbadges and colors openly. In the fall of 1871 a room in thesecond story of one of the old dormitory buildings wasassigned by the faculty to the chapter. For many years thefaculty furnished the chapter without charge a room in oneof the college buildings.Two years after * A ® was established at Emory, a disastrousfinancial panic overtook the country, and the hardtimes from 1873 to 1878 reduced the attendance of the collegeto its lowest ebb. During those five years the youngchapter suffered severely. Its membership was small butalways loyal. When prosperity returned to the country and* Both were southern fraternities. In r874 X * united with a northern order by thatname.t Dr. Means remained a firm and faithful friend of the chapter for many year« anduntil his death. He many times evinced his appreciation of membership in the fraternity.On November 21, 1873, he delivered an address before the chapter, and the peroration tothe address, a poem, was included in a book of which he was author. 'A Cluster of Poemsfor the Home and the Hearth." This book, published in New York in 1878, was the firstbook ever published which mentioned * A ®, except books published by the fraternityitself. In 1881 Dr. Means was the poet at a province convention at Atlanta.