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List of Massachusetts Institute of Technology fraternities and sororities
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Following is a list of Massachusetts Institute of Technology fraternities and sororities, as well as independent living groups.
MIT's fraternities and sororities
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The first, or pioneer, fraternity on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) campus was Chi Phi, established in 1873.[a] However many of the early professors and deans of the Institute held fraternity memberships from their collegiate days, as by the time Chi Phi at MIT had appeared fraternities had already been thriving at America's earliest campuses for almost 100 years.[b] MIT's third president, Francis Amasa Walker was a member of ΔΚΕ as an undergrad at Yale.
As of 2020, MIT hosts 29 academic fraternities, 10 academic sororities, 12 national or local honors societies and recognition organizations, 2 professional societies, 5 Independent Living Groups, and 1 service- or religious-focused chapter.[1][c]
Within this article, the terms "Fraternity" and "Sorority" are used somewhat interchangeably, with men's and co-ed groups normally using Fraternity, and women's groups using either Fraternity or Sorority. For convenience, the term "Greek Letter Society" is a generic substitute. The word "Greek" in this case refers to the use of Greek Letters for each society's name, and not to Greek ethnicity. For brevity, the sections below make extensive use of Greek letters, one of the first items in a new member's instruction program. Most fraternities use two or three Greek letters to signify their symbolic or secret names; a few use non-Greek words.[d]
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History
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Many MIT fraternities are located in Boston because the Institute was originally located in the Back Bay neighborhood, and had no dormitories to house its students. The fraternities and various dining clubs met a need for room and board that was not provided by the operations of the campus. Fraternity housing has continued to expand, both in terms of the size and quality of the individual buildings as well as the number of chapters. In 1900 the percentage of fraternity men at "Technology", as was the name of the school at that time, was 16.1%; today the percentage is almost 50% of men, and 30% of women.[2] Several of MIT's fraternity buildings are today listed on the National Register of Historic Places or are otherwise notable. These include former governor's mansions, college deans' mansions, and homes of various early leaders who once resided there.[3] Quality facilities remain a focus for many groups. A cursory search of Institute yearbooks will show that dining, and later, fine dining, has remained of particular interest to participants. Many chapters and ILGs extol the quality of their gourmet or commercial kitchens in their photo tours and rush materials.

MIT moved to its Cambridge campus in 1916, and newer independent living groups have sprouted up or moved in around it. Many early chapters had been situated along Newbury Street, convenient to the old campus, but because of the move, today, MIT doesn't have a specific Greek Row; instead, chapters are scattered on both sides of the Charles River in Boston, Cambridge, and the surrounding towns. 1916 also saw the emergence of the campus Inter-fraternity Conference. Its responsibilities included coordination of recruitment (rush), and intramural Greek athletics such as baseball and bowling, among other competitions. One early tradition established by the IFC with the support of 'Tech faculty was a trophy for the best scholarship record. This handsome grandfather clock would be passed on to the chapter with the best overall grade average after each term.[4]
The MIT yearbook, The Technique, has provided a window to the growth and popularity of MIT's Greek organizations for almost 150 years. Early editions are available online.
Demographic changes
From the 1860s through WWII, MIT students were almost entirely male, thus the formation of women's fraternities (~sororities) came about rather late, in comparison. By the 2000s, the Institute's undergraduate gender ratio reached near parity. En route to this more balanced, modern phase, a period of demographic and political change in the 1960s and 1970s, following larger national trends, resulted in the conversion of several all-male, nationally affiliated living groups into local co-ed groups, and led to the expansion of all-female and co-ed housing options. Most of the resultant fraternities, sororities, and independent living groups are coordinated through the Office of Fraternities, Sororities, and Independent Living Groups (FSILGs), though some independent "MIT-area" chapters do arise from time to time, along with those that serve students from multiple schools in Boston and the surrounding cities.
Recruitment traditions
Traditionally, rush at MIT occurred during Residence/Orientation (R/O) Week, which was the final week of each summer before the start of the fall semester. All incoming freshmen and transfer students would arrive on campus a week before Registration Day, the official start of the fall semester. During R/O Week, the incoming class would participate in orientation activities, take the so-called writing test to attempt to test out of the MIT Writing Requirement, and participate in residence selection. All students were free to participate in the fraternity, sorority, and independent living group rush. Those students who did not end up in an off-campus living group would also participate in the dorm selection process (see Housing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
New rush system
The old rush system was supported behind the scenes by the 24-hour week-long "R/O Clearinghouse", a system for keeping track of freshman students as they threaded their way through a maze of fraternity rush events interleaved with other MIT orientation activities. Whenever a freshman checked into or checked out of a fraternity activity, that frat's R/O liaison person was supposed to call the R/O Clearinghouse to update what was essentially a real-time database to track the whereabouts of the new students. R/O Clearinghouse physically consisted of a bank of telephones staffed by volunteers in a large room equipped with computer terminals, located in the MIT EECS Department. The volunteers were drawn from MIT service fraternities and dorm residents who were supposed to be impartial concerning the different competing fraternities. The dorm volunteers were motivated at least in part by the knowledge that an unsuccessful fraternity rush would result in even greater overcrowding of the MIT dormitory system. which simply lacked the physical space to accommodate every new student.
Freshman housing rush was eliminated in an initiative led by MIT president Charles Vest in the wake of the September 1997 death of Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) freshman Scott Krueger.[5] Beginning with the 2002–2003 academic year, all freshmen were required to live on campus. This was made possible by the completion of a new undergraduate dorm that opened that year, Simmons Hall. Since then, MIT has continued to build or renovate more dormitories, including an expansion of choices for graduate students as well (see Housing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology#Graduate dorms).
