Societies at Colgate University

Since being founded in 1819, Colgate University has had a rich tradition of student societies. Literary societies, Greek letter organizations, Non-Greek letter organizations, honor societies, and even secret societies have all played a part in Colgate history.

Organization Name	Type of Society	Founded	Ended
Gamma Phi	literary	prior to 1833	1840
Pi Delta	literary	around 1834	1840
Adelphian Society	literary / oration	1840	1880 (became Beta Theta Pi)
Aeonian Society	literary / oration	1840	unknown
Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE)	Greek fraternity	1856	2004
Delta Upsilon (DU)	Greek fraternity	1865	Present
Beta Theta Pi (Beta)	Greek fraternity	1880	Present[1]
Phi Kappa Psi (Phi Psi)	Greek fraternity	1887	1982[2]
Phi Gamma Delta (Phi Gam) (FIJI)	Greek fraternity	1886	1989[3]
Theta Chi (Tach)	Greek fraternity	1912	Present
Lambda Chi Alpha	Greek fraternity	1916	1968[4]
Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi)	Greek fraternity	2005	2013[5]
Alpha Tau Omega (ATO)	Greek fraternity	1917	2000 °°°°[6]
Sigma Nu	Greek fraternity	1917	1968[7]
Kappa Delta Rho (KDR)	Greek fraternity	1917	2003
Phi Delta Theta (Phi Delt)	Greek fraternity	1918	Present
Owls Club	non-Greek fraternal organization	1907	1908 (became Sigma Alpha)
Colgate Commons Club	non-Greek, counterculture club	1927	unknown
Sigma Chi	Greek fraternity	1930	Present (suspended until June 2020)[8]
Phi Kappa Tau	Greek fraternity	1937	Present
Gamma Phi Beta (Gamma Phi)	Greek sorority	1982	Present
Kappa Alpha Theta (Theta)	Greek sorority	1988	2008
Kappa Kappa Gamma (Kappa)	Greek sorority	1988	Present
Pi Beta Phi (Pi Phi)	Greek sorority	1989	1992
Alpha Chi Omega	Greek sorority	1989	1996
Delta Delta Delta (Tri Delta)	Greek sorority	1996	Present
Sorella Society (Sorella)	non-Greek sorority organization	2008	2012
The Brothers of Colgate University (Brothers)	non-Greek fraternal organization	1999	Present[9]
Blue Diamond Society (BDS)	non-Greek fraternal organization	2006	Present[10]
Gorgon's Head	secret senior honor society	1908[11]	1934 (merged with Skull and Scroll to form Konosioni)[12]
Skull and Scroll	secret senior honor society	1912[13]	1934 (merged with Gorgon's Head to form Konosioni)[14]
Konosioni	senior leadership society	1934	Present[15]
Psi Chi	psychology academic honor society	unknown	Present[16]
Gamma Theta Upsilon	international geography academic honor society	unknown	Present[17]
Beta Beta Beta	biology academic honor society	1971	Present[18]
Phi Eta Sigma	first-year academic honor society	1982	Present[19]
Society for Inquiry	literary	1824	unknown[20]

Some uncited information in this table is taken from: http://www.thecolgatemaroonnews.com/arts/article_a02b8fc0-a729-59f4-ab3f-dfc4d3569cdb.html

Greek life

Fraternities were first brought to Colgate in 1856 when Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE) was granted a chapter. The first sorority was brought to Colgate in 1982 when a chapter of Gamma Phi Beta (Gamma Phi) received a charter.

Secret societies

Secret or underground organizations have had a widespread existence at Colgate University. Many of the school's original societies had roots as underground organizations. In terms of secret honor societies, Colgate has also had its fair share. Two secret Honor Societies, the Gorgon's Head and Skull and Scroll, enjoyed a period as rival societies until 1934 when they merged to form Konosioni. Even with its history, Konosioni is no longer regarded as a secret society but now seen as a leadership society.

References

1. https://www.colgatebeta.org/
2. List of Phi Kappa Psi chapters and colonies
3. List of Phi Gamma Delta chapters and colonies
4. List of Lambda Chi Alpha chapters
5. http://issuu.com/aepi/docs/aepi_lion_2014_sum_online
6. http://www4.colgate.edu/scene/jan2001/around.html
7. http://issuu.com/colgateuniversity/docs/multicultural_life_at_colgate/10
8. Reuben, Rachel (February 25, 2015). "The future of Sigma Chi fraternity at Colgate". Colgate University. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
9. http://brotherscolgateuniversity.weebly.com/#/news/
10. https://colgate.collegiatelink.net/organization/bds
11. http://issuu.com/colgateuniversity/docs/spring_scene_final/15
12. https://www.getinvolved.colgate.edu/organization/konosioni/about
13. http://issuu.com/colgateuniversity/docs/spring_scene_final/15
14. https://www.getinvolved.colgate.edu/organization/konosioni/about
15. https://www.getinvolved.colgate.edu/organization/konosioni/about
16. http://www.psichi.org/?page=chapter_search
17. http://www.colgate.edu/academics/departments-and-programs/geography/honors-and-awards
18. http://www.tri-beta.org/localchapters.html
19. https://www.phietasigma.org/chapters
20. College literary societies