Of the two, Delta Beta Xi preserved the ritual and traditions of Alpha Sigma Phi, changing to 'Delta Beta Xi' where Alpha Sigma Phi once was. Delta Beta Xi was composed of men pledged to Deke their junior year, while Phi Theta Psi claimed men pledged to join Psi Upsilon. In 1864, Alpha Sigma Phi was shut down and two rival societies sprang up claiming they were the legitimate successor. (It was not unusual for a Yale man to belong to four different societies which are now national in scope during their college years.) both were founded there and share members.Īlpha Sigma Phi was founded as a sophomore class society at Yale from its founding in 1845 to its initial demise in 1864 it groomed men for selection to either Deke or Psi Upsilon, both were junior-class societies at the time. Its my understanding that dke was an offshoot of skull and bones from yale, not tke. In the OA, there are some who have made a detailed stuff of our rituals and compared them to masonic ones and found some similiarities. The person they asked to create the initial ritual was a mason, however. While the primary founders were not Masons, they were inspired by the concepts of fraternialism, college fraternities, and church youth fraternal groups. I'm also a member of the Order of the Arrow. I'm not aware of anything in our organization doing a study of our rituals (they have changed over the years) and comparing them to Masonic ones (tho this is something I proposed).

The Founders decided that APO would not be a 'secret organization', in the sense that our rituals would not reveal secret or estoteric things. How much it takes from Masonic ones, I don't know. This type of thing is very interesting.Īnd if you know for sure yours is not in some way connected to the Freemasons, if you are at liberty, then what?ĪPO's Founder, Frank Reed Horton, was a Mason. Some people know their society's openness with their connections and/or history with the Freemasons (founders, etc), but some people have no idea.Ĭan anyone list the only college fraternties listed as Masonic Societies (does not include every organization that had a founder or two who were Masons)? I know which ones, but do you? I know it may be somewhat of a 'touchy' question, but hey, it's a legitimate one. How much do you know about your organization and its connection to the FreeMasons? Just a question - how much do you know about your organization?

Kappa alpha psi founders were masons