Misplaced Pages

#84915

98-418: The houses resemble fraternities at other American universities in the shared loyalties they engender. Unlike in fraternities, however, potentially dangerous "rushing" or "pledging" is replaced with two weeks of "Rotation" at the beginning of a student's freshman year, and students generally remain affiliated with one house for the duration of their undergraduate studies. Freshmen have historically gone through

196-543: A chapter room located inside the fraternity's house. Entry into chapter rooms is often prohibited to all but the initiated. In one extreme case, the response of firefighters to a blaze signaled by an automated alarm at the Sigma Phi chapter house at the University of Wisconsin in 2003 was hampered in part because fraternity members refused to disclose to emergency responders the location of the hidden chapter room, where

294-559: A concrete facsimile of the original pot. Due to tightening of Pasadena fire codes and the Caltech administration's liability concerns, the firepot was removed. A portable fireplace temporarily replaced the firepot. The brakedrum is a contest between the freshman class and the sophomore class over ownership of the brakedrum. Ricketts House was known for athletics and student government in the 1950s, but soon after that they became known less for these activities and more for activities that pushed

392-563: A council of multicultural Greek organizations. The National Multicultural Greek Council , officially formed in 1998, is a coordinating body of 19 Greek organizations, including nine fraternities, and ten sororities with cultural affiliations. The first multicultural sorority, Mu Sigma Upsilon , was established in November 1981 at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey . The formation of this Greek organization allowed for

490-408: A full member, or become a social or full member afterwards. Procedures for admitting new members vary depending upon house bylaws and type of membership. Rotation is the process by which incoming freshmen choose (and are chosen by) the house they will be affiliated with. In Caltech parlance, freshmen are called "frosh" and are referred to as "prefrosh" until the revelation of their house affiliation at

588-655: A full member; individuals who would like to become members afterward can choose between full and social membership. The relative difficulties in attaining full and social memberships differ from house to house, as do the relative privileges that each membership type affords. The only universal truths are that full membership is harder to attain than social and that full members may live in house-associated property while social members may not. Generally speaking, social members are able to attend all house social events (ski trips, hikes, etc.). The south house complex opened in 1931. The South houses sometimes style themselves as "hovses," in

686-518: A group of students and police who watched as the cannon was loaded into a truck. Afterward, a friendly barbecue celebrated the event. Ricketts House was funded by and named for mining engineer L. D. Ricketts . Members of Ricketts House are called Skurves (or Scurves) due to a play on the similarity of the name Ricketts to the disease rickets and the fact that scurvy is another vitamin deficiency disease. Members of Ricketts House were known as Rowdies until about 1960; alumni of that period still draw

784-422: A habitable treehouse and a giant tire swing, but the tree that bore them was cut down during renovations of the house in the 2005–2006 academic year. Attached to another tree was another wooden swing, but that was cut down in 2019. In another side of the courtyard is a couch swing. The letters of Blacker House are γδβγ ( Greek letters for gdbg, or God damn Blacker gang ). The story is that in 1978 or 1979, it

882-465: A house: to apply at some point after rotation. The process varies from house to house, but in general one makes an announcement at dinner to the effect of "I would like to be a member of ___ House," and the House conducts a vote (the nature of the vote, again, varying). All houses except Ricketts have two tiers of memberships: full members and social members. Anyone who rotates into a house is automatically

980-427: A measure for height of serves in the singles and doubles games of four square played in the courtyard. By the mid-1970s, it existed only as chunks of rubble, after destruction in an experiment in more exciting pot fires allegedly involving newspaper, xylene, and matches. Around that time, enterprising house officers arranged for its replacement with a large section of concrete sewer pipe, which was eventually replaced with

1078-680: A minority of Greek-letter organizations and no such fraternity is currently a member of the North American Interfraternity Conference, the largest international association of fraternities. The first coed fraternity was Pi Alpha Tau (1963–1991) at the University of Illinois at Chicago . Much more commonly, coed fraternities exist in the form of service fraternities, such as Alpha Phi Omega , Epsilon Sigma Alpha , Alpha Tau Mu and others . These organizations are similar to social fraternities and sororities, except they are coed and non-residential. Similarly, in

SECTION 10

#1732791209085

1176-507: A national or international organization that sets standards, regulates insignia and ritual, publishes a journal or magazine for all of the chapters of the organization, and has the power to grant and revoke charters to chapters. These federal structures are largely governed by alumni members of the fraternity, though with some input from the active (student) members. Before 1900, the expansion of fraternal housing and competition among fraternities led to increasingly aggressive recruitment among

