Sections of the MIT Technique yearbook were enhanced by paintings and etchings. This is the frontispiece to the 1917 fraternities section.
The first, or pioneer, fraternity on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) campus was Chi Phi, established in 1873.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3]
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.[4] The main listing for each fraternity or sorority shows their full name at least once, with references and Wikilinks as available.
History
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.[5] 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.[6] 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.
The tradition of fine dining among MIT fraternities is old. Very old.
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.[7]
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 change
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.[8] 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.
Fraternities
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.[9] Almost 50% of campus men participate in one of these chapters.[10]
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 for expansion support.
Sororities, listed with dates of local founding and national conference membership, are women's organizations,[88] voluntarily coordinating their efforts within MIT's Panhellenic Association (PHA).[89] 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.[12]
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 for expansion support.
Home of pika: A Continuing Experiment in Cooperative Living
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).[102]
Each ILG property is owned by a corporation populated mainly or entirely by alums and then leased to residents.
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.
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.
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.
ΚΗΚ - Kappa Eta Kappa, 1924-1944 (PFA), electrical engineering, computer engineering or computer science, dormant[121]
Others? Numerous professional societies could be listed here, some have/had a long history on campus.
Honor and recognition fraternities
Honor Societies indicate achievement on a graduate's résumé.
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.
Multi-colored tassels, cords, and stoles are noticeable over black graduation robes.
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 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. The ACHS website lists the colors for their 68 member organizations, and the Honor society WP page lists others.
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.
(ACHS) indicates members of the Association of College Honor Societies.
Others? Numerous local honor societies were formed, some enjoying a long tenure.
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.
^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.
^Per MIT, via multiple sources: including the MIT directory of student organizations. The online archive of the MIT Technique yearbook provides a year-by-year review of the persistent growth of the campus Greek system. 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.
^Within NIC fraternities, there are three which have adopted non-Greek letter names: Acacia, FarmHouse, and Triangle. None of the NPC sororities use non-Greek letter names, nor do any of the multicultural or NPHC groups.
^Noted in the 1900 MIT Technique yearbook, p.104. Current statistics from the FSILG office annual report. Additional citations: IFC's History of MIT Greeks, from their website, accessed June 22, 2020.
^Noted with Wikilinks to specific architectural firms, notable residents, or building citations of merit within the individual chapter listings below.
^Members of the campus IFC were first noted in the MIT Technique yearbook in the 1917 edition, as publication trailed actual events by approximately a year.
^MIT's is the Beta chapter of ΧΦ (website). 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.
^Anson, Jack L.; Marchenasi, Robert F., eds. (1991) [1879]. Baird's Manual of American Fraternities (20th ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Baird's Manual Foundation, Inc. pp. II-108–109, and following sections. ISBN978-0963715906. Baird's Manual is also available online here: The Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage.
^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. Accessed June 19, 2020.
^MIT's Alpha Theta chapter of ΣΧ (website) was founded in 1882 by 10 undergraduates, installed 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 the Tau chapter (website) of Delta Psi, a nationally- affiliated literary fraternity and secret society. It 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.
^Installed May 18, 1889, the Beta Nu chapter of ΔΤΔ (website), known as "Delts", is located at 416 Beacon Street, Boston, MA. The stated mission of the society is "Committed to Lives of Excellence".
^The Theta Deuteron Charge is the local chapter of ΘΔΧ (website) 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" (website) 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.
^ΔΚΕ's Sigma Tau chapter (website), installed December 6, 1890, is located at 403 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA, on MIT's west campus. Brothers are highly involved in campus activities, with more than half participating as varsity athletes, per a review of the member biographies on the chapter's website, accessed July 1, 2020.
^Installed November 25, 1892, MIT's Iota-Tau chapter of ΣΑΕ (website) is located at 165 Bay State Road, Boston, MA, in the heart of historic Back Bay. Founded in 1892, the social fraternity is known for its strong emphasis on service and philanthropy. Its school portal may be reached at SAE.
^Since 1940, MIT's Massachusetts Theta chapter of ΠΛΦ (website) 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).
^ abcdefghijSome historically Jewish organizations are active and flourishing, while others have closed or merged. Why? See the Talk page for more information.
^ abIn 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.
^List of Jewish fraternities and sororities provides more information about the national Jewish fraternities and sororities, though many campuses had additional Jewish locals.
^Installed May 24, 1902, MIT's Omicron chapter of ΦΣΚ (website) 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 December 3, 1902, MIT's Beta chapter of ΘΧ (website), located at 528 Beacon St., Boston, MA, is the oldest active chapter of its national fraternity. The chapter was founded by Park Valentine Perkins, a former member of Theta Chi's Alpha chapter at Norwich University.
