Beta Theta Pi

History

Students at Miami University at the time of Beta's founding had previously formed two rival literary societies: The Erodelphian and Union Literary Society. A student of the school, John Reily Knox began to gather members of both the Erodelphian and Union Literary Societies with the goal of creating a new fraternity. In a letter that he wrote four years after the founding of the Alpha chapter, Knox said that other fraternities being formed possessed "many objectionable features which rendered them liable to be used as engines of evil as well as instruments of good." Beta Theta Pi was founded at 9:00 pm on Thursday, August 8, 1839, by eight students at Miami University. The group held its first regular meeting in the Hall of the Union Literary Society, an upper room of the campus building known as Old Main.

The eight founders, in the order their names appear in the minutes, were:

Purpose

The five core values espoused by Beta Theta Pi are cultivation of intellect, responsible conduct, mutual assistance, integrity and trust. These are the underpinnings for their mission statement to "develop men of principle for a principled life." In 1879, Beta Theta Pi became the first college fraternity to publish its constitution. The fraternity continues to guard certain secrets about membership. Similar to other fraternities, Beta Theta Pi's code emphasizes international fellowship, cultural development and cooperation .

Men of Principle initiative

In August 1996, St. Lawrence University Chairman and Beta Theta Pi alumnus E.B. Wilson wrote a letter to the editor of The Beta Theta Pi magazine challenging the national fraternity to undertake a project to reverse the emerging Greek and Beta culture, which he felt was not in line with their core values.

In response to Wilson and a number of institutional difficulties, the Men of Principle initiative was started during the 1998–99 academic year. Three chapters, Nebraska, Georgia and Pennsylvania, were used as pilot chapters for the new program. After this first year of piloting, the Men of Principle initiative was officially introduced at the 160th General Convention in Oxford, in 1999. Chapters that signed on to the Men of Principle initiative agreed to four non-negotiable points:

1. A five-person trained and active advisory team
2. Alcohol-free recruitment
3. Elimination of the rogue "National Test" (also known as "The Shep Test")
4. Commitment to a 100% "hazing-free" pledge program

Since the start of Men of Principle, Beta Theta Pi has seen improvement in the areas of academics and recruitment. Before Men of Principle, the Fraternity's average chapter GPA was just above a 2.8. In 2016, the fraternity's GPA had risen to a 3.22. The average chapter size in 2016 was 77.2 men, compared to 48.9 in 1997. In 1997, there was an average of two advisors per chapter, while as of 2016 there was an average of eight advisors working with each one of the chapters.

Beta received some backlash for the initiative. Between the beginning of the program in 1998 and 2013, its international headquarters closed 85 chapters for failing to comply with the Men of Principle initiative.

Leadership programs

As part of the Men of Principle initiative, Beta runs several leadership programs for undergraduate members and alumni. In the 1996-97 academic year, before the initiative, Beta sent seven undergraduates to a leadership development program — equivalent to 0.1 percent of the total undergraduate membership. In the 2015-16 academic year, nearly 2,000 Betas attended one of the fraternity's programs — or 20 percent of the total undergraduate membership. All told, in the years since the introduction of Men of Principle, more than 19,600 men have graduated from one of the fraternity's leadership programs.

Hazing, alcohol and sexual assault incidents

As part of a multi-year dispute over co-ed student housing issues, the Beta Theta Pi chapter at Wesleyan University had been refusing access to campus security personnel. In March 2010, Wesleyan issued a warning to students to avoid the chapter house. In October of that year a freshman was raped by a non-member, non-student at a Beta Theta Pi Halloween party. The rapist was arrested, and both the fraternity and the university reached an out-of-court settlement with the victim in 2014. The dispute over campus housing was later resolved.

In 2012, the Purdue University chapter was suspended for harming pledges and providing alcohol to minors.

In March 2013, the Carnegie Mellon University chapter was suspended following a police investigation of sexually explicit videos and photographs circulating among members.

In February 2014, the fraternity's Alpha chapter at Miami University was closed in response to alcohol and hazing incidents.

In October 2014, the University of Washington chapter was suspended by the university following hazing allegations. The chapter was disbanded by the fraternity a month later, following an investigation.

Regarding closures, Tristan Sopp, a Beta Theta Pi staff member, said "the closures, for us, are seen as a sign of strength, because we hold our chapters accountable."

In 2014, the University of Utah chapter received a $3,300 grant from a charity started by Robin McGraw for its work to stop sexual assault.

In 2016, the University of Oregon chapter was disbanded due to hazing and other "high-risk" activities.

In 2017, the Pennsylvania State University chapter was revoked due to a death of a member of the chapter after a party related to alcohol.