1274-455: A new, changeable motto. In line with Caltech's tradition of wall murals and wall writings, any member may change the house motto by striking the previous motto on a designated motto wall and writing a new one. Fleming House was built with funds donated by a number of people, and the name Fleming was chosen to honor Arthur H. Fleming , then the chairman of Caltech's Board of Trustees. Members of Fleming House are called Flems. The house color

1372-442: A particularly unpalatable plate of noodles in the 1950s, the trigraph DEI has come to be a badge of pride for Darbs. Besides naming the house's recreation room after it and spreading it all across campus, Dabney alumni have made DEI a hidden code in the outside world. The letters can be seen in movies (most notably Real Genius ) and video games (including GTA: Vice City and several Intellivision games). There are even stories of

1470-469: A process known as Rotation for a week before term through the first week of classes, leading to their eventual house assignment by way of a matching process. This process has rules associated with it to try to give freshmen a chance to choose among the houses in an unbiased way. Caltech established the house system in 1931, disbanding the existing fraternities and recasting them as Blacker House , Dabney House , Fleming House and Ricketts House, located in

1568-520: A recent decision by the house leadership changed this policy. Students may now apply for and obtain Fleming House social membership. The physical layout of Fleming House includes rooms numbered 8.5 (formerly the RA apartment, now a triple), π , and "Alley 6.9". The Interhouse Trophy, awarded to the winner of the interhouse athletic competitions, has been awarded to Fleming for the past five years. For

1666-603: A result, Avery was not initially considered part of the house system, and freshmen were not allowed to live there. In the 2003–2004 school year, the Avery Council (the student government of Avery House) campaigned for Avery to participate in Rotation and take freshmen. This change was opposed by the Caltech undergraduate student body by a five-to-one margin, but the Faculty Board voted overwhelmingly to approve

1764-559: A satirical comic strip that was published regularly in the California Tech, the student newspaper, was drawn and written by Lloydies. In the past, some Lloydies have pulled elaborate pranks. The prank of the 1961 Rose Bowl was pulled off by the "Fiendish Fourteen," members of Lloyd House. Flashcards that were intended to cheer for the Washington Huskies football team were changed to read Caltech. The Hollywood sign

1862-599: A scholastic honor society and abandoned secrecy. In 1825, Kappa Alpha Society , the first fraternity to retain its social characteristic, was established at Union College in Schenectady, New York . In 1827, Sigma Phi and Delta Phi were also founded at the same institution, creating the Union Triad . The further birthing of Psi Upsilon (1833), Omicron Kappa Epsilon (1834), Chi Psi (1841), and Theta Delta Chi (1847) collectively established Union College as

1960-500: A sequence of two or three Greek letters, for instance, Delta Delta Delta , Sigma Chi , Chi Omega , or Psi Upsilon . There are a few exceptions to this general rule, as in the case of the fraternities Triangle , Acacia , and Seal and Serpent . There are approximately nine million student and alumni members of fraternities and sororities in North America , or about three percent of the total population. Roughly 750,000 of

2058-433: A specific section of university-owned housing provided to them. Some fraternities and sororities are un-housed, with members providing their accommodations. In many of these cases, the fraternity or sorority owns or rents a non-residential clubhouse on or off campus to use for meetings and other activities. With a few exceptions, most fraternities and sororities are secret societies . While the identity of members or officers

SECTION 20

#1732791209085

2156-432: Is being contested vigorously in U.S. federal court by several affected fraternities and sororities. Individual chapters of fraternities and sororities are largely self-governed by their active (student) members; however, alumni members may retain legal ownership of the fraternity or sorority's property through an alumni chapter or alumni corporation. All of a single fraternity or sorority's chapters are generally grouped in

2254-405: Is constrained: there are only a limited number of openings in each house, and it is impossible to simultaneously meet the preferences of all of the freshmen and houses. Despite the constraints, this two-way selection process of joining a house, and social interaction after joining, gives each house a distinctive personality that is stable over decades. There is a second way to obtain membership in

2352-460: Is effectively blindfolded during the proceedings, and at last, still sightless, I was led down flights of steps into a silent crypt and helped into a coffin, where I was to stay until the Resurrection...Thus it was that just as my father passed from this earth, I was lying in a coffin during my initiation into Delta Kappa Epsilon. Meetings and rituals are sometimes conducted in what is known as

2450-453: Is facilitate and accomplish acts of community service ; this is in contrast to certain social fraternities and sororities or religious fraternities and sororities that participate in philanthropy and community service as a non-primary (secondary or tertiary) mission. Fraternities and sororities traditionally have been single-sex organizations, with fraternities consisting exclusively of men and sororities consisting exclusively of women. In

