Fraternities and Sororities
The fraternity system in American education was developed at Yale. In 1738, Yale students founded the first selective college organization, a debating society named Crotonia; two competitors sprang up soon after, Linonia (1753) and Brothers in Unity (1768).
In 1780, students created a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, a secret academic society begun at the College of William and Mary four years earlier.
In 1832, Phi Beta Kappa's evolution from a secret academic society into a public one led students to set up the Society of Skull and Bones. Secret and senior societies proliferated, and with them, fraternities. Originally, most were part of an interrelated system of socially or academically elite junior, sophomore, and even freshman societies, which fed into the prestigious senior societies. Other types of fraternities, however, were also formed.
In 1932, Yale opened 10 residential colleges, which included elaborate facilities for living and dining. As they became centers of social life, the underclass fraternities began to wither. They became increasingly unpopular in the 1960s, due to the atmosphere of social equality and Yale's decision to require undergraduates to purchase full meal plans. Around 1973, the last two surviving fraternities—Delta Kappa Epsilon and The Fence Club (associated with Psi Upsilon) -- closed and sold their facilities to the University.
As the social and political atmosphere became more moderate and the Connecticut drinking age was changed from 18 to 21, old fraternities began to reopen and new ones were formed; however, these generally bore little resemblance to the old Yale fraternities, as most did not have elaborate houses or the atmosphere of social and campus elitism. Yale’s first sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, was formed in 1985.
Several fraternities and sororities have chapters at Yale, including:
- Alpha Delta Phi fraternity
- Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity
- Alpha Phi Alpha
- Alpha Rho Lambda sorority/Alianza de Raices Latinas
- Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity
- Kappa Alpha Theta sorority
- Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority
- Pi Beta Phi sorority
- Psi Upsilon fraternity
- Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity
- Sigma Chi fraternity
- Sigma Nu fraternity
- Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity
- Sigma Psi Zeta sorority
- Zeta Psi fraternity
Non-National Fraternities:
- the Fence Club (coed)
Read more about this topic: List Of Yale University Student Organizations