Phi Beta Delta (fraternity)

Phi Beta Delta was an American college social fraternity for Jewish students. It was founded at Columbia University in 1912. After chartering 36 chapters, the fraternity merged with Pi Lambda Phi in 1941.

History

Phi Beta Delta was founded at Columbia University on as a college social fraternity for Jewish students. Its eight founders were David H. Cohen, Henry C. Fenton, William Haas, Darcy M. Heinemann, Joseph Michtom, Samuel Null, Julius Rudd, and Bernard Shapiro
The founders stated, "Its purpose is to inculcate among its membership a fine spirit of loyalty, activity, and scholarship toward their Alma Mater, to develop the highest ideals of conduct, and to promote a close fraternal bond through means of carefully selected associates."
While entering the ranks of national fraternities somewhat later than its national peers, the organization quickly grew, with chapters quickly formed at several eastern schools. In 1934, Phi Beta Delta absorbed the UPenn chapter of Omicron Alpha Tau, a smaller Jewish fraternity that was dispersing that year. This group either merged with the existing Phi Beta Delta chapter on the campus or re-established it. Four of ΟΑΤ's other chapters went to Tau Delta Phi.
In 1930, Phi Beta Delta had initiated 1,811 members and chartered 32 chapters, with three being inactive. Ten chapters owned houses. The fraternity had alumni clubs in Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New Jersey, New York City, Oklahoma, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Western Pennsylvania.
Phi Beta Delta effectively merged into Pi Lambda Phi on February 1, 1941. Baird's Manual notes the merger documents were signed on. At the time, Pi Lambda Phi had twenty active chapters, and Phi Beta Delta had sixteen. Considering duplications, the combined post-merger fraternity had a net of 33 chapters. All members and alumni of Phi Beta Delta were admitted into Pi Lambda Phi.

Symbols

The Phi Beta Delta badge was diamond-shaped and edged with twenty pearls. Across the center, it displayed the Greek letters ΦΒΔ in gold on a blue background. Above the letters was a five-pointed star, and below were two crossed keys.
The fraternity's colors were blue and gold. Its jewel was the pearl. Its flower was the hyacinth. Its publications were the monthly What's Doing in Phi Beta Delta and the quarterly magazine The Tripod of Phi Beta Delta.

Chapters

Following are the chapters of Phi Beta Delta, listed in the order of formation, with inactive chapters and institutions are in italics.

Chapter	Charter date and range	Institution	Location	Status
Alpha	– 1929	Columbia University	New York City, New York	Inactive
Gamma	1912–1935	City College of New York	New York City, New York	Inactive
Lambda	1912–1926	New York College of Dentistry	New York City, New York	Inactive
Sigma	1913–1918, 1934–1941	Cornell University	Ithaca, New York	Merged
Zeta	1915–1934	New York University	New York City, New York	Inactive
Beta	1916–1935	Fordham University	New York City, New York	Inactive
Eta	1919–1941	University of Pennsylvania	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Merged
Epsilon	1919–1939	University of Chicago	Chicago, Illinois	Inactive
Theta	1920–1941	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Boston, Massachusetts	Merged
Mu	1920–1941	University of Cincinnati	Cincinnati, Ohio	Merged
Nu	1920–1935	Polytechnic Institute of New York (Tandon)	New York City, New York	Inactive
Kappa	1921–1941	University of Southern California	Los Angeles, California	Merged
Omicron	1921–1941	University of Michigan	Ann Arbor, Michigan	Merged
Rho	1921–1925	Worcester Polytechnic Institute	Worcester, Massachusetts	Inactive
Xi	1921–1930	Tufts University	Medford, Massachusetts	Inactive
Pi	1921–1941	Washington University in St. Louis	St. Louis, Missouri	Merged
Tau	1922–1941	University of California, Berkeley	Berkeley, California	Merged
Upsilon	1922–1941	University of California, Los Angeles	Los Angeles, California	Merged
Iota	1922–1941	University of Oklahoma	Norman, Oklahoma	Merged
Phi	1922–1936	University of Iowa	Iowa City, Iowa	Inactive
Chi	1924–1934	University of Wisconsin–Madison	Madison, Wisconsin	Inactive
Psi	1924–1930	Drake University	Des Moines, Iowa	Inactive
Delta	1925–1941	University of Florida	Gainesville, Florida	Merged
Omega	1925–1931	University of Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Inactive
Alpha Alpha	1925–1933	University of Minnesota	Minneapolis, Minnesota	Inactive
Alpha Beta	1927–1934	University of Denver	Denver, Colorado	Inactive
Alpha Gamma	1927–1933	Lehigh University	Bethlehem, Pennsylvania	Inactive
Alpha Delta	1927–1933, 19xx ?–1941	Temple University	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Merged
Alpha Epsilon	1927–1941	Ohio State University	Columbus, Ohio	Merged
Alpha Zeta	1928–1941	University of South Carolina	Columbia, South Carolina	Merged
Alpha Eta	1928–1937	University of Alabama	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	Inactive
Alpha Theta	1928–1941	Indiana University	Bloomington, Indiana	Merged
Alpha Iota	1931–1934	University of Colorado	Boulder, Colorado	Inactive
Alpha Kappa	1934–1941	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	Champaign, Illinois	Merged

Notable members

Maurice Caro, Massachusetts State Legislature
Richard Feynman theoretical physicist
Max Fisher businessman and philanthropist
Leopold Calvin Glass, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Joseph L. Kun, judge on the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas
Louis B. Mayer, film producer and co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios
Aaron M Sakolski, author