2548-518: Is located along the Olive Walk, and is an L-shaped, two-story building. At the intersection of the two branches of the house are "Lower Crotch" and "Upper Crotch," which serve as communal lounge areas. Lloyd is divided into seven alleys: Purple, Kaos, VI ( Virgin Islands ), Fingal's Cave , Valhalla , Inferno, and Tropic. Each alley is decorated with theme-appropriate murals . Some murals include

2646-564: Is one of the oldest and largest women's membership organizations, representing more than four million women at 655 college and university campuses and 4,500 local alumni chapters in the U.S. and Canada. In 1867, the Chi Phi fraternity established its Theta chapter at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland , marking the first foray of the American social fraternity outside the borders of

2744-598: Is rarely concealed, fraternities and sororities initiate members following the pledge period through sometimes elaborate private rituals, frequently drawn or adopted from Masonic ritual practice or that of the Greek mysteries. After an initiation ritual, the organization's secret motto, secret purpose, and secret identification signs, such as handshakes and passwords, are usually revealed to its new members. Some fraternities also teach initiates an identity search device used to confirm fellow fraternity members. Julian Hawthorne ,

2842-493: Is red. The motto, from the crest as commonly seen on house beer steins, is "Let the Deed Shaw." The house battle cry is "Go Big Red!" Another important maxim is "Flems stick together!", as well as the slogan "Where men are men, giants walk the earth, and the thundering herd is real" and "Page Sux". Historically, Fleming House did not offer social memberships (nominally citing all non-Fleming undergraduates as "social members"), but

2940-584: The Dabney Oil Syndicate , was a trustee of California Institute of Technology. Dabney Hall of the Humanities, a gift of Mr. and Mrs. Dabney, is one of the four corner buildings of Caltech's central courtyard. It was built in 1927. In 1928, the Dabneys gave $ 200,000 to build Dabney House, one of four new residence halls. Dabney House, as part of the complex that makes up the four south houses,

3038-895: The FBI invaded the house (only three seniors are mentioned in the yearbook from 1970), though folklore also holds that the perpetrators escaped capture, leaving only a teasing banner for the invaders reading "Welcome, FBI!" Fraternities and sororities In North America , fraternities and sororities ( Latin : fraternitas and sororitas , 'brotherhood' and 'sisterhood') are social clubs at colleges and universities . They are sometimes collectively referred to as Greek life or Greek-letter organizations , as well as collegiate fraternities or collegiate sororities to differentiate them from traditional not (exclusively) university-based fraternal organizations and fraternal orders that have historically acted as friendly societies or benefit societies to certain groups unlike

House system at the California Institute of Technology - Misplaced Pages Continue

3136-721: The Franco-Prussian War but eventually found its way to the then-military themed Southwestern Academy in San Marino, California , where it remained on the front lawn between 1925 and 1972. In 1972 Fleming class officers got permission from Southwestern Academy to take the cannon, but the underclassmen who mounted new wheels on it and dragged it to campus at night thought they were stealing it. It took months of paint stripping and other work to restore it to operational status. The Caltech administration ordered its return in 1975, but negotiations began for an official transfer of

3234-539: The Grateful Dead 's eponymous album that was painted in the 1970s. Today the house hosts a number of social events throughout the year, including a termly open mic night, featuring music performances by students, a termly formal dinner, and an interhouse party known as Apache. The building has space for approximately 70 students, while the house had a total membership of about 110 at commencement in 2019. Two graduate student resident associates live in apartments in

3332-472: The Latin tradition of using the letters "v" and "u" interchangeably, as the names on the buildings are written using the letter "v". Blacker House was built with the help of funds donated by Robert Roe Blacker , a trustee of Caltech. Members of Blacker House are referred to as Moles. One of the traditions of Blacker House is the hellride. In a defiant response to the prohibition against playing Ride of

3430-557: The Mother of Fraternities . The social fraternity Chi Phi , officially formed in 1854, traces its roots to a short-lived organization founded at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey , in 1824 bearing the same name. Fraternities represented the intersection between dining clubs , literary societies , and secret initiatory orders such as Freemasonry . Their early growth was widely opposed by university administrators, though

3528-781: The United States cabinet have been members of fraternities and sororities, and the current chief executive officers of five of the ten largest Fortune 500 companies are members of fraternities and sororities. In addition, 85 percent of all justices of the U.S. Supreme Court since 1910 have been members of fraternities. U.S. presidents since World War II who have been initiated into fraternities are George W. Bush , George H. W. Bush , Bill Clinton , Ronald Reagan , Harry S. Truman , Gerald Ford , and Franklin Roosevelt . Three Prime Ministers of Canada have been members of fraternities. In 2013, about 25 percent of members of

