National Collegiate Players

National Collegiate Players, also known as Pi Epsilon Delta, was an American co-educational honor society for participants in collegiate theatre. It was founded in 1919 at the University of Wisconsin, finally going dormant around 1990.

History

Pi Epsilon Delta was established at University of Wisconsin on June 8, 1919, by students who were interested in theater. The first group contained seventeen men and women, including four faculty members. Its first president was Ray E. Holcolm. Pi Epsilon Delta was established as an honor society to recognize and encourage collegiate theatre. Its activities included supporting dramatic performances, playwriting, and the study of drama and encouraging leadership in these fields.
By 1922, Pi Epsilon Delta had a total of five chapters, including added chapters at Washington University in St. Louis, University of Minnesota, and Northwestern University. In June 1922, Pi Epsilon Delta merged with Associated University Players to form National Collegiate Players. Associated University Players was founded in 1913 at University of Illinois and had chapters at Ohio University, University of Washington, and University of Oregon. All but its chapter at the University of Washington voted to join the merged organization.
The merger was facilitated by two faculty members at the University of Wisconsin, Gertrude Johnson, professor of the speech department and grand chancellor of Pi Epsilon Delta, and Merle R. Raines, an English instructor and grand secretary of the Associated University Players. Pi Epsilon Delta was an honorary society, while the Associated University players were a theatrical production group.
The ideals and scope of the new National Collegiate Players were identical to Pi Epsilon Delta's. However, all chapters were allowed to produce theatrical shows. The merged organization's name was adopted due to resistance to continuing the form of a Greek letter organization, viewed as another secret order.
The first chapter installed after the merger was Iowa State University in April 1923. The society established the Junior Collegiate Players for students at junior colleges at Stephens College in 1949. It also sponsored a Summer European Theatre Workshop for its members every two years starting in 1959.
By 1962, the Players had initiated some 9,000 members. The National Collegiate Players became an honor society when it joined the Association of College Honor Societies in February 1963.
In 1977, the Players had 44 active chapters and 44 inactive chapters. It had initiated 15,000 members. Its headquarters was located at the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio. The National Collegiate Players went dormant around 1990.

Symbols

The Pi Epsilon Delta membership emblem was a key that included the comedy and drama masks of ancient Greek theater and the Greek letters ΠΕΔ. Founding member Frances Allen Tucker designed the key. Its motto was Palamay en Drama or "Art in Drama".
The National Collegiate Players maintained the key and motto of Pi Epsilon Delta. Its publication was Players, which was first published in 1924.

Membership

Students were admitted to the National Collegiate Players based on a point system for achievement in acting, construction, costuming, directing, playwriting, stage design, stagecraft, and the completion of courses in dramatic arts, speech, and literature at an accredited institution. This was a modification of the point system used by Pi Epsilon Delta before the merger of the two organizations.
Only upper-class women and men were eligible for membership which was limited to seven to twelve active members per chapter. Applications for membership were voted on by the local chapter and approved by the national council, thus providing both national and local recognition for members.
The Players also initiated honor members who had made significant contributions to academia or the theater profession.

Chapters

Following is a list of the chapters of the National Collegiate Players, with inactive institutions indicated in italics.

