Sigma Mu Sigma

Sigma Mu Sigma
ΣΜΣ
Founded	March 25, 1921 Tri-State University
Type	Co-Ed, Service
Scope	National
Colors	Azure and Gold.
Chapters	2 active 22 chartered[1]
Headquarters	3171 Colchester Brook Lane Fairfax, Virginia, USA
Homepage	http://www.sigmamusigma.com/

Sigma Mu Sigma (ΣΜΣ) is a college fraternity founded in 1921 at Tri-State University. Sigma Mu Sigma was historically an all male social fraternity open originally to Master Masons, and later open to all undergraduate male students. As a national fraternity, Sigma Mu Sigma dissolved in 1935 when it was absorbed by Tau Kappa Epsilon. Sigma Mu Sigma was later revived, and the remaining chapters of Sigma Mu Sigma transformed into a co-ed service fraternity in 1984. ΣΜΣ currently has two active chapters.

Early History

In 1921, Sigma Mu Sigma was founded by three student Knights Templar at Tri-State College in Angola, Indiana. The three founders were Harold Van Vranken, Charles Knapp, and Claude Brown. ΣΜΣ was founded as a fraternity exclusively for Master Masons with a zeal for promotion of the cardinal principles of Sincerity, Morality, and Scholarship. At the time of the fraternity's founding, a ban on secret societies existed at Tri-State College; however, a number of sub-rosa organizations were known to exist on campus. The three founders of ΣΜΣ selected nine other student Master Masons who were among the top students at the college. Sigma Mu Sigma announced their formation to administrators and professors of the college. Faced with the possibility of expelling twelve of the top students at Tri-State, the college moved to end its ban on fraternities.

Merger with TKE

In the early 1930s, the United States was in the midst of the Great Depression, and college enrollment and fraternity membership had dropped significantly. The effect was especially felt on Sigma Mu Sigma because of the requirement that all members be Masons. In Fall 1934 the National organization of Sigma Mu Sigma made the decision to dissolve and be absorbed by Tau Kappa Epsilon. Sigma Mu Sigma had nine chapters at the time of the decision. Sigma Mu Sigma officially merged with Tau Kappa Epsilon in March 1935. The Epsilon Chapter at George Washington University became the Alpha-Pi Chapter of TKE. The Zeta Chapter at Purdue University and the Eta Chapter at the University of Illinois merged with existing TKE chapters at their respective campuses. The Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Theta Chapters dissolved. The Alpha and Iota chapters chose to remain Sigma Mu Sigma chapters without a national organization. Alpha Chapter later affiliated with Alpha Lambda Tau in 1936, and the Iota Chapter was closed by 1940.^[2][3]

Redevelopment

Clyde E. Shaw, a ΣΜΣ brother and faculty member at Tri-State, revived the fraternity in 1940. The new Alpha Chapter changed membership requirements to allow non-Masons to join. Alpha Chapter was the only chapter of ΣΜΣ from 1940-1952. In August 1952, Sigma Mu Sigma made the decision to merge with Sigma Alpha Chi, which was another Masonic fraternity originally known as Square and Compass. The merged organization was known official as Sigma Mu Sigma—Square and Compass. The merger brought in four chapters from Sigma Alpha Chi, and in the two decades following the merger, eight additional chapters were established.

Recent History

The anti-establishment attitudes on college campuses that began in the late 1960s began to put pressure on most college fraternities. This was especially true for ΣΜΣ, which had long been linked with conservative ideals and the Masons. At this time most chapters began to close. The Alpha Chapter at Tri-State joined Acacia, the Lambda Chapter at Elon College joined Kappa Sigma, and the Sigma Chapter was removed from campus by the administration of Lynchburg College. The Sigma Chapter was later revived in 1984. At this time the fraternity took on a new direction. The new Sigma Mu Sigma Fraternity was focused on service, and it allowed both male students to be members as well as female students, known as sisters. The Sigma Chapter remained the only chapter of ΣΜΣ until 1989 when they began working to start the Chi Chapter at the College of William and Mary. The Chi Chapter was chartered in November 1990.^[4]

Chapters

#	Chapter	Institution	Year Chartered	Status	Notes
01	Alpha	Tri-State University	1921	Closed	The original Alpha Chapter affiliated with Alpha Lambda Tau in 1936, and then became a chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon in 1947 as a result of a merger between the fraternities. The second Alpha Chapter affiliated with Acacia in the 1960s.
02	Beta	University of Oklahoma	1924	Closed
03	Gamma	National University	1924	Closed	National University merged with GWU
04	Delta	Milwaukee School of Engineering	1925	Closed
05	Epsilon	George Washington University	1925	Closed	Merged with Tau Kappa Epsilon in 1935
06	Zeta	Purdue University	1925	Closed	Merged with Tau Kappa Epsilon in 1935
07	Eta	University of Illinois	1925	Closed	Merged with Tau Kappa Epsilon in 1935
08	Theta	Oklahoma State University	1926	Closed
09	Iota	Michigan State Normal College	1926	Closed
10	Kappa	Medical College of Virginia	1952	Closed	Originally a chapter of Square and Compass
11	Lambda	Elon College	1952	Closed	Originally a chapter of Square and Compass Merged with Kappa Sigma in 1973.
12	Mu	Chase College of Law	1952	Closed	Originally a chapter of Square and Compass Chase is now part of Northern Kentucky University
13	Nu	Miami University	1953	Closed	Originally a chapter of Square and Compass
14	Xi	Joliet Junior College	1953	Closed
15	Omicron	University of Louisville	1953	Closed
16	Pi	New York University	1955	Closed
17	Rho	Virginia Tech	1955	Closed
18	Sigma	Lynchburg College	1962	Closed	co-ed chapter
19	Tau	Widener University	1965	Closed
20	Upsilon	Salem College	1969	Closed
21	Phi	Virginia Commonwealth University	1971	Proposed	Never Chartered
22	Chi	College of William and Mary	1990	Active	co-ed chapter

References

1. http://www.sigmamusigma.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=56&Itemid=71
2. "Paragraphic History of TKE". The Golden Book of Tau Kappa Epsilon. 1949. p25.
3. http://gwired.gwu.edu/sac/greek/history/SigmaMuSigma/
4. http://www.kappasigmaelon.org/sigma-mu-sigma-national-home-p/