3626-684: The Upsilon Sigma Phi , was founded in 1918. The first Greek-letter sorority, UP Sigma Beta Sorority, was recognized in 1932. Many early fraternities referred to Christian principles or to a Supreme Being in general, as is characteristic of fraternal orders . Some, such as Alpha Chi Rho (1895) and Alpha Kappa Lambda (1907), only admitted Christians , while others, such as Beta Sigma Psi (1925) and Phi Kappa Theta (1959), catered to students belonging with certain denominations of Christianity, such as Lutheranism and Catholicism . Due to their exclusion from Christian fraternities in

3724-471: The "L" but replaced it instead with a double "L" that is now 16-feet tall. In 2018, neighbors and the city of Pasadena filed a complaint, as the Lloyd Christmas tree was a religious symbol. The tree is now referred to as the "Lloyd Lights". The latest off-campus pranks have been the pranking of MIT's Campus Preview Weekend, which included many Lloydies. A folklore that has been passed down throughout

3822-528: The Social Team and the Athletic Team. There are seven Lloyd Alley Support Reps (LASRs) and various appointed positions, such as Librarian, Fridgemaster, and Pool Monkey. Traditional house events include a meet-the-frosh Ultimate Frisbee competition, Airband, and Beach Trip (for which some members bike, roller blade, longboard, walk, or even run 42 miles from Caltech to Huntington Beach). Lloyd House

3920-634: The South acquired one. Chapters of many fraternities followed suit, purchasing and, less often, building them with support of alumni. Phi Sigma Kappa's chapter home at Cornell, completed in 1902, is the oldest such house still occupied by its fraternal builders. Sororities, originally called women's fraternities, began to develop in 1851 with the formation of the Adelphean Society Alpha Delta Pi , though fraternity-like organizations for women didn't take their current form until

4018-603: The Student Coffee House, or "Chouse", and provided the majority of the staff for a couple years. Since then, Coffee House has become a part of Caltech's Dining Services and is now managed by CDS. Dabney hosts the annual Millikan Pumpkin Drop Experiment (a parody of the Millikan oil-drop experiment ) where pumpkins frozen in liquid nitrogen are dropped from Millikan library. This tradition was featured on

House system at the California Institute of Technology - Misplaced Pages Continue

4116-560: The TV show Numb3rs . Dabney also hosts Drop Day, a party held the Saturday after the second term drop day to celebrate the point of no return, and Dabney Metal Night, an opportunity for the amateur bands of Caltech to play for the crowd. While the traditional motto of Dabney House ( Fidelis et gratus "Faithfulness and thankfulness") still stands on the Dabney crest, Dabney House has instituted

4214-523: The United States, Jewish students began to establish their own fraternities in 1895 and 1920, with the first one being Zeta Beta Tau , founded in 1898. Although many of the religion-specific requirements for many fraternities and sororities have been relaxed or removed, there are some today that continue to rally around their faith as a focal point, such as Beta Upsilon Chi (1985) and Sigma Alpha Omega (1998). Numerous Greek organizations in

4312-559: The United States, fraternities and sororities have a statutory exemption from Title IX legislation prohibiting this type of gender exclusion within student groups, and organizations such as the Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee lobby to maintain it. Since the mid-20th century, a small number of fraternities, such as Alpha Theta , Lambda Lambda Lambda , and Alpha Phi Omega have opted to become co-educational and admit female members; however, these generally represent

4410-558: The United States, professional fraternities, such as Alpha Kappa Psi , Delta Sigma Pi , and Phi Gamma Nu are required to be co-ed under the Title IX amendments, as are any fraternities that are not social fraternities. In 2014, Sigma Phi Epsilon became the first fraternity in the North American Interfraternity Conference to accept transgender members, or those identifying as male, to join

4508-492: The United States. Fraternities and sororities have been criticized for practicing elitism and favoritism , discriminating against non White students and other marginalized groups, conducting dangerous hazing rituals , and facilitating alcohol abuse . Many colleges and universities have sought to reform or eliminate them due to these concerns, but these efforts have typically been met with intense controversy. The first fraternity in North America to incorporate most of

4606-677: The United States. At the time, many students from the American South were moving to Europe to study because of the disrepair southern universities fell into during the American Civil War . One such group of Americans organized Chi Phi at Edinburgh; however, during the Theta chapter's existence, it initiated no non-American members. With declining American enrollment at European universities, Chi Phi at Edinburgh closed in 1870. Nine years following Chi Phi's abortive colonization of

4704-666: The United States], Kappa Alpha Theta , was established in Toronto in 1887. By 1927 there were 42 fraternity and sorority chapters at the University of Toronto and 23 at McGill University. A few chapters were also reported at the University of British Columbia , Carleton University , Dalhousie University , University of Manitoba , Queen's University , University of Western Ontario , Wilfrid Laurier University , University of Waterloo and Brock University . The arrival of