A much-toned-down echo of the old rush still occurs with the so-called dormitory rush process, in which new students decide their dormitory preferences, based in part upon special events staged by various dorms to introduce newcomers to their distinctive living arrangements. However, dormitories do not choose which new students to admit, but can only influence prospective new members to express a greater or lesser preference for specific dorms on their respective entries in the dorm lottery process. The pressure to quickly find housing has been lifted by MIT's guarantees that every freshman student will find space in an on-campus dorm and that undergraduate students can remain in the dorm system for up to 4 years. The old fraternity rush has been depressurized, with recruiting spread out throughout the first academic year, and less-frantic rush events for prospective new members.
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Fraternities
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Fraternities constituting the Interfraternity Council (IFC) are listed by dates of local founding and noted with national conference membership. These are (with several exceptions) men's organizations, voluntarily coordinating their efforts within the IFC as a self-governing body.[6] Almost 50% of campus men participate in one of these chapters.[7]
As part of IFC or national organization self-governance or University disciplinary action, chapters may be suspended (de-recognized) or closed for a time. For consistency, if a chapter is closed and/or forfeits its housing, it will be listed here as a dormant chapter, italicized, while active chapters or those suspended for a brief time are in bold. See the Office for Fraternities, Sororities, and Independent Living Groups (FSILGs) for current IFC members and expansion support.
Gallery of fraternities
- Home of Alpha Delta Phi's Lambda Phi chapter at MIT, 2017
- Home of Sigma Chi's Alpha Theta chapter at MIT, in 2004
- Home of "Number Six Club," Delta Psi's Tau chapter at MIT, in 2004
- Home of Theta Chi's Beta chapter at MIT, in 2008
- Home of Phi Sigma Kappa's Omicron chapter at MIT, circa 1940s
Active fraternity chapters
- (NIC) indicates current members of the North American Interfraternity Conference;
- (PFA) indicates current and former members of the Professional Fraternity Association;
- (NPHC) indicates members of the National Pan-Hellenic Council.
- ΧΦ - Chi Phi, 1873-1878, 1890 (NIC)[8][9][10][e][f]
- ΣΧ - Sigma Chi, 1882 (NIC)[11][12][13][g]
- ΘΞ - Theta Xi, 1885-1897, 1901 (NIC)[11][h]
- ΔΨ - Delta Psi / Number Six Club, 1889 (NIC), co-ed[11][i]
- ΔΤΔ - Delta Tau Delta, 1889 (NIC)[11][14][j]
- ΘΔΧ - Theta Delta Chi, 1890-1892, 1906 (NIC), co-ed[11][15][k]
- ΦΒΕ - Phi Beta Epsilon (local), 1890[16][l]
- ΔΚΕ - Delta Kappa Epsilon, 1890 (NIC)[11][17][m]
- ΣΑΕ - Sigma Alpha Epsilon, 1892-1999, 2009 (NIC)[11][18][n]
- ΠΛΦ - Pi Lambda Phi, 1897-1901, 1920 (NIC)[19][20][21][o][p]
- ΦΣΚ - Phi Sigma Kappa, 1902 (NIC)[11][22][23][q]
- ΘΧ - Theta Chi, 1902 (NIC)[24][11][r]
- ΦΚΣ - Phi Kappa Sigma, 1903 (NIC)[11][25][s]
- ΖΒΤ - Zeta Beta Tau, 1911–22, 1961 (NIC)[11][26][21][t]
- ΘΤ - Theta Tau, 1912-1930, 2016 (PFA)[27][28][u]
- ΒΘΠ - Beta Theta Pi, 1913-2011, 2013 (NIC)[11][29][v]
- ΚΣ - Kappa Sigma, 1914[11][30][w][x]
- ΦΚΘ - Phi Kappa Theta, 1918 (NIC)[31][11][y]
- ΣΝ - Sigma Nu, 1922-1974, 1995 (NIC)[32][z][aa]
- ΦΔΘ - Phi Delta Theta, 1932[33][x][ab]
- ΚΑΨ - Kappa Alpha Psi, 1975 (NPHC) and (NIC)[11][ac]
- ΑΔΦ - Alpha Delta Phi, 1976 (NIC)[11][34][ad]
- ΝΔ - Nu Delta (local), 1977[35][ae]
- ΖΨ - Zeta Psi, 1979 (NIC)[11][36][af]
- ΑΦΑ - Alpha Phi Alpha, 1989 (NPHC) and (NIC)[37][ag]
- Xi Fellowship - Xi Fellowship (local), 2015 co-ed[ah]
Chapters with name changes
- Navajo Club (local), 1878-1890, an interim group that became ΧΦ[28]
- Number 6 Club (local), 1887-1889, became ΔΨ[28][ai]
- ΑΕ - Alpha Epsilon (local), 1902–1906, became ΘΔΧ[28]
- ΛΦ - Lambda Phi (local), 1906-1925, inspired ΑΔΦ[11][34]
- ΚΘ - Kappa Theta (local), 1908-1913, became ΒΘΠ[aj]
- ΔΚΦ - Delta Kappa Phi (local), 1912-1914, became ΚΣ[28]
- ΣΑΜ - Sigma Alpha Mu, 1917-1973 (NIC), became Fenway House[11][21][ak]
- ΦΚ - Phi Kappa, 1918-1959, became ΦΚΘ[11]: VIII-15–16 [al]
- ΤΕΦ - Tau Epsilon Phi, 1919-1930, 1957-2023 (NIC), co-ed, became Xi Fellowship [38][21][am]
