Theta Nu Epsilon

Founded at Wesleyan University as a chapter of Skull and Bones. ΘΝΕ (Theta Nu Epsilon), also known widely as TNE, (or, at the University of Alabama, The Machine), Theta Nu Epsilon is primarily a sophomore class society that accepts members regardless of their fraternity status. The society has maintained a reputation of secrecy largely based on the lack of verifiable records. The colors of the fraternity are green and black.

Early History

Theta Nu Epsilon was founded on December 11, 1870 in Room Seven of Wesleyan’s South College by Herbert Hull Coston, Coleridge Allen Hart, George Washington Shonk, Lyman Horace Weeks, (all four Alpha Delta Phi), Benjamin Emmons Gerst, Arthur Collins McClay, George Bickford Davey Toy, (all four Delta Kappa Epsilon), Stephen Judson Kirby, George Henry Towle, Alfred Charles True, (all four Eclectic), George William Elliott, Charles Hamlin Furber, William Henry Lawrence, Olin Levings Livesey, (all four Psi Upsilon), Amos Howard Hoagland, (independent). Two years after being founded as the Wesleyan chapter of Skull & Bones, the chapter cut its ties to Yale and changed the bones of the Skull & Bones emblem to keys. According to the traditional model, T.N.E. is exclusively a sophomore class society, and members were chosen near the end of their freshman or start of their sophomore year. Once selected, the new members were active and responsible for operation of the chapter during their sophomore year. As juniors and seniors, they were considered honorary members and only had authority to lead active members in an advisory role. The society always excluded freshmen. From the beginning, the identities of the sophomore members were kept secret. In yearbooks, the names of the sophomores appeared in code. The Alpha Chapter and legitimate chapters continue this tradition. There were alternate models for chapters, one is that of the three-year society, adopted by chapters at many institutions without a class society system, another model was for a wholly secret society, (which were usually chapters that had notorious reputations), and yet another model was where the chapter acted as an interfraternity coordinating body; the latter two models are not considered workable chapter models by the society today.

The society enjoyed immediate success at Wesleyan, and it grew rapidly and spread throughout the country. The Wesleyan Chapter acted as the national organization and continued to grant charters until 1907.Fact|date=September 2007

Internal struggle

The society's national governance was disrupted by internal dissention. There was a convention structure developed for the society in 1885. But by the mid 1890s, two major factions and several lesser ones had formed and were exercising the functions of a national organization. One of these factions was started by the chapter at Purdue in 1889. After some urging by several New York City chapters, the Alpha Chapter realized the growth and size of the society was no longer manageable by a single mother chapter, and a convention was called in New York in 1907, and a more business-like national governing body was established and incorporated under the laws of the State of New York. The new national organization attempted to unify all chapters of the society, but the process proceeded slowly. The illicit chapters became very problematic for the society. Several of these chapters were banned from campuses, and many fraternities prohibited members from accepting membership in the society.

In the late 1910s, many of the older legitimate chapters reorganized themselves as independent organizations which were loosely allied across campuses. However, the trouble-making reputations of many of the independent chapters led several major fraternities to place a ban on members from joining T.N.E., but these bans were seldom effective. An attempt was made to convert a small portion of the then existing chapters into a four-year college fraternity in the 1930s. The worst activity seems to have been among some chapters in the West in the late 1930s and 40s. Several of the older chapters that separated in the 1910s have survived as intact entities on their respective campuses, (Wesleyan, Berkeley, Alabama, etc.). Some, but not all, of these independent chapters began initiating women as members in the 1970s.

It is frequently assumed that all Theta Nu Epsilon members are also members of four-year college fraternities, but that has never been a requirement of membership. However, it is true that very many members have been members of four-year fraternities. There have been chapters that have operated exclusively that way, and the independent former chapter at Alabama is a well-known example of a chapter operating solely as an interfraternity coordinating organization. The Alpha Chapter, which operates as the national organization today, has a clear policy against having chapters operate as an interfraternity coordinating organization.

Post WWII history

Although the National found in the 1930s editions of Baird's Manual stopped operating in WWII, some of the chapters of that national continued into the late 1940s. However, the 1938 president of that national, Henry Kelly, was unable to restore any national governance. Other chapters, (Rochester, Wesleyan, etc.) did continue on virtually as locals and simply by force of their own momentum. The Purdue chapter continued on as a feeder organization to a senior society until 1992, and the NYU chapter continued on, apparently attached to the vestigial old literary societies. Several other chapters exist, usually under different names, and it is questionable in each case how much of what is left is still a part of Theta Nu Epsilon. The Alpha Chapter organized a National Organization in 1988, and later found Henry Kelley, naming him an Honorary National President before he died. The Alpha Chapter now has a handful of groups operating across the country, and expects to charter them as full chapters in the near future. (See link to their website below.)