4802-507: The University of Edinburgh, a second attempt was made to transplant the fraternity system outside the United States. In 1879, Zeta Psi established a chapter at the University of Toronto . Zeta Psi's success in Toronto prompted it to open a second Canadian chapter at McGill University , which it chartered in 1883. Other early foundations were Kappa Alpha Society at Toronto in 1892 and at McGill in 1899, and Alpha Delta Phi at Toronto in 1893 and at McGill in 1897. The first sorority [outside

4900-556: The Valkyries , the freshmen living in a part of the house named Hell (so called for its unbearable heat in the summer and cramped quarters) would announce a hellride. They then barricade the hallway and play the "Ride" at high volume, daring the upperclassmen to break in and drag everyone to be drenched in the showers. Blacker House features halls painted as Heaven and Hell, as well as a small lounge and kitchenette in between them known as Purgatory. Blacker's courtyard formerly featured

4998-492: The alleys were mostly painted solid colors with some minimal designs and pictures (including flames on the walls of Inferno). The "shed" used to be a stand-alone building in the courtyard that housed Lloyd's big screen TV. Now the "shed" exists indoors, in a room adjacent to Valhalla that used to be part of the MOSH's office. In the 1980s, Lloyd had two off-campus alleys, one named "The Place" and one named "Corona" (in reference to

SECTION 50

#1732791209085

5096-461: The ampersand gives " Howitzer ".) Displayed prominently in front of MIT's Green Building , the Fleming cannon sported a giant, gold-plated MIT class ring around its barrel. A day after the prank was disclosed, Fleming's members began planning a recovery operation on the night of April 7. They immediately sent twenty-three members to Boston to retrieve their cannon. The Flems were greeted at MIT by

5194-450: The cannon back to Caltech in 1980, and in 1981 it was returned on a permanent basis to the Caltech campus. The cannon was stolen by Harvey Mudd students in 1986. At the demands of both college administrations, the cannon was returned to Fleming House approximately eight weeks after the prank. It was rumored that Harvey Mudd would attempt to steal the cannon again in 2006 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their original theft; however,

5292-413: The cannon disappeared on March 28, a day before the anniversary, only to show up at MIT just in time for Campus Preview Weekend, during which many rising freshmen visit MIT. A (seemingly fake) moving company by the name of Howe & Ser Moving Co. has taken credit. (The name is a double pun : When substituting "and" for the ampersand , it reads "how we answer", while substituting the Latin et for

5390-402: The change. Beginning in the 2005–2006 school year, freshmen began to rotate into Avery, changing its status to a fully represented house. Also in 2005, work began on a major renovation project for the aging south houses, whose residents were relocated to a temporary modular housing complex. The renovations were completed at the beginning of the 2007 calendar year. Students moved back into

5488-437: The chapters of fraternities and sororities in which they have particular interests. Usually, after a potential new member has attended several such events, officers or current members meet privately to vote on whether or not to extend an invitation, known as a "bid", to the prospective applicant. Those applicants who receive a bid, and choose to accept it, are considered to have "pledged" the fraternity or sorority, thus beginning

5586-513: The complex known as the student houses, then old houses, and later south houses. The fraternities were as follows: Expanding student population was accommodated in 1960 with the new houses, or north houses: Lloyd House, Page House, and Ruddock House (later renamed to Venerable House) . A new state-of-the-art residential facility named Avery House, was opened in 1996, touted as a facility that allowed undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty to not only mingle, but live together. As

5684-420: The conflagration had erupted. The fraternity or sorority badge is an enduring symbol of membership in a Greek letter organization. Most fraternities also have assumed heraldic achievements. Members of fraternities and sororities address members of the same organization as "brother" (in the case of fraternities) or "sister" (in the case of sororities). The names of almost all fraternities and sororities consist of

5782-479: The corona of the sun as a metaphor for the outer reaches of Lloyd). The Place used to exist on the corner of Michigan Ave and Lura St; it was removed around 1988 and is now a parking lot. Corona used to be on the east side of Holliston Ave; it was removed in 1992 and the location is now the new parking structure. Because of Pasadena preservation laws, both houses were moved to other places in Pasadena. The Corona house

5880-474: The current fraternity and sorority members are students who belong to an undergraduate chapter. A 2007 survey conducted by Princeton University found that White and higher-income Princeton students are much more likely than other Princeton students to be in fraternities and sororities. Senior surveys from the classes of 2009 and 2010 showed that 77 percent of sorority members and 73 percent of fraternity members were White. Since 1900, 63 percent of members of

5978-466: The distinction between Rowdies and Skurves . Ricketts traditions include fire-related activities and the brakedrum. Prior to early 2003, the Ricketts courtyard housed a large concrete firepot, in which massive fires were often enjoyed during cool Pasadena evenings. The courtyard originally featured a large Italian marble well head (historically attributed to and named "Millikan's Pot"). It was used as