- ΦΒΔ - Phi Beta Delta, 1920–1941, Jewish, (see ΠΛΦ)[11]: III-106 [21][an]
- ΦΣΔ - Phi Sigma Delta, 1921-1927, Jewish, (see ΖΒΤ)[21][ao]
- Sigma Nu Club (local), 1921-1922, became ΣΝ[39][ap]
- ΦΜΔ - Phi Mu Delta (NIC), 1922-1977, became ΝΔ[28][40][aq]
- ΨΔ - Psi Delta (local), 1922-1932, became ΦΔΘ[28][41]
- ΣΩΨ - Sigma Omega Psi, 1922–1935?, Jewish, became ΑΕΠ[11]: VIII-22 [21][ar]
- Alpha Club (local), 1929-1929, became ΑΚΠ (see ΑΣΦ)[as]
- ΑΚΠ - Alpha Kappa Pi, 1929-1940, became ΑΣΦ[at]
- Pegis Club (local), 1948-1952, became ΣΦΕ[28]
- Dover Club (local), 1956-1961, became ΖΒΤ[42][au]
- ΠΚΑ - Pi Kappa Alpha, 1970-1981, 2010-11 (NIC), became pika[11][av]
- ΔΠ - Delta Pi (local), 1990-1995, became ΣΝ[aa][aw]
Inactive chapters
- ΑΤΩ - Alpha Tau Omega, 1885-1887, 1905-2009 (NIC), dormant[43][ax]
- ΦΓΔ - Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI), 1889-1894, 1899-1998 (NIC), dormant[44][45][ay][az]
- ΔΥ - Delta Upsilon, 1891-2014 (NIC), dormant[11][28][ba]
- ΔΣ - Delta Sigma (local), 1894-1898, dormant[46]
- ΔΣΦ - Delta Sigma Phi, 1904-1908 (NIC), dormant[11][bb]
- ΘΝΕ - Theta Nu Epsilon, 1904-1916 (NIC), dormant[11]: VIII-26 [47][48][bc]
- ΛΧΑ - Lambda Chi Alpha, 1912-2014, dormant[49][50][x][bd][be]
- ΤΔΦ - Tau Delta Phi, 1919-1929, 194x-1991+/- (NIC), Jewish, dormant[11]: VIII-24 [21][bf]
- ΑΜΣ - Alpha Mu Sigma, 1921-1926, Jewish, dormant[51][21][bg]
- ΑΦΔ - Alpha Phi Delta, 1928-37, 1939-43, 1948-53 (NIC), Italian-American, dormant[52][bh]
- ΑΣΦ - Alpha Sigma Phi, 1929-1940, 2012-2014 (NIC), dormant[11][bi]
- ΑΕΠ - Alpha Epsilon Pi, 1951-1990, 1990-202x ? (NIC), dormant[53][21][54][aa][bj]
- ΣΦΕ - Sigma Phi Epsilon, 1952-2019, dormant[55][28][56][x][bk]
- KKK - Kappa Kappa Kappa (local), Active circa 1919[57]
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Sororities
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Sororities, listed with dates of local founding and national conference membership, are women's organizations,[58] voluntarily coordinating their efforts within MIT's Panhellenic Association (PHA).[59] For convenience, the term "sorority" is used throughout, though some of these organizations are "women's Fraternities," and were so named before the popularization of the term sorority. The terms are synonymous. Over 30% of campus women participate in one of these chapters.[28]
Sorority properties are generally owned or leased by a chapter's alumni club, though some chapters do not have housing. As part of PHA or national organization self-governance, or University disciplinary action, chapters may be suspended (de-recognized) or closed for a time. If a chapter is closed and/or forfeits its housing, it will be listed as a dormant chapter. See the office for Fraternities, Sororities, and Independent Living Groups (FSILGs) for current PHA members and expansion support.
- (NPC) indicates members of the National Panhellenic Conference
- (NPHC) indicates members of the National Pan-Hellenic Council
Active chapters
MIT Panhellenic Association
- ΑΦ - Alpha Phi, 1984 (NPC)[60][28][bl]
- ΑΧΩ - Alpha Chi Omega, 1986 (NPC)[61][28][bm]
- ΣΚ - Sigma Kappa, 1989 (NPC)[62][28][bn]
- ΚΑΘ - Kappa Alpha Theta, 1991 (NPC)[63][28][bo]
- ΠΒΦ - Pi Beta Phi, 2008 (NPC)[28][bp]
- ΔΦΕ - Delta Phi Epsilon, 2015 (NPC)[28][21][64][bq]
MIT Sororities, Multicultural Greek Council
- ΑΚΑ - Alpha Kappa Alpha, 1977 (NPHC)[65][br]
- ΔΣΘ - Delta Sigma Theta, 1980 (NPHC)[66][bs]
MIT Sororities, North American Interfraternity Conference
- ΦΣΡ - Phi Sigma Rho, 2021 women's[67][bt]
MIT-Area Sororities, outside of the FSILG
Sororities with name changes
Inactive sorority chapters
- ΑΕΦ - Alpha Epsilon Phi, 1995-2022 ? (NPC), dormant[71][28][21][bw]
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Independent Living Groups

MIT's Independent Living Groups or ILGs participate in some of the broader Greek events, but maintain many of their traditions as cooperative homes. Some developed as former fraternities that left their national associations during the early 1970s as part of a move toward co-education which was not compatible with their national organizations. MIT's five ILGs coordinate themselves through a separate Living Group Council (LGC).[72]
Each ILG property is owned by a corporation populated mainly or entirely by alums and then leased to residents.
