Gamma Phi - Foundation

Foundation

The first meeting of the Gamma Phi Society was in the Spring of 1903. This meeting was not though of as a fraternity or secret organization, but just a group of five men quickly assembled together. The five men joined together upon hearing of a wrecked Sante Fe Freight train in Norman, Oklahoma who had a freight full of bananas. The railroad officials sent word to the University that bunches of bananas could be had at a very low rate. The five men: Roy Kingkade, Tom B. Matthew, Bob Severin, A. Maxwell Alden, and Jay T. Conway, accepted the proposition and tried to eat the bunch of bananas at one sitting. The five men met in a one story house across the street from the McFarlin Memorial Church.

The five men had such a good time in their fellowship that Tom B. Matthews suggest that the group organize and make something permanent and constructive. It was then suggested that the group be made into a secret organization, or a fraternity. At that time, there were no local or national fraternities on the University of Oklahoma campus. The five men decided on the name "Good Fellowship." Founder Tom B. Matthews had been studying Greek and the name "Gamma Phi" was chosen due to the phonetic sounds of the "G" and "F."