SECTION 60

#1732791209085

6076-460: The elements of modern fraternities was Phi Beta Kappa , founded at the College of William and Mary in 1775. The founding of Phi Beta Kappa followed the earlier establishment of two other secret student societies that had existed on that campus as early as 1750. In 1779 Phi Beta Kappa expanded to include chapters at Harvard and Yale. By the early 19th century, the organization transformed itself into

6174-464: The emergence of a multicultural fraternity and sorority movement, giving birth to a multicultural movement. The main purpose of professional fraternities and sororities is to promote the interests of a particular profession and whose membership is generally restricted to students and alumni in particular academic disciplines or industries . The term service fraternities and sororities, is used to describe Greek life organizations who’s primary purpose

6272-405: The end of rotation. Upon first arriving at Caltech, the incoming freshmen are given a random room assignment in a random house that is different from their Prefrosh Weekend assignment, and then spend a week eating mainly dinner and dessert in all of the houses, getting an opportunity to meet people in all of the houses. These meals and meetings are an opportunity both for the prefrosh to get to know

6370-412: The establishment of Pi Beta Phi in 1867 and Kappa Alpha Theta and Kappa Kappa Gamma in 1870. The term sorority was used by a professor of Latin at Syracuse University , Frank Smalley, who felt the word "fraternity" was inappropriate for a group of ladies. The word comes from Latin soror , meaning "sister," "cousin, daughter of a father's brother," or "female friend." The first organization to use

6468-918: The expansive Purple mural in the theme of Japanese tsunami waves, the Escher mural in Kaos, the tropical mural in VI, the "Enjoy Crack " mural in Inferno that mocks the Coca-Cola slogan and contains a reference to Alan Moore 's graphic novel Watchmen , and the Lloyd Dragon in Fingal's. Several of the names have been changes since the 1970s when the names were: Headquarters (now purple), Penthouse (now Kaos), Virgin Islands, Cave (though Fingal still lived in this alley), Valhalla, Inferno and Creek (now Tropic). At this time

6566-401: The feel of the different houses and for the upperclassmen to meet and form opinions on the prefrosh so both can see where they might belong. Many houses also show house-made videos to the prefrosh, which yield the prefrosh additional information about the various personalities of the houses. At the end of this week, the frosh rate each of the eight houses in order of preference. Based on this, and

6664-710: The fraternity system in Asia accompanied the introduction of the American educational system in the Philippines . The first fraternities were established in the University of the Philippines . The now-defunct Patriotic and Progressive Rizal Center Academic Brotherhood (Rizal Center Fraternity), a brotherhood of Jose Rizal followers, was founded in 1913. This was followed by the Rizal Center Sorority. The first Greek-letter organization and fraternity in Asia,

6762-420: The fraternity upon accepting a bid. Unique among most campus organizations, members of social Greek letter organizations usually congregate and sometimes live together in large houses generally privately owned by the organization itself, or by the organization's alumni association. Often fraternities and sorority houses, called lodges or chapter houses, are located on the same street or in close quarters within

6860-506: The house. Ricketts remains the only house not to offer social membership. A referendum to add social membership in 2018 was defeated by vote of 16 in favour, 43 against, and 3 abstentions. Lloyd House is smallest of the three north houses. The north houses were constructed in 1960 with funds provided by the Lloyd Foundation and other donors. Lloyd House was named in memory of Ralph B. Lloyd and his wife, Lulu Hull Lloyd. Mr. Lloyd

6958-539: The increasing influence of fraternity alumni, as well as several high-profile court cases, succeeded in largely muting opposition by the 1880s. The first fraternity meeting hall, or lodge, seems to have been that of the Alpha Epsilon chapter of Chi Psi at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan , in 1845, leading to a tradition in that fraternity to name its buildings "lodges". As fraternity membership

7056-478: The inverted pentagram was added to the Ricketts House crest (the original had had ship's wheels instead of pentagrams). During the renovations from 2004 to 2006, the mural was painted over, and a new mural policy was put in place. Conflicts regarding the new mural policy continued until the early 2010s, when the policy was relaxed. The house features a number of murals, including one featuring the cover art of

7154-446: The law and the underlying presumption that they were less able than men," but at the same time had to deal with the same challenges as fraternities with college administrations. Today, both social and multicultural sororities are present on more than 650 college campuses across the United States and Canada. The National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) serves as the umbrella organization for 26 international sororities. Founded in 1902, NPC