Active ILGs
Inactive ILGs
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Multicultural Greek Council
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Originally ethnic or language-affiliated, these organizations are now fully integrated – as are MIT's general Greek letter organizations and ILGs. They make up the fourth Greek Council within FSILG. Their historical affiliation may be reviewed by reading their local or national histories. Some of the men's groups also participate in IFC events and the women's groups in PHA events.
Multicultural Greek Council (MGC) chapters are non-residential and often serve several schools in the Boston area. Additional schools are listed in the references for each group. They may or may not be under the authority of the Office of FSILG. Further, the historically Black Greek associations (NPHC and NPC) have adopted a heightened focus on alumni and adult programming, usually with distinct alumni chapters that also exist locally. On the MIT campus, the inter-Greek councils will, as needed, cooperate on programs and policies, as do individual chapters from among the several Greek councils.
Listed by date of local founding and national conference membership, these are either men's or women's organizations, voluntarily coordinating their efforts within the larger Multicultural Greek Council (MGC). See the FLILG office for current MGC chapters.
- (NALFO) indicates members of the National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations;
- (NAPA) indicates members of the National APIDA Panhellenic Association;
- (NPHC) indicates members of the National Pan-Hellenic Council;
- (NPC) indicates members of the National Panhellenic Conference.
Active men's NPHC or NALFO chapters
- ΚΑΨ - Kappa Alpha Psi, 1975 (NPHC) and (NIC)[11][cd]
- ΑΦΑ - Alpha Phi Alpha, 1989 (NPHC) and (NIC)[37][11]
Active men's NPHC or NALFO chapters outside of FSILG
- ΛΥΛ - Lambda Upsilon Lambda, 1994 (NALFO), Latino[ce]
- ΩΨΦ - Omega Psi Phi, 1916 (NPHC), African American[cf][77][78]
Inactive historically ethnic men's chapters[cg]
- ΨΑΚ - Psi Alpha Kappa, 1901-1904, Latin American, dormant[ch]
- ΠΔΦ - Pi Delta Phi (local), 1916-1921, Latin-American, became ΦΛΑ (see ΦΙΑ)[79][ci]
- ΦΛΑ - Phi Lambda Alpha, 1921-1931?, Latin-American, became ΦΙΑ[80][81][cj]
Active women's NPHC or NAPA chapters
- ΑΚΑ - Alpha Kappa Alpha, 1977 (NPC)[ck]
- ΔΣΘ - Delta Sigma Theta, 1980 (NPC)[cl]
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Professional fraternities
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Professional societies work to build friendship bonds among members, cultivate their strengths so that they may promote their profession, and provide mutual assistance in their shared areas of professional study.
Listed by date of local founding with national conference membership, these are primarily co-ed organizations, of specific professional interests. Membership in a professional fraternity may be the result of a pledge process, much like a social fraternity, and members are expected to remain loyal and active in the life organization. Within the group of societies dedicated to professional fields of study, for example, law societies, membership is exclusive; however, these societies may initiate members who belong to other types of fraternities. Professional Societies are known for networking and post-collegiate involvement. Governance varies from faculty-managed to purely student-run.
(PFA) indicates members of the Professional Fraternity Association.
Dormant professional fraternities
- ΑΧΣ - Alpha Chi Sigma, 1919-1954, 19xx-2009 (PFA), chemistry, dormant[11][cn]
- Scarab, 1921, architecture, national disbanded.[11][co][cp]
- ΚΗΚ - Kappa Eta Kappa, 1924-1944 (PFA), electrical engineering, computer engineering or computer science, dormant[82]
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Honor and recognition fraternities
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Honor societies recognize students who excel academically or as leaders among their peers, usually within a specific academic discipline. Members commonly include the society on their résumé/CV, which may serve to bolster grad school acceptance, publishing merit, and professional opportunities.
Listed by date of local founding with national conference membership, these are co-ed, non-residential, achievement-based organizations that self-select members based on published criteria.
At graduation, or at times of formal academic processionals, graduates, administrators, Ph.D. holders, and post-doctoral fellows wear academic robes in the colors of their degree, school, and other distinction, according to a voluntary Intercollegiate Code that governs customs such as formal academic regalia. In addition, various colored devices such as stoles, scarfs, cords, Tassels, and medallions are used to indicate membership in a student's honor society; cords and mortarboard tassels are most common. Phi Beta Kappa, the first honor society, locally founded at MIT in 1971, has used Pink and Sky blue since its national founding in 1776. Hence, students tapped for ΦΒΚ may wear tassels honor cords, or other society-approved items, in these colors. Like most schools, MIT allows such regalia for honor society members. Stoles are less common, but they are used by a few honor societies. In academic circles, colors are well-known and follow long-standing protocols.
Many honor societies invite students to become members based on scholastic rank (the top x% of a class) and/or grade point, either overall, or for classes taken within the discipline for which the honor society provides recognition. In cases where academic achievement would not be an appropriate criterion for membership, other standards are required for membership (such as completion of a particular ceremony or training program). These societies recognize past achievements. Pledging is not required, and new candidates may be immediately inducted into membership after meeting predetermined academic criteria and paying a one-time membership fee. Some require graduate enrollment. Because of their purpose of recognition, most honor societies will have much higher academic achievement requirements for membership than professional societies. It is also common for a scholastic honor society to add a criterion relating to the character of the student. Some honor societies are invitation only while others allow unsolicited applications. Finally, membership in an honor society might be considered exclusive, i.e., a member of such an organization cannot join other honor societies representing the same field. Governance requires a faculty sponsor and each society remains faculty-guided, usually with alumni input.
