Theta Nu Epsilon

Theta Nu Epsilon ΘΝΕ Nickname: TNE Founded: December 11, 1870 Wesleyan University Official Colors: Green and Black             National Headquarters: The National Organization is maintained by the Alpha Chapter. Many chapters are independent of the national. Badge: Theta Nu Epsilon fraternity pin Theta Nu Epsilon fraternity pin

Founded at Wesleyan University as a chapter of Yale University's Skull and Bones, ΘΝΕ (Theta Nu Epsilon), also known widely as TNE is primarily a sophomore class society that chooses its members regardless of their fraternity status. The society has maintained a reputation of secrecy as evidenced by their motto, "Little is known, and what is known is kept secret." Membership is highly selective and have included America's 27th president William Howard Taft. The colors of the fraternity are green and black.

Early History

Theta Nu Epsilon was founded on December 11, 1870 in Room Seven of Wesleyan’s South College by Herbert Hull Coston, Coleridge Allen Hart, George Washington Shonk, Lyman Horace Weeks, (all four Alpha Delta Phi), Benjamin Emmons Gerst, Arthur Collins McClay, George Bickford Davey Toy, (all four Delta Kappa Epsilon), Stephen Judson Kirby, George Henry Towle, Alfred Charles True, (all four Eclectic), George William Elliott, Charles Hamlin Furber, William Henry Lawrence, Olin Levings Livesey, (all four Psi Upsilon), Amos Howard Hoagland, (independent). Two years after being founded as the Wesleyan chapter of Skull & Bones, the chapter began to function independently from Yale and changed the bones of the Skull & Bones emblem to keys. According to the traditional model, T.N.E. is exclusively a sophomore class society, and members were tapped near the end of their freshman or start of their sophomore year. Once selected, the new members were active and responsible for operation of the chapter during their sophomore year. As juniors and seniors, they were considered honorary members and only had authority to lead active members 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 continue this tradition. The society's illustrious image, once considered America's most prestigious fraternity, has unfortunately inspired several illegitimate chapters that work differently from the model established by Yale and Wesleyan.

The society enjoyed immediate success at Wesleyan, and the Wesleyan Chapter acted as the national organization who granted charters until 1907. A second Alfa Chapter (Alfa Indiana) was also established at Purdue University in 1882 on the 50th anniversary of Yale's Skull & Bones. The Alfa Indiana Chapter served to grant charters to engineering based institutions after 1889. Purdue's strong role was a response to Yale's own science and engineering school forming their own secret society, Book and Snake, not associated with Skull & Bones. However, in 1903, Yale would also form a chapter of Theta Nu Epsilon known as the Lambda Sigma Chapter. The two Alfa Chapters of Wesleyan and Purdue remain as Theta Nu Epsilon's two most prestigious. Wesleyan is sometimes called "Alfa (Liberal Arts)" while Purdue is sometimes called "Alfa (Engineering)". Both Alfa chapters have maintained a closer tie to Yale's Skull & Bones than the other chapters of the fraternity.

Internal Struggle

The society's national governance was disrupted by internal dissention. There was a convention structure developed for the society in 1885. But by the mid 1890s, two major factions and several lesser ones had formed and were exercising the functions of a national organization. After some urging by several New York City chapters, the Alpha Chapter of Wesleyan realized the growth and size of the society was no longer manageable by a single mother chapter, and a convention was called in New York in 1907, and a more business-like national governing body was established and incorporated under the laws of the State of New York. The new national organization attempted to unify all chapters of the society, but the process proceeded slowly. The illicit chapters became very problematic for the society. Several of these chapters were banned from campuses, and many fraternities prohibited members from accepting membership in the society. In the late 1910s, many of the older legitimate chapters reorganized themselves as independent organizations which were loosely allied across campuses. However, the trouble-making reputations of many of the independent chapters led several major fraternities to place a ban on members from joining T.N.E., but these bans were seldom effective. An attempt was made to convert a small portion of the then existing chapters into a four-year college fraternity in the 1930s. The worst activity seems to have been among some chapters in the West in the late 1930s and 40s. Several of the older chapters that separated in the 1910s have survived as intact entities on their respective campuses, (Wesleyan, Berkeley, Alabama, etc.). Some, but not all, of these independent chapters began initiating women as members in the 1970s.