7252-507: The life of the fraternity or sorority, but most likely not be permitted to hold office in the organization. After the new member period, a second vote of members may sometimes be taken, often, but not always, using a blackball system. New members who pass this second vote are invited to a formal and secret ritual of initiation into the organization, advancing them to full membership. Many Greek-letter organizations give preferential consideration for pledging to candidates whose parent or sibling

7350-512: The motto "Take me as I am" to the limit. Recently, Ricketts had an inverted pentagram on the front wall of its dining room. Administration members called for its removal as it was a symbol that may have offended the general public who viewed the house during tours. The pentagram was originally painted in the dining hall for the Interhouse party of 1989 – prior to this time this symbol had no particular connection to Ricketts House. In later years

7448-440: The new fellow to mark him as a new member of the fraternity which he opted to join. Baird's further indicates that the tradition was adopted from English boarding schools, similarly jostling to recruit incoming prospects, which the aggressive fraternities found to be "handy to imitate". Variations of Rush Week continued to evolve, some offering immediate recruitment and some deferred until the second half of freshman year, or even into

7546-817: The ones mentioned in this article. Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an undergraduate student but continues thereafter for life by gaining alumni status. Some accept graduate students as well, some also provide honorary membership in certain circumstances. Individual fraternities and sororities vary in organization and purpose, but most - especially the dominant form known as social fraternities and sororities - share five common elements: Fraternities and sororities engage in philanthropic activities , host parties, provide "finishing" training for new members such as instruction on etiquette, dress, and manners, and create networking opportunities for their newly graduated members. Fraternities and sororities can be tax-exempt 501(c)(7) organizations in

7644-403: The opinions of the houses' existing members, the prefrosh are placed into a house which will be their home physically and socially for the next few years. The Interhouse Committee attempts to ensure a certain level of secrecy regarding the exact process, so that the confidentiality of both the freshmen and those involved with their final housing assignments is maintained. Also, the selection process

7742-413: The past few years, Fleming and Page House have pranked each other regularly and included each other in initiations. The Fleming cannon, a Caltech landmark, rests on its wheels on the Olive Walk in front of Fleming. As it makes a very loud noise when fired, it is only fired to mark important events, such as the end of Rotation, Ditch Day, the end of the term, and graduation. It was originally cast for use in

7840-480: The past have enacted formal and informal prohibitions on pledging individuals of different races and cultural backgrounds. This began with historically White fraternities and sororities excluding African Americans due to racism. Historically Black fraternities and sororities were spearheaded thereafter in response. Racist policies have since been abolished by the North American Interfraternity Conference , and students of various ethnicities have come together to form

7938-404: The pledge period (new member period). Students participating in rush are known as "rushees", Potential New Members "PNMs", while students who have accepted a bid to a specific fraternity or sorority are known as "new members" or in some cases "pledges". A new member period may last anywhere from one weekend to several months. During this time, new members might participate in almost all aspects of

8036-502: The same neighborhood, which may be colloquially known as "Greek row", "frat row", or "sorority row". Often, chapter houses are uniquely designed, highly elaborate, and very expensive to operate and maintain. Usually, the more expensive the house the higher the annual organization dues. The features and size of Greek houses play a major role in chapters remaining competitive in recruiting and retaining members on many campuses. At some, often small colleges, fraternities and sororities occupy

8134-540: The second year. Formal recruitment on all, or virtually all campuses continues as a defined Rush week, while many campuses and most chapters offer ongoing "informal rush" to welcome potential members, amounting to hundreds of thousands of new members every year. Today, most Greek letter organizations select potential members through a two-part process of vetting and probation, called rushing and pledging, respectively. During rush (recruitment), students attend designated social events, and sometimes formal interviews, hosted by

8232-515: The social fraternities, which had hitherto followed the methodical process of tapping and individualized invitations that are still present among honorary and professional fraternities. In an introductory article about the nature and history of Fraternal life, Baird's Manual indicates that the term " Rushing " and later, " Rush week " hearken to the effort to rush to meet incoming trains filled with new classmates and delegations of freshmen students, where bids were offered and lapel pins then "spiked"

8330-497: The social fraternity. Several sororities have adjusted their policies to confirm that transgender prospective members are allowable. Importantly, all these variants have stemmed from a process of self-determination, without challenge by other Greeks. In a bellwether case in 2016, Harvard University changed its student conduct code to bar members of single-sex groups from leading campus groups, serving as captains of sports teams, or participating in valuable academic fellowships. This

8428-449: The son of Nathaniel Hawthorne , wrote in his posthumously published Memoirs of his initiation into Delta Kappa Epsilon : I was initiated into a college secret society—a couple of hours of grotesque and good-humored rodomontade and horseplay, in which I cooperated as in a kind of pleasant nightmare, confident, even when branded with a red-hot iron or doused head-over-heels in boiling oil, that it would come out all right. The neophyte

