Nu Beta Epsilon

Nu Beta Epsilon (ΝΒΕ) was an American professional Jewish law fraternity.^[1][2]

Nu Beta Epsilon
ΝΒΕ
Founded	1919; 106 years ago (1919) Northwestern University Law School
Type	Professional
Affiliation	Independent
Status	Defunct
Defunct date	After 1969
Emphasis	Law, Jewish
Scope	National
Motto	Nomus Carcilia Esta (Law is king)
Publication	The Nu Bate
Chapters	23
Members	1,750 (as of 1963) lifetime
Headquarters	United States

History

Nu Beta Epsilon was formed in 1919 at Northwestern University School of Law by Barnet Hodes, with the assistance of Louis Brandeis and Dean Wigmore, as a Greek letter fraternity for Jewish students at accredited law schools.^[3][4][5] It expanded to other law schools across the United States.^[6] It also established an alumni association.^[6]

Alpha Kappa Sigma (ΑΚΣ) was a Jewish law fraternity founded by H. Edwin Siff at University of Maryland Law School in 1918.^[4][7][2] Representatives of the two fraternities met at a convention in Columbus, Ohio in 1939 with Hodes as the keynote speaker.^[5][8][9] The merger of the two fraternities went into effect in 1940 under the name of the Nu Beta Epsilon group.^[9][2] A. D. G. Cohn of Atlanta was elected as its vice grand chancellor.^[8]

Nu Beta Epsilon's quarterly newsletter was The Nu Bete.^[2] The fraternity presented three awards each year:

• Barnet Hodes Awards to an alumnus performing outstanding service to the fraternity on a national level^[2]
• Ben Rubin Endowment to an undergraduate for scholarship, with the trophy going to his chapter^[2]
• National Pledge Essay Award for the best legal essay written by a pledge^[2]

Symbols

Nu Beta Epsilon adopted the seal and motto of the former Nu Beta Epsilon fraternity.^[2] Its motto was Nomus Carcilia Esta, meaning "Law is king".^[2] Its seal or crest included symbols associated with the legal professional.^[2]

Governance

The Ground Council of the fraternity's annual national convention governed Nu Beta Epsilon.^[2]

Membership

Nu Beta Epsilon was founded as non-sectarian, with no racial membership limitations.^[10] Originally male only, its membership became open to women c. 1960.^[2] In 1945, it had 850 members.^[1] Its membership had grown to 1,750 in 1968.^[1]

Chapter List

The chapters of Nu Beta Epsilon were as follows. Active chapters are indicated in bold. Inactive chapters and institutions are in italics.

Chapter	Charter date and range	Institution	Location	Status	References
Alpha	1918	University of Maryland Law School	Baltimore City, Maryland	Inactive	[2]
Brandeis	1919–c. 1935	Northwestern University Law School	Chicago, Illinois	Inactive	[2][11][a]
Delta	1919–c. 1965	Temple University Law School	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Inactive	[2]
Epsilon	1919–c. 1963	Newark Law School	Newark, New Jersey	Inactive	[2]
Cardozo	1923	DePaul University College of Law	Chicago, Illinois	Inactive	[2]
Benjamin	1924	Chicago-Kent College of Law	Chicago, Illinois	Inactive	[2][12][b]
Marshall	1926	Washington University School of Law	St. Louis, Missouri	Inactive	[2][13]
Chicago	1929–c. 1963	University of Chicago Law School	Chicago, Illinois	Inactive	[2]
Horner	1921	University of Illinois Law School	Champaign, Illinois.	Inactive	[2]
Beta Gamma	1931	George Washington University Law School and Georgetown University Law School	Washington, D.C.	Inactive	[2]
Loyola	1932–c. 1963	Loyola University Chicago School of Law	Chicago, Illinois	Inactive	[2]
Zeta	1933	Atlanta Law School, Emory University Law School, Atlanta's John Marshall Law School	Atlanta, Georgia	Inactive	[2]
Coleman	1941	University of Southern California Law School	Los Angeles, California	Inactive	[2]
Theta	1946	University of Miami School of Law	Coral Gables, Florida	Inactive	[2]
Currie	1950	UCLA School of Law	Los Angeles, California	Inactive	[2]
Warren	September 1966	University of San Fernando College of Law	San Fernando, California	Inactive	[14][c][d]
Gamma Gamma Lambda	September 1967	California College of Law	Hollywood, California	Inactive	[15]
Traynor		Western State University College of Law	Orange County, California	Inactive	[16][e]
Holmes	February 1, 1969	University of West Los Angeles School of Law	Los Angeles, California	Inactive	[17][18][f]
	September 1969	John F. Kennedy University	Pleasant Hill, California	Inactive	[19]
Baker		Humphrey College	Stockton, California	Inactive	[20][21][g]
Dooley		Glendale University College of Law	Glendale, California	Inactive	[h][22]
Sebring		Stetson University College of Law	Gulfport, Florida	Inactive	[23][24][i]

1. Chapter named for Louis Brandeis.
2. Chapter named for Judah P. Benjamin.
3. Chapter named for Earl Warren.
4. The San Fernando Valley College of Law merged into the University of West Los Angeles in 2002.
5. Chapter named for Roger J. Traynor.
6. Chapter named for Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
7. Chapter is named for Joseph H. Baker, district attorney.
8. In 1927, the chapter was renamed in honor of Raymond G. Dooley, a former faculty member.
9. Chapter named for Harold Sebring.

Notable members

Name	Chapter and year	Notability	References
Ellis Arnall	Honorary, 1946	Governor of Georgia	[25][14]
Bernard Baruch	Honorary, 1946	Financier and statesman	[25]
Louis Brandeis	Brandeis, 1919	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States	[4][14]
Raymond Burr		actor	[26]
Benjamin N. Cardozo		Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States	[14]
Joseph E. Davies		United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union	[14]
Paul A. Dorf		State senator and judge	[27][28]
Phillip C. Goldstick		Member of Illinois General Assembly	[29]
Barnet Hodes	Brandeis, 1919	Counsel of the City of Chicago	[5][30]
Sam Massell	Alpha, 1936	Mayor of Atlanta	[7]
Eurith D. Rivers	Zeta Honorary 1941	Governor of Georgia	[31]
John M. Slaton	Zeta Honorary 1941	Governor of Georgia	[32][31][33]
Harold Washington		Mayor of Chicago and U.S. House of Representatives	[34][35]
Wendel Wilkie		lawyer, corporate executive, and nominee for President of the United States.	[14]
Bernard B. Wolfe		Member of Illinois General Assembly	[36]