Beta Sigma Beta

Beta Sigma Beta (BΣB) (also known as Beta Sig, Beta Samach or Beta Sigma Rho) is a student society.

The origin of Beta Sigma Beta Fraternity can be traced back to October 22, 1910 at Cornell University. At that time, four students who were denied participation in Cornell's existing fraternities because of their religion, decided to form their own secret society. This fraternity would be based on the principles of scholarship, mutual aid and companionship. Those four founding members were M.H. Millman, M.W. Millman, L. Krohn and M. Koenig. They were joined by eight others; S. Blickman, A. Pollack, A. Fox, M. Wyckoff, I.J. Elkind, F. Kleinman, H.Z. Harris and J. Cohen.

These men were the founding fathers of the fraternity. At that time they chose the name Beta Samach. The Greek letter Beta was chosen to signify the ideals of the Greek society. The Hebrew letter Samach was chosen to signify the social and cultural aspirations of the Jewish society.

Simplicity was the keynote of the founders and exhibited itself in the absence of formal rules. Meetings were held in a small attic room and eventually a constitution, a ceremonial ritual, a pin and a variety of traditions were inaugurated. They attracted new members and in several years progressed from the attic to a boarding house and finally into a house of their own. This became known as the Alpha chapter.

The ideals of the fraternity spread elsewhere and in 1913 a second chapter was established at Penn State. This was designated as the Beta chapter. Its charter members included George Belchic, Abraham Sherman and Louis Hendler. Beta chapter was the thirteenth fraternity to be chartered by Penn State.

In its early years, the men of Beta Samach, Beta Chapter resided in a boarding house on Allen Street. However, the house grew inadequate for the needs of the members, so in 1930 the present house was constructed.

In 1920, Beta Samach was formally organized as a national fraternity and at that time the name was changed to Beta Sigma Rho. Other chapters were established at Columbia, University at Buffalo, University of Pennsylvania, Carnegie-Mellon, University of Toronto, Rutgers, University of Western Ontario, University of Kentucky, Syracuse, University of Miami and New York University. In 1950, the ritual was modified to reflect a non-sectarian viewpoint.

The national fraternity continued to prosper until the late 1960s. At that time, anti-fraternity sentiment spread across many campuses and memberships in fraternities dwindled. Many fraternities closed or merged with others. Many Beta Sigma Rho chapters were particularly hard hit, and some of these chapters closed their doors. Others faced an uncertain future with dwindling interests and memberships. The Beta chapter however had always enjoyed strong alumni and undergraduate support, and continued to prosper during these tough times.

In 1972, the national chapter of Beta Sigma Rho decided to merge with Pi Lambda Phi Fraternity in hopes of strengthening the remaining chapters. In exchange for financial assistance, all Beta Sigma Rho chapters would change their name and adopt a new set of traditions.

On some campuses, this merger enjoyed a degree of success. The Alpha chapter at Cornell was renamed Pi Lambda Phi and the prior Pi Lam house was disbanded. Eventually, the old Alpha chapter would meet the same fate in the late '70s. However, at Penn State, the brotherhood and alumni of Beta chapter felt that they would rather remain as an independent fraternity than give up their traditions. In the spring of 1975, Beta chapter of Beta Sigma Rho was officially chartered by Pennsylvania State University as Beta Sigma Beta fraternity.