Active honor societies
(ACHS) indicates members of the Association of College Honor Societies.
- ΤΒΠ - Tau Beta Pi, 1922 (ACHS), engineering honors[11]
- Scabbard and Blade, 1924 (ACHS), military honors[11]
- ΧΕ - Chi Epsilon, 1928 (ACHS), civil engineering honors[11]
- ΣΠ - Sigma Xi, 1934, graduate science and engineering honors[11]
- ΗΚΝ - Eta Kappa Nu 1939, IEEE affiliation, electrical engineering, computer engineering honors[11]
- ΠΤΣ - Pi Tau Sigma, 1947 (ACHS), mechanical engineering honors[11]
- ΦΛΥ - Phi Lambda Upsilon, 1956 (ACHS), chemistry honors[11]
- ΣΔΨ - Sigma Delta Psi, 1966, Disbanded national athletics honorary[11]
- ΦΒΚ - Phi Beta Kappa, 1971, academic honors[11]
- ΑΝΣ - Alpha Nu Sigma, 1980?, nuclear energy honors[83]
- ΣΠΣ - Sigma Pi Sigma, 1983 (ACHS), physics honors[11]
- Arnold Air Society (A-1), 19xx, Air Force cadet honors[11][cq]
- National fraternity key societies - There are dozens of these, scholarship honors[11]: I-19 [cr]
Dormant honor societies
- ΔΣΡ-ΤΚΑ - Delta Sigma Rho-Tau Kappa Alpha, 1956, forensics honors[11]
- ΠΔΕ - Pi Delta Epsilon, 1910-1927+, Journalism honors (see the Society for Collegiate Journalists)[84][cs]
- Triglyph, 1921-1927+, Architectural honors[85]
- ΣΑΒ - Sigma Alpha Beta (local), 1923-19xx, Military honors[86][41]: 332
- ΑΣΔ - Alpha Sigma Delta, 1924-1927+, radio communication honors[87][ct]
- ΔΩ - Delta Omega, 1924-1944, public health honors
- Mortar and Ball, 1925-1933+, Coast Artillery honors, dormant[88][cu]
- Angel Flight, 19xx, auxiliary to Arnold Air Society, became Silver Wings[11]
- Order of Omega, 1992-201x, Greek Life leadership honors, dormant?[cv]
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Service fraternities
Service fraternities formed with the intent of providing campus and community service. Listed with dates of local founding and national conference membership, if any, these are non-residential organizations. These organizations are self-governed.
- ΑΦΩ - Alpha Phi Omega, 1936 co-ed (PFA)[11]
See also
Notes
- This was a chapter of one of Chi Phi's predecessor groups, three of which combined to form the national fraternity as it is today. That chapter failed five years on but was re-established soon after under a new chapter name. For many years, lists of MIT chapters placed Chi Phi as third, fourth, or fifth in terms of establishment, but this list notes a chapter's first incidence on the campus to derive its date of establishment.
- For example, Phi Beta Kappa became America's first collegiate fraternity when it appeared on the campus of the College of William & Mary in 1776. It was started as a social and residential fraternity but within a few years had shifted to an honorary program. But the mold had been set, and ΦΒΚ-inspired imitators spread across the East Coast, to the Southern states, to the Midwest, and the West. MIT, in history-laden Boston, was to receive chapters from many of the oldest fraternities in the nation.
- Note that the divisions between types of chapters may blur: On many campuses, Theta Tau fraternity operates as a non-IFC Professional Fraternity. However, at MIT it conferences with the IFC. The fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha is listed among both the NIC fraternities and the NPHC chapters. Phi Sigma Rho is a sorority, but conferences with the IFC. These organizations are best described as existing on a spectrum to meet a broad range of student interests.
- MIT's is the Beta chapter of ΧΦ. Chi Phi was the pioneer chapter on the MIT campus, which, by its establishment became both the first social fraternity founded at MIT as well as the first social fraternity in Boston. About this time, several early branches of Chi Phi were coalescing into a larger national of that name. The original Tau chapter on the MIT campus was formed by the Northern Order of Chi Phi approximately one year before a national merger of three regional fraternities named Chi Phi. That first MIT chapter died five years after formation and appears to have become the Navajo Club (per FSILG records), but the fraternity was not long absent: Among Chi Phi's predecessor groups, there were several previous Beta chapters, as the process of combining three regional fraternities into one made it necessary to rename many campus chapters. Chi Phi's Harvard chapter of this name had formed in 1885 but was expelled with the other fraternities and secret organizations only two years later, in 1887. Chi Phi then moved its Beta chapter charter to MIT, re-establishing there from the Navajo Club in 1890, a chapter which has since flourished uninterrupted. Dates and notes for this and other chapters are from the FSILG report and Baird's Manual, listed prominently among the references.
- Chi Phi has inhabited three houses in its history: Address in 1910: 44 Fenway, Boston, MA. Address in 1930: 22 Fenway, Boston, MA. Address in 1950 to present: 32 Hereford, Boston, MA. Chi Phi's current home, 32 Hereford is a recognized historic landmark designed by McKim, Mead, and White and was formerly the home to John F. Andrew, a prominent 19th-century Boston politician and son of Governor John Andrew. The fraternity's renovation work was honored by the Victorian Society in America with a 2016 Preservation Award for its stewardship of this landmark.