^Installed February 25, 1911 and re-installed February 25, 1961, MIT's Xi chapter of ΖΒΤ (website) 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.
^MIT's Technology/Eta chapter of ΘΤ (website) 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 (website) 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.
^ abcdBoth ΦΔΘ and ΚΣ nationals withdrew from the NIC in 2002. ΛΧΑ severed ties in 2015. TKE resigned its membership in 2016. ΣΦΕ withdrew in 2019. ΦΣΚ withdrew in 2002 but rejoined in 2006.
^The Massachusetts Eta chapter of ΦΚΘ (website), 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 (website) 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.
^ abcIn 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 (website), 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 is the Theta Iota chapter of ΚΑΨ. The chapter is non-residential, serving MIT, Harvard, and Tufts.
^ abMIT's Lambda Phi chapter of ΑΔΦ (website) 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 (website), 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.
^ abNon-residential, this is the Rho Nu chapter of ΑΦΑ (website), an historically black organization. Also known as the "Rheckless" Rho Nu chapter, the fraternity was established on September 26, 1989. This chapter includes men from MIT, Harvard University, Babson College, and Tufts University.
^Formerly a chapter of ΤΕΦ, the fraternity's Xi chapter created a fraternity-within-a-fraternity for co-ed membership, withdrawing from the national fraternity in 2023. It continues to caucus within the campus IFC.
^This group was named the Number Six club for two years before its establishment as a chapter of ΔΨ, likely named after its residence at Six Louisburg Square, Boston MA, (1887-1913). The chapter became co-educational in 1970.
^Active members transitioned to the new national affiliation in the 1915 MIT Technique yearbook, and the chapter remained at their address of 264 Newbury Street, Boston, MA. This had not been apparent in the 2018 version of the FSILG reference.
^MIT's Xi chapter of ΣΑΜ fraternity opted to become co-educational in 1970, severing from that national fraternity in 1973. In 1961 it moved to an address at 34 The Fenway, which inspired the name for the new group. The Fenway House, an Independent Living Group, remains at that address today.
^For just ten days this group was known as the Alpha Epsilon fraternity, a local formed with the intent of seeking a national affiliation. It became the Eta chapter of ΦΚ, keeping the same name after the national merger into ΦΚΘ some forty years later.
^Founded on December 6, 1919, and re-installed October 19, 1957, MIT's Xi chapter of ΤΕΦ (website) 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.
^This was the Nu chapter of ΦΣΔ. First noted in the 1923 MIT Technique yearbook, pp.406-407. It did not survive until the national merger with ΖΒΤ in 1959.
^Formed in 1921 by faculty, post-grad and undergraduate members of ΣΝ, this short-lived group became that fraternity's Epsilon Theta chapter, noted in the 1922 MIT Technique yearbook, p.260.
^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.
^After the closure of MIT's Xi chapter of ΣΩΨ that fraternity nationally merged into ΑΕΠ (1940), taking on a new name of Mu Tau chapter.
^Organized in February 1929. Became the Kappa chapter of ΑΚΠ on May 4, 1929.
^This was the Kappa chapter of ΑΚΠ, which died six years before the national merger with ΑΣΦ, which would later rename it posthumously as its Beta Beta chapter.
^Transfer members formed this club specifically as a colony that would petition to re-charter as ΖΒΤ, according to the chapter's website, accessed June 19, 2020. 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.
^ΑΤΩ's address, before its 2009 closing, had been 405 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA. First installed April 3, 1885. The 2009 closure was for at least 10 years, so as of 2019 the fraternity is eligible to return to campus. See MIT Interfraternity Council expels Alpha Tau Omega, accessed June 15, 2020.
^Fiji maintains a policy for its members that severely limits use of its Greek letters to a handful of approved usages, such as their official ring, chapter plaques and memorial markers. Thus you will see "Fiji" on shirts, but not the fraternity's Greek letters.
^ΦΓΔ's Iota Mu chapter was dissolved in 1998 as the result of an alcohol-related death, proceedings accessed June 17, 2020. The case had such notoriety that Fiji closed the chapter permanently. Its property assets, at 28 The Fenway, were sold with proceeds used to establish a charitable gift fund.
^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.
^Noted in the 1895-1898 MIT Technique yearbooks, then abruptly disappearing.
^According to its Wikipedia page, the MIT chapter of this fraternity was the Zeta Phi chapter which died in 1916. It first appears on pp.232-233 of the 1911 MIT Technique yearbook.
^Baird's and other sources note 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 (according to the 1923 ΦΣΚ Rand History); 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. --All information compiled from Baird's 19th, from the cited ΘΝΕ website, and a note about Theta Nu Epsilon in ΦΣΚ's Rand History, in a reference cited under that other fraternity, p.190.