It is frequently assumed that all Theta Nu Epsilon members are also members of four-year college fraternities, but that has never been a requirement of membership. However, it is true that very many members have been members of four-year fraternities. There have been chapters that have operated exclusively that way, and the independent former chapter at Alabama is a well-known example of a chapter operating solely as an interfraternity coordinating organization. The Alpha Chapter of Wesleyan, which operates as the national organization today, has a clear policy against having chapters operate as an interfraternity coordinating organization.

The Louderback Theta Nu Epsilon Society of 1870

There was an independent organization centered at the Universities of Kansas and Nebraska which was led by John L. Louderback. Louderback may have been initiated into the remnants of a chapter at Kansas sometime in the 1960s, and he declared himself national president of TNE in 1989. His group attempted to establish two chapters, including one at East Tennessee State University in 2002 that was not successful. Investigation by legitimate alumni of the society proved that Louderback possessed none of the secrets of the society. He also charged steep chapter fees without providing charters, and was under investigation by the F.B.I. for a fraudulent 'scholarship' program, and was prosecuted for income tax evasion regarding the endowment of his society. His organization is not believed to have survived his death.

One illegitimate 'Louderback' chapter continues to exist at the University of Nebraska. A newsletter put out at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln on Monday, February 19th by this group was anonymously left under the door of the campus newspaper office. The Daily Nebraskan has posted an edited version (to protect victims) on their website. The newsletter contains racial, sexist, and homophobic remarks about a number of Greek members on campus. This action repeats previous similar activities by this organization.Daily Nebraskan Article and Newsletter

Official Chapters

File:1917.jpg

Alpha Theta chapter at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1917

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. The following list of chapters is composed of all chapters either founded by the Alpha, founded by the successive nationals from 1907 to 1949, or made legitimate after their original founding. Institution names have been modernized where necessary.