- MIT's Alpha Theta chapter of ΣΧ was founded in 1882 by ten undergraduates, and installed on March 22, 1882. It is the oldest continuously operating fraternity at the school, having been founded only after Chi Phi. The chapter house, leased by the fraternity in 1919 and purchased in 1924, is located at 532 Beacon St., Boston, MA, in the Back Bay neighborhood. Influential alumni include several duPont brothers and company founders.
- The fourth chapter of the first professional fraternity in the United States, Delta chapter of Theta Xi was chartered April 19, 1885. Now a general fraternity, Theta Xi is located at 64 Bay State Road, Boston, MA, in the Back Bay. Most members are housed in the fraternity's two brownstones overlooking the Charles River, less than a block away from Kenmore Square. Notable alumni include Charles Hayden, Delta, class of 1924, whose philanthropic efforts were recognized by the naming of a library at MIT, a Boston University business building, and planetariums at both the Boston Museum of Science and the American Museum of Natural History.
- Installed April 6, 1889, the Number Six Club is a chapter of Delta Psi, a nationally- affiliated literary and social fraternity. This chapter is one of two co-ed residential fraternities on the MIT campus. Delta Psi is more commonly known at its other campuses as St. Anthony Hall. Address by 1913: 428 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA.
- The Theta Deuteron Charge is the local chapter of ΘΔΧ fraternity at MIT. "TDX" or ΘΔΧ calls its chapters "charges." Known to its members as "Theta Deut", the charge was founded on March 21, 1890, but lasted only 2 years before disbanding. About a decade later, in 1902, a group of MIT undergrads founded a local fraternity, Alpha Epsilon, to become the new Theta Delta Chi, which was chartered on June 2, 1906. The charge is now located at 372 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA, overlooking the Charles River. In 1966, Theta Deuteron acquired the property and the house, a former MIT dean's mansion. During the 1980s a fourth floor was added to the house.
- MIT's Phi Beta Epsilon, or "PBE" is a local fraternity, founded on April 1, 1890. It is also one of the oldest fraternities at MIT. PBE was registered as a non-profit corporation with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on May 15, 1896. The chapter is located at 400 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA, completing a major renovation of their home in Fall 2013. Phi Beta Epsilon has a resident population of about 45.
- Since 1940, MIT's Massachusetts Theta chapter of ΠΛΦ is located at 450 Beacon Street, Boston, MA. The origins of Pi Lambda Phi on the MIT campus came in 1897, but its first emergence on the MIT campus didn't take hold, a difficulty experienced by many of its other chapters. The national fraternity re-established itself with a 1908 effort begun at Columbia that it terms the Revitalization Period, eventually joining in a merger with Phi Beta Delta which had placed its Theta chapter at MIT as of 1920. Thus this didn't represent a re-colonization in 1920, but rather, a name change to Pi Lam with the 1941 merger. As the first national non-sectarian fraternity (1895), Pi Lambda Phi was the first to welcome men of all creeds. Notable alumni include Nobel prize winner Richard Feynman (Physics, 1939).
- In a 1941 national merger between Phi Beta Delta and Pi Lambda Phi, the Massachusetts Theta chapter of Phi Beta Delta was merged that year with the older Delta Nu chapter of Pi Lambda Phi, welcoming its alumni into that fraternity. However, the resulting chapter kept the newer chapter name of MA Theta chapter.
- Installed May 24, 1902, MIT's Omicron chapter of ΦΣΚ or "Phi Sig" is located at 487 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA, in the heart of Boston's Kenmore Square. Their home was originally built as the Lieutenant Governor's mansion by noted architect R. Clipston Sturgis. Three MIT sorority houses, two BU dormitories, and Fenway Park surround PSK's two stately townhouses. The five-storied Phi Sig chapter house features a commercial chef's kitchen, a historic paneled library, a billiard room, gym facilities on the lower level, a screening room, and a dramatic roof deck. This magnificent Back Bay private residence is home to 45 brothers. Alumni include Paul E. Gray '54, 14th President of MIT, John H. Sununu '61, former Governor of New Hampshire, and former White House Chief of Staff and numerous leaders in finance.
- Installed October 16, 1903, MIT's Alpha Mu chapter of ΦΚΣ, also known as "Skullhouse", is located at 530 Beacon Street, Boston, MA. It hosts a bi-annual party, "Skuffle", where in previous years a giant skull was built around the facade and a maze was constructed in the basement. This practice was halted and the members were forced to adjust to a more amenable decorating plan after Boston officials declined to provide necessary licenses
- Installed February 25, 1911 and re-installed February 25, 1961, MIT's Xi chapter of ΖΒΤ is located at 58 Manchester Rd, Brookline, MA, a suburb of Boston. It appears the FSILG reference is in error on this re-charter date, as 1956 marked the emergence of the Dover group, the predecessor to the chapter, not the ΖΒΤ installation.
- Reference MIT's Technology/Eta chapter of ΘΤ is MIT's first Professional Engineering Fraternity in nearly 100 years, a member of the Professional Fraternity Association (PFA). The fraternity was installed on May 23, 1912. ΘΤ's Eta chapter was colonized as a non-residential professional fraternity and remained active until 1930 when pressures of the Great Depression caused membership to dwindle. The organization subsequently became inactive. Meanwhile, the 120-year-old MIT chapter of ΔΥ failed in 2014. Its alumni association held on to their building, at 526 Beacon St, Boston, MA, a home they had owned for over 100 years. In 2016, this same Technology Chapter Alumni Association endorsed the revival of the Eta chapter of ΘΤ with a new group of energized students and sponsored the formation of the Technology/Eta colony of ΘΤ in April 2016. The Colony was subsequently promoted to Chapter status one year later.
