Theta Nu Epsilon (ΘΝΕ, commonly known as T.N.E.) was an American sophomore class collegiate society that later became a traditional social fraternity. Founded at Wesleyan University in 1870 as a chapter of Skull and Bones, the society expanded into a new national organization.[1] It accepted members regardless of their fraternity status.[2] It was a member of the National Interfraternity Conference (NIC).
Through various controversies, most chapters of the society went inactive by 1920. It reformed as a social fraternity in 1925 and regained its membership in the NIC. It did not survive World War II, and the society's last official chapter closed in 1942.[3] However, several chapters continued to operated sub rosa.[3]
Herbert Hull Coston, Coleridge Allen Hart, George Washington Shonk, and Lyman Horace Weeks were members from Alpha Delta Phi. Benjamin Emmons Gerst, Arthur Collins McClay, and George Bickford Davey Toy were from Delta Kappa Epsilon and Stephen Judson Kirby, George Henry Towle, Alfred Charles True were from Eclectic. Rounding out the group were Psi Upsilon members George William Elliott, Charles Hamlin Furber, William Henry Lawrence, and Olin Levings Livesey as well as Amos Howard Hoagland who was not a member of any fraternity.
Founded as the Wesleyan chapter of Skull & Bones, two years later the chapter cut its ties to Yale and changed the bones of the Skull & Bones emblem to keys.[4]
TNE was a sophomore class society, and in a traditional type of chapter, members were chosen near the end of their freshman or the start of their sophomore year. Once selected, the new members were active and responsible for the operation of the chapter during their sophomore year. As juniors and seniors, they were considered honorary members and only had authority in an advisory role. The society always excluded freshmen. From the beginning, the identities of the sophomore members were kept secret. In yearbooks, the names of the sophomores appeared in code. The Alpha chapter and legitimate chapters continued this traditional type.[5]
National organization
Theta Nu Epsilon had immediate success at Wesleyan, and it grew rapidly and spread throughout colleges across the United States. The Alpha chapter at Wesleyan acted as the national organization and continued to grant charters until 1907. The society's first convention was at the Delevan House hotel in Albany in 1885, and conventions were held annually thereafter. A movement for a formal national organization resulted in a convention held at the Hotel Astor in New York on March 29 and 30, 1907. The convention established a national governing body which then incorporated the society under the laws of the State of New York. The new national organization was given the authority to manage the national operations of TNE and grant new chapters.[2][6]
Internal struggles
In 1913, the National Interfraternity Conference (predecessor to the current North American Interfraternity Conference) officially announced its opposition to T.N.E. and recommended to the fraternities represented in the conference that they forbid their members to join Theta Nu Epsilon[7] The relations between Theta Nu Epsilon and the N.I.C. improved and the N.I.C. retracted its opposition at its session in New York in 1925.[8] Theta Nu Epsilon was later accepted as a member of the N.I.C. in the 1930s.[9]
Post WWII
The last legitimate chapter ceased operations in 1942.[3] Although the national organization stopped operating in World War II, some of the chapters of that national continued into the late 1940s. Henry Kelly ultimately merged his efforts with the Alpha chapter. Some, but not all, of these independent chapters began initiating women as members in the 1970s. The last active chapters were Alpha chapter at Wesleyan, the University of Missouri, the University of New Mexico, and the University of Virginia.
Theta Nu Epsilon's motto is "Little is known, what is known is kept secret".[12] Its insignia is a skull and crossed keys; one eye of the skull is red for Bacchus the god of wine and the other eye is green for jealousy.[12] The insignia is based on that of Skull and Bones, with the former's crossed bones being replaced by keys. Its colors are red and black. Its badge is a gold version of the insignia—a skull and crossed keys, with gems for eyes, and the Greek letters ΘΝΕ.[13]
Its publications were The Keys and Theta Nu Epsilon Quarterly.[3][14]
Because of early splits in the national organization, several unofficial national coalitions and rogue groups granted their own charters. As a result, many conflicts exist surrounding the actual founding dates and chapter designations, even at the institutions that had officially recognized groups.[15]
^"Theta Nu Epsilon Convention". The New York Times. March 19, 1907
^"Make Fraternity Rules". The New York Times. November 30, 1913
^Banta's Greek Exchange, Report of the Executive Secretary to the Fifteenth Convention of Theta Nu Epsilon, April 1926, pg. 131.
^William Raimond Baird; Wm Raimond Baird; Alvan E. Duerr (1940). Baird's Manual, American College Fraternities: A Descriptive Analysis with a Detailed Account of Each Fraternity. Menasha, Wisconsin: George Banta publishing company. p. 848.
