Theta Upsilon Omega

Theta Upsilon Omega (ΘΥΩ), was a national collegiate fraternity in the United States. Representatives of several local fraternities at a December 1, 1923[2] meeting of locals, organized by the National Interfraternity Conference, determined to form a new national through amalgamation, resulting in the creation of Theta Upsilon Omega on May 2, 1924.

Theta Upsilon Omega
ΘΥΩ
FoundedDecember 1, 1923 (1923-12-01)
National Interfraternity Conference meeting, New York City
TypeSocial
AffiliationNIC (former)
ScopeNational
Member badge
Colors  Midnight blue and   gold
FlowerDark Red Rose
PublicationThe Omegan
Merged withSigma Phi Epsilon (1938)
[1][2]

On April 23, 1938, Theta Upsilon Omega merged with Sigma Phi Epsilon.

Creation

The following nine locals were part of this meeting and concluded to form Theta Upsilon Omega.

In addition, at the Charter Arch Convocation (held at Bucknell on February 21–23, 1924), Pi Rho Phi of Westminster College petitioned for membership and was granted as the youngest charter chapter.[2]

Merle C. Cowden, of Worcester, was chosen first national president.[3]

Additional chapters were chartered, but growth stalled during the Great Depression.

In 1938, following negotiations, Theta Upsilon Omega merged with Sigma Phi Epsilon. Of its thirteen active chapters, four Theta Upsilon Omega chapters merged with existing SigEp chapters, and seven others were granted new charters in Sigma Phi Epsilon. One chapter reverted to local status under its original name, and one chapter merged with Theta Chi on its campus.[4]

Insignia

The insignia of Theta Upsilon Omega:[5]

  • Badge - Small pin of blue enamel with a circular contour and in the center of which is a ten-pointed gold star enclosing a cut diamond. The badge will have three short arms which are equidistant around the pin, and on them, in gold, will be the letters Theta Upsilon Omega. In the spaces between the arms will be six pearls, two between each pair of arms. Only charter members will be privileged to wear the diamond centered pins, and initiated members will have to substitute a ruby for the diamond or wear a plain pin.
  • Pledge button - A cross fitchée of midnight blue with a border of gold
  • Recognition pin - A mural crown from the top of which issues a dragon's head
  • Official seal - A voided fusil bearing inscriptions regarding the fraternity and having in the center, the Squire's helmet facing to the left
  • Colors - Midnight blue and gold
  • Flower - dark red rose

Chapters

Chapter information from The Omegan of ΘΥΩ, The Journal of ΣΦΕ, Baird's Manual (20th), and the Baird's Manual Online Archive. Active chapters at the time of the merger noted in bold, inactive chapters at the time of the merger noted in italics.[6][7][1][8]

State University Chapter Status Installed Date and Range Reference
Massachusetts Worcester Polytechnic Institute Beta Alpha Merged (ΣΦΕ) May 2, 1924–April 3, 1938, founding chapter [9][10]
New Jersey Stevens Institute of Technology Gamma Alpha Merged (ΣΦΕ) May 2, 1924–May 7, 1938, founding chapter [11][12]
Illinois University of Illinois Delta Alpha Merged (ΣΦΕ) May 2, 1924–April 23, 1938, founding chapter [13][14]
Pennsylvania Temple University Epsilon Alpha Merged (ΣΦΕ) May 2, 1924–May 8, 1938, founding chapter [15][16]
Pennsylvania Bucknell University Zeta Alpha Merged (ΣΦΕ) May 2, 1924–April 30, 1938, founding chapter [17][18]
Washington, D.C. George Washington University Eta Alpha Merged (ΣΦΕ) May 2, 1924–April 23, 1938, founding chapter [19][14]
New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Theta Alpha Resigned to become local May 2, 1924–1936, founding chapter [20][21]
Pennsylvania Penn State University Iota Alpha Merged (ΘΧ) May 2, 1924–1938, founding chapter [22][23][24]
North Carolina Davidson College Kappa Alpha Inactive May 2, 1924–1935, founding chapter [25]
Pennsylvania Westminster College Lambda Alpha Merged (ΣΦΕ) May 2, 1924–April 30, 1938, founding chapter [26][27]
Ohio Miami University Beta Beta Inactive, became ΣΦΕ Ohio Eta chapter in 1948 1925–1935 [28]
California University of California, Berkeley Gamma Beta Merged (ΣΦΕ) March 1925–April 23, 1938 [29][14][30]
Pennsylvania Muhlenberg College Delta Beta Merged (ΣΦΕ) March 10, 1928–April 10, 1938 [31][32][33]
Alabama University of Alabama Epsilon Beta Inactive May 11, 1929–1935 [34][35]
Illinois Monmouth College Zeta Beta Inactive March 29, 1930–1934 [26][36][37]
Alabama Alabama Polytechnic Institute (Auburn) Eta Beta Merged (ΣΦΕ) October 31, 1930–April 23, 1938 [38][14][39]
New York Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Theta Beta Merged (ΣΦΕ) September 23, 1933–April 23, 1938 [40][41][42]

