Fraternities

Kappa Sigma Nu house
Image source: Kappa Sigma Nu house

In April 1956, Donald E. Kindle, a representative of Sigma Phi Epsilon, one of the national social fraternities, visited East Carolina College hoping to convince President John D. Messick that social fraternities would be beneficial to the school. One argument offered was that Sigma Phi Epsilon chapters had been established at the University of North Carolina, North Carolina State, Wake Forest, Davidson, Lenoir Rhyne, High Point, and Duke, with a statewide membership of over 2,000. Also noted was that national prestige would accrue to ECC, and school spirit heightened. Kindle added that social fraternities, in addition to providing social opportunities for members, rendered service to others – parties for underprivileged children and older people, pledge class "Help Week" projects, caroling parties, etc. Messick was swayed and soon asked the Board of Trustees to reconsider its May 22, 1954 decision prohibiting social fraternities. In response, the board asked Messick to seek faculty and student body input so that an administrative recommendation might be formulated. Within two years, five social fraternities with national affiliations appeared, decisively altering campus social life for many students, male and female. Their continued presence over a half century later makes their first appearance in the mid-1950s all the more significant as a watershed in East Carolina's history.

President Messick and most faculty were not initially enthusiastic, but considerable support among students for social fraternities with national affiliation helped convince them. In a campus ballot held in October 1956, 1,114 students, approximately 1/3 of the student body, voted, with 829 favoring, 204 opposed, and 81 having no opinion. Of those who voted, 721 students (one fourth of the student body) expressed interest in joining a fraternity. Among faculty, 54 voted against, 19 for, and 14 had no opinion.

Earlier, the Student Government Association and the Student Government Executive Council went on record unanimously supporting social fraternities. SGA President Dock G. Smith called them a "definite asset" for East Carolina. Smith added "we will no longer lag behind other schools in this phase of our campus life." The East Carolinian, in a series of perhaps inadvertent mistakes, had already noted the existence of "social fraternities." The prize-winning "pirate ship" float entered in the 1956 Homecoming parade by the "service fraternity" Kappa Sigma Nu was attributed to the "social fraternity Kappa Sigma Nu." In response the administration threatened that fraternities prematurely claiming "social" status would be disbanded. The student paper ran a clarification, noting the error in language and apologizing, emphasizing in the process that social fraternities did not exist at ECC, at least not yet. As before, the East Carolinian's reporting remained supportive of the social fraternity movement. If for no other reason, the paper likely saw social fraternities as a potential source of entertaining campus news. Given student pressure in favor of fraternities, the Board of Trustees reversed its earlier decision, allowing them on a one-year probationary basis. Five "local fraternities" – which had earlier defined themselves as "service fraternities" – promptly identified themselves as "social fraternities." Following the probationary period, the Board of Trustees decided, in November 1957, to allow local fraternities to seek national affiliation.

On January 27, 1958, Kappa Sigma Nu received a telegram from the Sigma Nu national organization notifying it of its approval as a chapter of the national fraternity. Kappa Sigma Nu, which was the first local fraternity to organize on campus, thus became the first fraternity on campus to be affiliated with a national organization. Kappa Sigma Nu distinguished itself further by achieving the highest scholastic average of the five social fraternities. It also won consecutive Homecoming float competitions. Moreover, its membership contributed significantly to campus leadership: one member, Roddy Jones, served as president of the Interfraternity Council; Jimmy Phelps, as president of the Student Government Association, and Billy Arnold, as co-editor of the campus literary magazine, The Rebel.

At the February 25, 1958 meeting of the Board of Trustees, President Messick reported that five local social fraternities had become affiliated with national social fraternities. The five were Delta Sigma Rho, affiliated with Lambda Chi Alpha; Kappa Sigma Nu with Sigma Nu; Sigma Rho Phi with Kappa Alpha; Phi Kappa Alpha with Pi Kappa Alpha; and Phi Gamma Pi with Theta Chi. At the same meeting, the board passed a resolution stating that fraternity house rules must be drafted and approved by the administration, and a house mother employed, before fraternity members may live in a fraternity house. In an effort to encourage success, the trustees established two annual awards, one recognizing the fraternity rendering outstanding service to the college, and the other recognizing the fraternity with the highest level of scholarship.

Even before the February 25, 1958 meeting, Kappa Sigma Nu had acquired the first fraternity house, on Elizabeth Street, as a temporary dwelling, with intentions of purchasing a permanent house near campus by the fall quarter. Earlier, Phi Kappa Alpha had led the way in having its meetings off campus in a chapter room above Fleming's Gift Shop. Sigma Rho Phi also secured a chapter room above the Perkins-Proctor Hotel in downtown Greenville. Phi Gamma Pi and Delta Sigma Rho indicated their intent to secure houses by the fall quarter.

Eager to make a splash in campus social life, the Interfraternity Council, led by Kappa Sigma Nu brother Roddy Jones, staged a "Playboy Formal" dance, with support from Playboy magazine, at which the Duke Ambassadors band chose, from five girls representing the five social fraternities, the "Playmate of 1958." Fraternity news received significant billing in the East Carolinian, issue after issue.

The Interfraternity Council also sponsored one of the first performances by African-American musicians, The Cavaliers, on October 29, 1958, at a semi-formal dance cosponsored by the East Carolinian. The week before the semi-formal, Pi Kappa Alpha had The Cavaliers play for a party they sponsored, resulting in the band's new song, "Jumping at the Pi Kappa Ball," subsequently recorded for Decca Records.

While initially expressions of then prevalent Jim Crow culture, social fraternities have since diversified, fully matching the school's evolving social ethics. By the early 1970s, the first of the African-American social fraternities, Alpha Phi Alpha, was organized, with national affiliation, and soon became an integral part of the Greek world at ECU. As centers of brotherhood, service, and community, East Carolina's social fraternities continue to make significant contributions to campus social life and its mission of service.

Sources

Additional Related Material

Kappa Sigma members
Kappa Sigma members

 

Kappa Sigma Nu house
Kappa Sigma Nu house

 

Kappa Alpha fraternity members
Kappa Alpha fraternity members

 

Pi Kappa Alpha
Pi Kappa Alpha

 

Lambda Chi Alpha tub
Lambda Chi Alpha tub

 

Omega Psi Phi
Omega Psi Phi

Citation Information

Title: Fraternities

Author: John A. Tucker, PhD

Date of Publication: 7/18/2019

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