^The Lambda Zeta chapter of ΛΧΑ (or LCA) was a social fraternity located at 99 Bay State Road. The chapter was chartered in 1912. In 2014 LCA's National HQ and MIT suspended recognition of this chapter, with the provision of at least a five-year closure.News Office (October 30, 2014). "Lambda Chi Alpha national suspends MIT chapter for at least five years" (Press release). MIT News Office. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
^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 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 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 plan for growth.
^This was the Delta chapter of ΑΜΣ. First noted in the 1923 MIT Technique yearbook, pp.404-405. Chapter died by 1926.
^This was the Tau chapter of ΑΦΔ, a fraternity that historically had an Italian-American heritage. Dates from ΑΦΔ national website, accessed June 16, 2020. Baird's also lists the chapter as active in 1991; this may reflect a colonization attempt at that time or an error.
^For its entire existence, this was the Kappa chapter of ΑΚΠ. The chapter went dormant six years prior to a national merger with ΑΣΦ, and, for any future re-colonization, was designated the new chapter name Beta Beta chapter. The national fraternity re-opened a colony in 2012, which lasted two years.
^MIT's Mu Tau chapter of ΑΕΠ fraternity (website) is located at 155 Bay State Rd, Boston, MA. The chapter was started three years earlier in 1948 at MIT. It is the only Jewish-themed fraternity at MIT, while it is one of several with historically Jewish roots.
^Called "A Phi", this is ΑΦ's Zeta Phi chapter (website), located at 477-479 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA. The letter "Phi" in this sorority's name is pronounced in the Greek fashion, as "Fee", and not anglicized as "Fye", common among other groups.
^This is ΑΚΑ's Lambda Upsilon chapter (website), often called "AKA". It is a city-wide chapter, serving MIT, Harvard University, and Wellesley College.
^This is ΔΣΘ's Xi Tau chapter (website), often called the "Deltas". This is a city-wide chapter, serving Babson College, Bentley University, Brandeis University, Harvard University, Lesley University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University, and Wellesley College.
^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", according to the 1899 MIT Technique yearbook, p.102. 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.
^The "Student House" (website), formed with the help of an "anonymous donor" in 1930. As of 1940, the address is 111 Bay State Rd., Boston, MA. Co-educational in 1969.
^This group, "Fenway House" (website), was a chapter of ΣΑΜ between 1917-73. It went co-ed in 1970, leading to the split. Address is 34 The Fenway, Boston, MA.
^This group, "pika house" (website) was a chapter of ΠΚΑ between 1969-81. The address is 69 Chestnut St., Cambridge, MA. Went co-ed in 1975, leading to the split with ΠΚΑ.
^The 5:15 Club was organized to serve commuters, but later became residential as an ILG, had been housed at 311 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA.
^MIT's Nu chapter of ΛΥΛ was established on March 5, 1994. This non-residential chapter supports students from MIT, Tufts University, Harvard University, Boston College, and Northeastern University.
^These existed before the formation of the IFC and MGC. It's a judgement 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, I've inserted them 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".
^This local wasn't apparent in yearbooks between 1916 and 1922 but was noted in the history of Phi Lambda Alpha, see Spanish translation.
^Syntax note: Nationally this fraternity experienced a second merger in 1931, and is so noted by the "(see ΦΙΑ)" remark. But may not have survived into this third phase. Also, it called itself "Latin-American" and not "Hispanic" or "Latino".
^This was the Beta chapter of the fraternity. Noted in the 1927 MIT Technique yearbook, p.417, it may not have survived the 1931 merger to form ΦΙΑ. It referenced itself as "Latin-American" and not "Latino"
^This is ΑΚΑ's Lambda Upsilon chapter, often called "AKA". It is a city-wide chapter, serving MIT, Harvard University, and Wellesley College.
^This is ΔΣΘ's Xi Tau chapter, often called the "Deltas". This is a city-wide chapter, serving Babson College, Bentley University, Brandeis University, Harvard University, Lesley University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University, and Wellesley College.
^MIT's is the Lt Colonel Jay Zeamer Squadron, located at 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA
^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.
^The Gamma chapter of ΠΔΕ first appears in the 1915 MIT Technique yearbook, p.279. Its national merged with ΑΦΓto form the Society for Collegiate Journalists in 1975.
^As noted in the MIT Technique yearbook, 1927, p.260.
^As noted in the MIT Technique yearbook, of 1924, p.269.
^This was the Beta Lambda chapter, as noted in the 1925 MIT Technique yearbook, p.253.
^MIT's Battery B., First Regiment is noted in the 1928 MIT Technique yearbook, p.282.
^MIT chapter appears dormant. The nearby Captain Lance P. Sijan Chapter serves Boston University.
^This was the Mu Zeta chapter of Order of Omega, installed February 7, 1992. Per the national website.