Notable alumni

References
  1. William Raimond Baird (1991). Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities. Baird's Manual Foundation, Incorporated.
  2. "The Chapter Arch Convocation". The Omegan of Theta Upsilon Omega. Vol. 1, no. 1. April 1, 1924. p. 11.
  3. Taylor, Herbert Foster. Seventy Years of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 1937. p.324
  4. Adams, John P., ed. The Lifetime Responsibility of Brotherhood: Sigma Phi Epsilon. Rand McNally, 2000. p.74
  5. "Insignia (section)". The Omegan. Vol. I, no. 1. April 1924. pp. 13–14.
  6. "Directory of Chapters". The Omegan of Theta Upsilon Omega. Vol. 14, no. 4. December 1937. p. 82.
  7. "Theta Upsilon Omega merges with Sigma Phi Epsilon". The Sigma Phi Epsilon Journal. Vol. 35, no. 4. May 1938. p. 243.
  8. William Raimond Baird; Carroll Lurding (eds.). "Almanac of Fraternities and Sororities (Baird's Manual Online Archive)". Student Life and Culture Archives. University of Illinois: University of Illinois Archives. Retrieved 15 May 2021. The main archive URL is The Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage.
  9. The Beta Alpha chapter was created from Delta Tau (local), a group that dated from 1906.
  10. This chapter became the Massachusetts Beta chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon in 1938.
  11. The Gamma Alpha chapter was created from Phi Kappa Pi (local), a group that dated from 1906.
  12. This chapter became the New Jersey Alpha chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon in 1938.
  13. The Delta Alpha chapter was created from the Zeus Fraternity (local), a group that dated from 1919.
  14. This chapter merged into a pre-existing chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon.
  15. The Epsilon Alpha chapter was created from Kappa Sigma Phi (local), a group that dated from 1920.
  16. This chapter became the Pennsylvania Mu chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon in 1938.
  17. The Zeta Alpha chapter was created from Beta Kappa Psi (local), a group that dated from 1920.
  18. This chapter became the Pennsylvania Kappa chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon in 1938.
  19. The Eta Alpha chapter was created from Kappa Tau Omega (local), a group that dated from 1921.
  20. The Theta Alpha chapter was created from Sigma Beta (local), a group that dated from 1921.
  21. In 1936 this chapter reverted to local status as Sigma Beta (local), where it remains active today.
  22. The Iota Alpha chapter was created from Delta Kappa Nu (local), a group that dated from 1921. After creation it absorbed another small local, Pi Kappa Nu.
  23. In 1938 this chapter merged into the pre-existing Omega chapter of Theta Chi, formed in 1919.
  24. Theta Upsilon Omega and Theta Chi merge
  25. The Kappa Alpha chapter was created from Phi Alpha Pi (local), a group that dated from 1922. Baird's Archive suggests it ceased operations in 1935.
  26. The Lambda Alpha chapter was previously the revived Alpha chapter of Pi Rho Phi, a small, six chapter fraternity formed at Westminster in 1854. In 1868 it merged with Delta Tau Delta but only lasted a year with them, and went dormant. It was revived, again, as Pi Rho Phi in 1872, then became a founding member of Theta Upsilon Omega in 1924. Two years later the only other surviving (unnamed, possibly Gamma) chapter of Pi Rho Phi, established in 1910 at Monmouth, would also join Theta Upsilon Omega as its Zeta Beta chapter. That Monmouth group had originally been Tau Lambda Phi (local), formed in 1907.
  27. This chapter became the Pennsylvania Lambda chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon in 1938.
  28. The Beta Beta chapter was created from Phi Sigma Phi (local), a group that dated from 1923. Name similarity to the national fraternity, ΦΣΦ, formed in 1987 is coincidental. Baird's Archive suggests the chapter ceased operations in 1935, with no successor named.
  29. The Gamma Beta chapter was created from the Tilicum Club (local), a group that dated from 1913. Name similarity to the local club of that era at the University of Minnesota, Tillikum, is coincidental.
  30. A Brief History of the California Alpha Chapter Of Sigma Phi Epsilon
  31. The Delta Beta chapter was created from the Druids Club (local), a group that dated from 1923. Name similarity to the national fraternity, ΦΣΦ, formed in 1987 is coincidental.
  32. This chapter became the Pennsylvania Iota chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon in 1938.
  33. The Omegan Volume V Number 2
  34. The Epsilon Beta chapter was created from Eta Nu (local), a group that dated from 1927. The chapter apparently ceased operations in 1934 or 1935. Baird's Archive shows no successor even though there was a campus chapter of ΣΦΕ, apparently a casualty of the Great Depression.
  35. The Omegan Volume VI Number 2
  36. The Zeta Beta chapter returned to local status as Pi Rho Phi in 1934, apparently ceasing operations in 1937. The Baird's Archive has a typo suggesting the year "19937", which likely means 1937, a casualty of the Great Depression.
  37. The Omegan Volume VII Number 2
  38. The Eta Beta chapter was created from Tau Omega Chi (local), a group that dated from 1924.
  39. The Omegan Volume VII Number 4
  40. The Theta Beta chapter originated as Theta Delta Psi (local) in 1925. Three years later, in 1928 it merged into Sigma Zeta, a small, general fraternity formed in 1926 to become its Theta chapter. But that organization itself failed several years later, with the Rensselaer group opting to join Theta Upsilon Omega in 1933.
  41. This chapter became the New York Delta chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon in 1938.
  42. Sigma Epsilon New York Delta local history
  43. "Alumni News". The Omegan. Vol. V, no. 4. December 1928. p. 211.
  44. "Tom Minehart lone democratic councilman in Philadelphia". The Omega. Vol. XIV, no. 4. December 1937. p. 63.
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