- Installed August 3, 1914, the MIT Gamma-Pi chapter of ΚΣ is located in a 5-story townhouse on the Charles River at 407 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA, on MIT's west campus. The chapter bears the honor of being the first chapter to racially integrate within the national fraternity, as well as being a recent recipient of the Founders' Circle award for chapter excellence, the highest honor throughout Kappa Sigma.
- The Massachusetts Eta chapter of ΦΚΘ, or "PKT", is located at 229 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA, a four-story, century-old brownstone in Boston's Back Bay. The Chapter was founded at MIT on April 3, 1918, under the local chapter name Alpha Epsilon, marked by its first official meeting in Senior House, Holman 303. Ten days later the group voted to join Phi Kappa, chartering on January 1, 1919. On April 29, 1959, the Massachusetts Eta chapter of Phi Kappa at MIT, along with others across the nation, merged with Theta Kappa Phi becoming the Massachusetts Eta chapter of Phi Kappa Theta.
- Today's Epsilon Theta chapter of ΣΝ is located at 28 Fenway, Boston, MA, in the Back Bay Fens. Its building is currently home to 40 brothers. This chapter is the second group to call ΣΝ as its name. In 1970, MIT's original Epsilon Theta chapter of ΣΝ, already 50 years old, opted to go co-educational. Disagreement over this policy led the former group to secede from the national and become the local Independent Living Group Epsilon Theta, which continues in a former ΣΝ building at 259 St. Paul Street, Brookline, MA. The present chapter was re-established in 1995 by a local fraternity Delta Pi. After much research and discussion, Delta Pi members decided that the stability of a national fraternity with fifty years of alumni backing would aid in maintaining their brotherhood. Sigma Nu was the first choice of the members, who voted unanimously to become the MIT Colony of Sigma Nu. Their petition was prepared and sent to Sigma Nu National requesting a charter on December 4, 1994. Already a fully mature organization, on April 22, 1995, ΣΝ officially re-chartered the Epsilon Theta chapter at MIT.
- In the Spring of 1990, the Mu Tau chapter of ΑΕΠ participated in a major reorganization by the national organization, which discharged 45 of the 55 MIT Mu Tau chapter members who were not Jewish. The ten remaining members - all Jewish - who were invited to remain in the fraternity declined the offer to stay and went on to form a local group called Delta Pi, which later affiliated with the national fraternity, Sigma Nu. ΑΕΠ immediately recruited a new roster of members, continuing uninterrupted chapter operations in the Fall of 1990.
- MIT's Massachusetts Gamma chapter of ΦΔΘ, commonly known as "Phi Delts," is located at 97 Bay State Rd., Boston, MA. Formed as a local fraternity, Psi Delta, that group affiliated with ΦΔΘ in 1932. In anticipation or support of this, a "Phi Delta Theta Alumni Club" was formed on campus in the late 1920s. See the 1929 MIT Technique yearbook, p.396, for example.
- MIT's Lambda Phi chapter of ΑΔΦ is located at 351 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA. The chapter was founded in 1976 through the assistance of the brothers of the half-century-dormant Lambda Phi fraternity, which was a local fraternity at MIT from 1906 to 1925. That was a literary fraternity that had, in its early days, unsuccessfully petitioned to join Alpha Delta Phi. Their petition had been rejected because ΑΔΦ considered MIT at that time to be an engineering trade school (!) and thus not compatible with their literary tradition. Henry Leeb (MIT Class of 1915) remained friends with members of ΑΔΦ but died only 3 weeks after the current chapter was approved. The chapter was named in honor of that predecessor group.
- MIT's local fraternity, called ΝΔ, owns a four-storied house at 460 Beacon Street, Boston, MA, in the Back Bay area, separated from the MIT campus by the Charles River. The house's resident population is about 30. Founded in 1936 as the Nu Delta chapter of the national fraternity of Phi Mu Delta, ΝΔ broke from its former national and is now an independent local fraternity. ΝΔ participates in many events on campus, especially for intramural sports and dance.
- Founded on December 6, 1919, and re-installed October 19, 1957, MIT's Xi chapter of ΤΕΦ is also known as "tEp". The chapter was dormant from 1930 up to the 1956 restoration, when it absorbed the T.E.P Club that had been formed in 1953. The chapter was not listed in the 1930 MIT Technique yearbook. Within ΤΕΦ was the "Xi Fellowship", which it branded as "a co-ed experience within the chapter", a sub-group first recognized by MIT in 2015. Thus this fraternity operates as a defacto co-ed group, within IFC. Nationally the fraternity was established with a more open membership policy, one of several Jewish fraternities formed at a time when membership in most fraternal organizations was limited to Christian (primarily Protestant), Caucasian men. The national was known to have quickly moved to a non-sectarian basis and thus was the first of the Jewish nationals to become non-sectarian. The MIT chapter went further, becoming one of the first chapters of its national fraternity to include non-Caucasians. It was open too, to gay members since the late 1960s. The chapter house is located at 253 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA in the Back Bay neighborhood. Note that the 1929 MIT Technique yearbook has an error for the establishment date, where it says 1910 - a typo, p.365. tEps distinguish themselves with their fraternity color, purple, and an attachment to the number 22. In 2023 the chapter withdrew from ΤΕΦ to operate as a local, under the Xi Fellowship name. Notable alumni of ΤΕΦ include Neil W. Woodward III '84, US Astronaut.