8526-500: The south houses on 15 December 2006, though construction continued through the beginning of 2007. Like most of the older buildings on campus, Avery House and the south houses are in California Mission style, and resemble cloistered monasteries with enclosed courtyards; the north houses are of Modern design. There are two ways to gain membership in a house: rotate in at the beginning of one's freshman year and become

8624-467: The term "sorority" was Gamma Phi Beta , established in 1874. The development of fraternities for women during this time was a major accomplishment in the way of women's rights and equality. By mere existence, these organizations were defying the odds; the founding women were able to advance their organizations despite many factors working against them. The first "Women's Fraternities" not only had to overcome "restrictive social customs, unequal status under

8722-605: The trigraph making its way into space on JPL probes including the Voyager space craft, and being written on the Moon by astronaut Darb Harrison Schmitt . In the late 1960s, during on-campus shooting of an episode of the TV series Mission: Impossible , students stenciled the letters "DEI" high on a wall in a tunnel scheduled to be filmed the next day. The marking was subsequently visible on national television behind Peter Lupus as he paused in one shot. More recently, Dabney started

8820-478: The tunnels along with γδβγ . In the 1960s the house slogan was "Blacker House for gracious living" which became "the house of gracious living" by the 1990s. Notable alumni include: Dabney House is the smallest of Caltech's houses. Members of Dabney House are referred to as Darbs , a combination of the name of the house with a 1920s slang term darb, meaning something or someone very handsome, valuable, attractive, or otherwise excellent. Joseph B. Dabney, owner of

8918-516: The years is that of the Purple LSD lab. It has been said that sometime in the 1970s, a group of chemistry majors living in Purple blocked off some of the alley for a special project. The product of their project, was dubbed "Lloyd-grade" LSD, to denote its extraordinary purity. The rumor goes that it was one of the largest sources of LSD at the time. Nearly the entire senior class was expelled when

9016-606: Was a member of the Board of Trustees of Caltech, 1939–1952. Members of Lloyd House are called Lloydies. The house color is gold, and its motto is "I live and die for those I love", popularly corrupted by mis-reading the banner as "I live for those I love and die." Lloyd House is governed by a student-elected, student-run Executive Committee, or "Excomm," of 9-10 members: President, Secretary, Superintendent, Treasurer, Social Director(s), Athletic Manager, and two representatives at large. The Social Director(s) and Athletic Manager are aided by

9114-465: Was a member of the same fraternity or sorority. Such prospective candidates are known as "legacies". Membership in more than one fraternity or sorority is acceptable, but only in accordance within specific Greek councils. Recently, some Greek-letter organizations have replaced the term "pledge" with that of "associate member" or "new member". Sigma Alpha Epsilon , in 2014, abolished pledging altogether. Potential members are now immediately initiated into

9212-544: Was changed to read "Caltech" in 1987 by a group of Pageboys and Lloydies. Every year since 1994, Lloydies have climbed onto the top of Millikan Library to construct the Lloyd Christmas Tree, a monumental structure of numerous Christmas lights strung together to resemble a 10-story Christmas tree topped with a 12-feet tall "L." During the windstorm of 2013, the L broke apart into pieces, so the Lloydies rebuilt

9310-497: Was constructed in 1930 and 1931. It was known as the house of gentlemen and the house of captains , but underwent a dramatic change in personality during the 1960s. In 1973, the house was disowned by the Dabney family when students from Dabney House protested then-President Nixon's role in the Watergate affair with a sign on the library bearing the phrase "Impeach Nixon ." Traditionally standing for "Dabney Eats It," referring to

9408-570: Was donated to a minister who restored it at 1792 Newport Ave in Pasadena. The house is no longer owned by the minister, but it still exists. Around 1990, in exchange for the loss of Corona, Lloyd adopted "the Quads" alley at 232, 234, and 236 Chester Ave. (The 232 and 234 addresses were still affiliated with Lloyd House until the opening of the Bechtel Residence, after which they became housing for graduate students.) Crippling Depression ,

9506-436: Was popular for Blacker students to climb on top of elevators and ride them. One time, security went inside the elevator looking for the students, who were on top of the elevator. The security muttered, "God damn Blacker gang", and the phrase stuck. Blacker students began signing GDBG or γδβγ on all their pranks. Blacker has also been referred to as the house of fucking geniuses and the inscription HOFG can be found throughout

9604-410: Was punishable by expulsion at many colleges at this time, the house was located deep in the woods. The first residential chapter home, built by a fraternity, is believed to have been Alpha Delta Phi 's chapter at Cornell University , with groundbreaking dated to 1878. Alpha Tau Omega became the first fraternity to own a residential house in the South when, in 1880, its chapter at the University of

#84915