• Alpha - Wesleyan University - 1870
• Beta - Syracuse University - 1872-1925
• Gamma - Union College - 1874-1925
• Delta - Cornell University - 1877-1913
• Epsilon - University of Rochester - 1878-1944
• Zeta - University of California - 1879
• Eta - Colgate University - 1880
• Theta - Kenyon College - 1881-1930
• Iota - Case Western Reserve University - 1881-1921
• Kappa - Hamilton College - 1882
• Lambda' - Williams College - 1882-1923
• Lambda - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - 1882
• Mu - Stevens Institute of Technology - 1883-1935
• Nu - Lafayette College - 1884
• Beta Beta - Ohio Wesleyan University - 1884-1930
• Xi - Amherst College - 1885-1925
• Omicron' - Lehigh University - 1887-1907
• Omicron - Allegheny College - 1887-1924
• Pi' - Dickinson College - 1887
• Pi - Pennsylvania State College - 1888-1940
• Kappa Theta - University of Pennsylvania - 1888-1919
• Alpha Rho - University of Alabama - 1888
• Sigma - New York University - 1889
• Alpha Indiana - Purdue University - 1882 first formed, 1889 started granting chapters
• Psi Omega - University of the South - 1890-1913
• Alpha Phi - University of Mississippi - 1890-1929
• Beta Beta - University of Iowa - 1890-1929
• Tau - Wooster University - 1891-1923
• Kappa Kappa - Northwestern University - 1891-1929
• Phi - Rutgers University - 1892-1916
• Upsilon - University of Michigan - 1892-1930
• Delta Delta - University of Maine - 1893-1930
• Chi - Dartmouth College - 1893-1925
• Psi - Ohio State University - 1893-1931
• Omega - Stanford University - 1893-1936
• Alpha Epsilon - University of Minnesota - 1893-1934
• Alpha Alpha - Bowdoin College - 1893-1930
• Alpha Beta - University of Kansas - 1893-1929
• Alpha Gamma - University of Virginia - 1893-1932
• Alpha Delta - Illinois Wesleyan University - 1893-1925
• Alpha Sigma - Washington & Lee University - 1894-1912
• Alpha Zeta - University of Chicago - 1894-1934
• Gamma Gamma - University of Wisconsin - 1894-1934
• Gamma Gamma - Trinity College - 1894-1930
• Omega - Swarthmore College - 1894-1913
• Alpha Epsilon - University of Colorado - 1894-1929
• Alpha Eta - University of Nebraska - 1894-1929
• Epsilon Epsilon - Case Western Reserve University, Medical - 1895-1919
• Alpha Theta - University of Missouri - 1895
• Kappa Kappa - University of Texas - 1895-1929
• Omega Omega - Georgia Institute of Technology - 1895-1955
• Alpha Omicron - Cumberland University - 1896
• Zeta Zeta - Indiana University - 1898-1924
• Theta Theta - West Virginia University - 1898-1930
• Kappa Gamma - University of Vermont Medical School - 1898-1914
• Omicron Omega - Saint Lawrence University - 1898-1930
• Mu Beta - Brown University - 1900-1930
• Princeton - Princeton University - 1900-1902
• Theta Tau - University of Illinois - 1901-1934
• Alpha Omega - Columbia University - 1901-1930
• Beta Omicron - Colby College - 1902-1930
• Beta Mu - Emory University - 1902-1923
• Sigma Alpha - Westminster College - 1902-1929
• Beta Eta - Muhlenberg College - 1902-1912
• Tau Tau - Baker University - 1902
• Nu Mu - Auburn University - 1902-1929
• Omicron Omicron - Ohio Northern University - 1903-1921
• Pi Pi - Dickinson College of Law - 1903-1925
• Lambda Sigma - Yale University - 1903-1930
• Omega Nu - University of Maryland - 1904-1914
• Phi Phi - University of Arkansas - 1904-1930
• Zeta Phi - Boston University - 1904-1914
• Kappa Rho - University of Maryland at Baltimore, (BCDS) - 1904-1929
• Zeta Phi - Massachusetts Institute of Technology - 1904-1916
• Omega Kappa - University of Maryland at Baltimore, Medical School. - 1904-1915
• Sigma Rho - University of Georgia - 1904-1915
• Sigma Phi - University of Tennessee Medical College - 1908-1929
• Eta Eta - University of Massachusetts - 1909
• Gamma Beta - Thomas Jefferson University - 1909-1928
• Epsilon Deuteron - University of Rochester Alumni Chapter, Theta Pi Sigma - 1909-1942
• Zeta Zeta - University of Wyoming - 1910-1917
• Rho Rho - Norwich University - 1910-1930
• Sigma Tau - University of Maryland at Baltimore, Medical School. - 1910-1934
• Nu Nu - Marquette University - 1911-1936
• Xi Xi - University of Louisville - 1911-1935
• Sigma Sigma - Virginia Medical College - 1911-1916
• Upsilon Upsilon - New York University, Washington Square - 1912
• Psi Psi - Iowa State University - 1912-1935
• Alpha Beta - State University of New York at Buffalo - 1914-1930
• Alpha Gamma - Duke University - 1914-1930
• Alpha Eta - Rush Medical College - 1915-1925
• Alpha Epsilon - University of South Dakota - 1915-1929
• Alpha Kappa - Northwestern University Dental School - 1916-1923
• Beta Gamma - Chicago College of Dental Surgery - 1917-1925
• Beta Epsilon - Oklahoma State University - 1917-1949
• Delta Beta - Lehigh University - 1922-1925
• Delta Lambda - University of Missouri at Kansas City - 1922-1930
• Delta Chi - University of Oklahoma - 1922-1934
• Alpha Iota - Harvard University - 1924-1928
• Kappa Rho - University of Maryland at Baltimore - 1924-1929
• Delta Phi - Lombard College - 1928-1930
• Mu Mu - Coe College - 1928-1934
• Alpha Mu - Southwestern University - 1928-1936

External links

• "Theta Nu Epsilon", Official website of the Alpha Chapter.
• "Outline history of Theta Nu Epsilon", (a view from one of the 1920s era splinter groups), Cecil Rhodes Walley, ca. 1930.
• "TNE publishes newsletter criticizing greeks", Daily Nebraskan. February 20, 2007
• "Society has a long history of campus activity", Daily Nebraskan. February 20, 2007
• "Secret fraternity newsletters still circulating on UNL campus", Lincoln Journal Star. May 17, 2006
• "Fascism at U. S. C.", Time. May 28, 1945