- In a 1941 national merger between Phi Beta Delta and Pi Lambda Phi, the Massachusetts Theta chapter of Phi Beta Delta was merged in that year with the older Delta Nu chapter of Pi Lambda Phi, welcoming its alumni into that fraternity. However, the resulting chapter kept the newer chapter name of MA Theta chapter.
- Formed in 1922 as the Nu Delta chapter of its three-year-old national, Phi Mu Delta itself was an outgrowth of the Commons Clubs. The chapter has had stable housing at 460 Beacon Street, Boston, MA since the mid-1930s. ΦΜΔ had originated nationally from the Commons Clubs, a non-Greek organization, in 1918.
- Transfer members formed this club specifically as a colony that would petition to re-charter as ΖΒΤ. Note that the FSILG history shows the reactivation of the chapter in 1956. This is likely in error, as the Dover Club continued until what the chapter reports was a February 25, 1961 re-charter of ΖΒΤ.
- MIT's Eta Delta chapter of ΠΚΑ fraternity opted to become co-educational in 1975, severing from that national fraternity in 1981. In 1970 it moved to an address at 69 Chestnut Street. pika remains at that address today. The national fraternity of ΠΚΑ opened a short-lived colony in 2010, which lasted a year.
- Delta Pi was formed in April 1990 as a local fraternity to continue the brotherhood experienced by former members of the Mu Tau chapter of ΑΕΠ fraternity. A house was acquired by the suddenly homeless fraternity in the spring of 1991. The fall rush of 1991 proved successful with seven men pledged, but that year the house struggled financially. Members moved to apartments in Boston and Cambridge. At this point, members also decided to waive their fall rush activities for 1992 because they doubted the fraternity's future. Yet that same Fall of 1992 proved to be a turning point, when younger members, spurred on by the risk of closure, rallied to continue the organization. Prompted by their enthusiasm the fraternity looked at several options, one being affiliation with another national fraternity. They became a non-residential colony of ΣΝ that year.
- Installed November 11, 1891, ΔΥ's Technology chapter was located at 526 Beacon Street, a building still owned by its alumni club. This six-story brownstone building is located directly across the river from MIT and is situated in the middle of Boston's Back Bay. Delta Upsilon is a non-secret brotherhood as well as the sixth-oldest fraternity in the nation. The alumni association sponsored the re-establishment of Theta Tau Professional Engineering Fraternity as new tenants of that building, which took over occupancy in 2016.
- ΘΝΕ was an ill-favored national due to its recruitment of sophomores who were already members of other fraternities, and a policy of secrecy about the active members - those same sophomores tapped each year. It was NOT an honorary, nor a service society. (Freshmen were not included, juniors and seniors were advisory only.) Hence, ΘΝΕ became a bit of a pariah, and members were pressured to quit ΘΝΕ lest they be expelled from their primary fraternities at some of their schools; in 1913 the NIC advocated vigorously against its collegians joining ΘΝΕ. Struggling for a workable path to legitimacy, several varying models developed on ΘΝΕ's campuses: chapters became standard fraternities, and others, public inter-fraternity groups. At Alabama, it even became a political machine. In the 1930s, with the adoption of changes, ΘΝΕ briefly joined the NIC but ceased operations during WWII. Several chapters re-emerged after WWII, reforming the society as a smaller entity, with some becoming co-ed in the 1970s. The fraternity reports only a few chapters that remain active today.
- Their 6-story house was the home of a former governor of Massachusetts, with a roof-top deck view of the Charles River, Cambridge, Boston, and Fenway Park. The international measurement of a Smoot was created by the brothers when measuring the Harvard Bridge using the pledge Oliver R. Smoot as a standard of length.
- MIT's was the Eta chapter of the fraternity. Re-establishment dates for this chapter are conjectural, based on scattered notices of graduates who were members via Linked In. The address in 1928 was 38 The Fenway, Boston, MA. Baird's Manual lists the chapter as active but the national as dormant as of 1991. The national has since re-emerged with five active chapters amidst a growth plan.
- Originally a secret society "with a musical nature," within a few years ΗΣΜ "thought best to give up the secrecy and to welcome all young women who cared to join." Its new name was an Anglo-Saxon word meaning "Club". The group offered a Friday Tea each week for the relatively few women enrolled at 'Tech at the time. Non-residential, no longer Greek-lettered, and no longer tracked on this page, Cleofan lasted until at least 1937.
- These existed before the formation of the IFC and MGC. It's a judgment call: mid-1900s-era Jewish chapters would normally caucus with the IFC groups, self-identifying as such. The early Latin-American groups were likewise listed, but today would align with the MGC groups, as their modern successors or peers have done. Because of this, and the hint provided by successor national ΦΙΑ and other NALFO nationals, they have been inserted among the MGC groups.
- Installed in 1901, this was the Alpha chapter of Massachusetts and second chapter of ΨΑΚ, the nation's first intercollegiate Latin American fraternity. It is noted in the MIT Technique yearbook, 1903 edition, p.112. The chapter dissolved and members joined other campus fraternities (ΘΞ) or dining clubs. It referenced itself as "Latin American", not "Latino".
- Offered to members and alumni of national academic and social fraternities and sororities, fraternity or sorority academic key societies provide a subtle way of noting fraternity membership on a résumé and alerting readers to academic achievement. The first fraternal scholarship was offered by Phi Kappa Sigma beginning in 1888, and Sigma Chi was the first to develop an educational foundation in 1939. "Most fraternities and sororities have done likewise," according to Baird's. Members and prospective members can contact any of the national HQ or educational foundations for more information.
References
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