Number	Charter date and range	Institution	Location	Status
1	1922–1923; 1925	University of Illinois	Urbana, Illinois	Inactive
2	1922–1964	University of Wisconsin	Madison, Wisconsin	Inactive
3	1922	University of Minnesota	Minneapolis, Minnesota	Inactive
4	1922–1930, 1941	Ohio University	Athens, Ohio	Inactive
5	1922–1932	Northwestern University	Evanston, Illinois	Inactive
6	1922–1958	Washington University in St. Louis	St. Louis County, Missouri	Inactive
7	1922	University of Oregon	Eugene, Oregon	Inactive
8	1923	DePauw University	Greencastle, Indiana	Inactive
9	–1934	Iowa State University	Ames, Iowa	Inactive
10	1923	Washington State University	Pullman, Washington	Inactive
11	1923	Oregon State University	Corvallis, Oregon	Inactive
12	1924	University of Nebraska–Lincoln	Lincoln, Nebraska	Inactive
13	1926	University of Southern California	Los Angeles, California	Inactive
	1926	University of Arizona	Tucson, Arizona	Inactive
	1926–1935	Butler University	Indianapolis, Indiana	Inactive
	1926–1950	University of Denver	Denver, Colorado	Inactive
	1926	University of North Dakota	Grand Forks, North Dakota	Inactive
	1926–1945	Adelbert College of Western Reserve University	Cleveland, Ohio	Inactive
	1927	University of Kansas	Lawrence, Kansas	Inactive
	1927	Southwestern University	Georgetown, Texas	Inactive
	1927	Lawrence University	Appleton, Wisconsin	Inactive
	1927	Muskingum University	New Concord, Ohio	Inactive
	1927–1945	Flora Stone Mather College of Western Reserve University	Cleveland, Ohio	Inactive
	1928–1943, 1950	Grinnell College	Grinnell, Iowa	Inactive
	1929	Earlham College	Richmond, Indiana	Inactive
	1929	Monmouth University	Long Branch, New Jersey	Inactive
	– 1941	Cornell College	Mount Vernon, Iowa	Inactive
	1932–1950	University of Iowa	Iowa City, Iowa	Inactive
	1935	Wichita State University	Wichita, Kansas	Inactive
	1936–1950	Texas Wesleyan College	Fort Worth, Texas	Inactive
	1936–1951	Alabama College, State College for Women	Montevallo, Alabama	Inactive
	1937–1951	University of Alabama	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	Inactive
	1938	Hamline University	Saint Paul, Minnesota	Inactive
	1938–1950	Wayne State University	Detroit, Michigan	Inactive
	1941	St. Olaf College	Northfield, Minnesota	Inactive
	1941	Tulane University	New Orleans, Louisiana	Inactive
	1942	St. Catherine University	Saint Paul, Minnesota	Inactive
	1943	MacMurray College	Jacksonville, Illinois	Inactive
	1945–1947, 1958	George Washington University	Washington, D.C.	Inactive
		Kansas State University	Manhattan, Kansas	Inactive
	1945	Louisiana State University	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	Inactive
	1946	Drury University	Springfield, Missouri	Inactive
	– 1989	University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire	Eau Claire, Wisconsin	Inactive
	1947	Beloit College	Beloit, Wisconsin	Inactive
	1947–1957	George Pepperdine College	Los Angeles County, California	Inactive
	1947	University of Maryland, College Park	College Park, Maryland	Inactive
	1947	University of Arkansas	Fayetteville, Arkansas	Inactive
	1948	College of Wooster	Wooster, Ohio	Inactive
	1948	Southern Illinois University Carbondale	Carbondale, Illinois	Inactive
	1948	University of South Dakota	Vermillion, South Dakota	Inactive
	1948	Southeast Missouri State University	Cape Girardeau, Missouri	Inactive
	1948	University of Florida	Gainesville, Florida	Inactive
	1949–1953	Florida Southern College	Lakeland, Florida	Inactive
	1949	Gustavus Adolphus College	St. Peter, Minnesota	Inactive
	1949–1952	Northern Idaho College of Education	Lewiston, Idaho	Inactive
	1950	Mankato State University	Mankato, Minnesota	Inactive
	1951	Hope College	Holland, Michigan	Inactive
	1951	University of Toledo	Toledo, Ohio	Inactive
	1951	Macalester College	Saint Paul, Minnesota	Inactive
	1951	Emporia State University	Emporia, Kansas	Inactive
	1951	University of Vermont	Burlington, Vermont	Inactive
	1951	Capital University	Bexley, Ohio	Inactive
	1952	Ohio State University	Columbus, Ohio	Inactive
	1952	University of Montana	Missoula, Montana	Inactive
	1954	University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Inactive
	1956	Elmira College	Elmira, New York	Inactive
	1957	Southeastern Louisiana University	Hammond, Louisiana	Inactive
	1958	Millikin University	Decatur, Illinois	Inactive
	1958	Augsburg University	Minneapolis, Minnesota	Inactive
	1959	St. Cloud State University	St. Cloud, Minnesota	Inactive
	1959	Southern Connecticut State University	New Haven, Connecticut	Inactive
	1960	Cornell University	Ithaca, New York	Inactive
	1961	Queens College, City University of New York	Queens, New York	Inactive
	1961	Ouachita Baptist University	Arkadelphia, Arkansas	Inactive
	1961	Arkansas Tech University	Russellville, Arkansas	Inactive
	1961	University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh	Oshkosh, Wisconsin	Inactive
	1962	University of Akron	Akron, Ohio	Inactive
		Winona State University	Winona, Minnesota	Inactive
	1963	Arizona State University	Tempe, Arizona	Inactive
	1963	California State University, Long Beach	Long Beach, California	Inactive
	1963	University of Missouri–Kansas City	Kansas City, Missouri	Inactive
	1963	Wake Forest University	Winston-Salem, North Carolina	Inactive
	1964	Western Illinois University	Macomb, Illinois	Inactive
	1965	Stephens College	Columbia, Missouri	Inactive
	1966	California State University, Fresno	Fresno, California	Inactive
	1966	East Carolina University	Greenville, North Carolina	Inactive
	1966	West Virginia University	Morgantown, West Virginia	Inactive
	1967	California State University, Sacramento	Sacramento, California	Inactive
	1969	Northern Illinois University	DeKalb, Illinois	Inactive
	1974	Wartburg College	Waverly, Iowa	Inactive

Notable members

Collegiate

Mary Wickes, actress
Anne Simley, academic and founder of the theater department at Hamline University
Haila Stoddard, actress, producer, writer and director
Jon Whitmore chief executive officer of ACT and president of Texas Tech University and San José State University

Honorary

Judith Anderson, stage and film actress
Henry Fonda, actor
Helen Hayes, actress
Cedrick Hardwick, stage and film actor
Charles Laughton, actor and director
Raymond Massey, actor
Agnes Moorhead, actress
Tyrone Power, actor
Basil Rathbone, actor