The Louderback Theta Nu Epsilon Society of 1870

There was an independent organization centered at the University of Kansas which was led by John L. Louderback. Louderback may have been initiated into the remnants of a chapter at Kansas sometime in the 1960s, and he declared himself national president of TNE in 1989. His group attempted to establish two chapters, including one at East Tennessee State University in 2002 that was not successful. Investigation by legitimate alumni of the society proved that Louderback possessed none of the secrets of the society. He also charged steep chapter fees without providing charters, and was under investigation by the F.B.I. for a fraudulent 'scholarship' program, and was prosecuted for income tax evasion regarding the endowment of his society. His organization is not believed to have survived his death.

Official Chapters

Because of early splits in the national organization, several unofficial national coalitions and rogue groups granted their own charters. As a result, many conflicts exist surrounding the actual founding dates and chapter designations, even at the institutions that had officially recognized groups. The following list of chapters is composed of all chapters either founded by the Alpha, founded by the successive nationals from 1907 to 1949, or made legitimate after their original founding. Institution names have been modernized where necessary.

*Alpha - Wesleyan University - 1870
*Beta - Syracuse University - 1872-1925
*Gamma - Union College - 1874-1925
*Delta - Cornell University - 1877-1913
*Epsilon - University of Rochester - 1878-1944
*Zeta - University of California - 1879
*Eta - Colgate University - 1880
*Theta - Kenyon College - 1881-1930
*Iota - Case Western Reserve University - 1881-1921
*Kappa - Hamilton College - 1882
*Lambda' - Williams College - 1882-1923
*Lambda - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - 1882
*Mu - Stevens Institute of Technology - 1883-1935
*Nu - Lafayette College - 1884
*Beta Beta - Ohio Wesleyan University - 1884-1930
*Xi - Amherst College - 1885-1925
*Omicron' - Lehigh University - 1887-1907
*Omicron - Allegheny College - 1887-1924
*Pi' - Dickinson College - 1887
*Pi - Pennsylvania State College - 1888-1940
*Kappa Theta - University of Pennsylvania - 1888-1919
*Alpha Rho - University of Alabama - 1888
*Sigma - New York University - 1889
*Alpha Alpha (Indiana Alpha) - Purdue University - 1882-1992
*Psi Omega - University of the South - 1890-1913
*Alpha Phi - University of Mississippi - 1890-1929
*Beta Beta - University of Iowa - 1890-1929
*Tau - Wooster University - 1891-1923
*Kappa Kappa - Northwestern University - 1891-1929
*Phi - Rutgers University - 1892-1916
*Upsilon - University of Michigan - 1892-1930
*Delta Delta - University of Maine - 1893-1930
*Chi - Dartmouth College - 1893-1925
*Psi - Ohio State University - 1893-1931
*Omega - Stanford University - 1893-1936
*Alpha Epsilon - University of Minnesota - 1893-1934
*Alpha Alpha - Bowdoin College - 1893-1930
*Alpha Beta - University of Kansas - 1893-1929
*Alpha Gamma - University of Virginia - 1893-1932
*Alpha Delta - Illinois Wesleyan University - 1893-1925
*Alpha Sigma - Washington & Lee University - 1894-1912
*Alpha Zeta - University of Chicago - 1894-1934
*Gamma Gamma - University of Wisconsin - 1894-1934
*Gamma Gamma - Trinity College - 1894-1930
*Omega - Swarthmore College - 1894-1913
*Alpha Epsilon - University of Colorado - 1894-1929
*Alpha Eta - University of Nebraska - 1894-1929
*Epsilon Epsilon - Case Western Reserve University, Medical - 1895-1919
*Alpha Theta - University of Missouri - 1895
*Kappa Kappa - University of Texas - 1895-1929
*Omega Omega - Georgia Institute of Technology - 1895-1955
*Alpha Omicron - Cumberland University - 1896
*Zeta Zeta - Indiana University - 1898-1924
*Theta Theta - West Virginia University - 1898-1930
*Kappa Gamma - University of Vermont Medical School - 1898-1914
*Omicron Omega - Saint Lawrence University - 1898-1930
*Mu Beta - Brown University - 1900-1930
*Princeton - Princeton University - 1900-1902
*Theta Tau - University of Illinois - 1901-1934
*Alpha Omega - Columbia University - 1901-1930
*Beta Omicron - Colby College - 1902-1930
*Beta Mu - Emory University - 1902-1923
*Sigma Alpha - Westminster College - 1902-1929
*Beta Eta - Muhlenberg College - 1902-1912
*Tau Tau - Baker University - 1902
*Nu Mu - Auburn University - 1902-1929
*Omicron Omicron - Ohio Northern University - 1903-1921
*Pi Pi - Dickinson College of Law - 1903-1925
*Lambda Sigma - Yale University - 1903-1930
*Omega Nu - University of Maryland - 1904-1914
*Phi Phi - University of Arkansas - 1904-1930
*Zeta Phi - Boston University - 1904-1914
*Kappa Rho - University of Maryland at Baltimore, (BCDS) - 1904-1929
*Zeta Phi - Massachusetts Institute of Technology - 1904-1916
*Omega Kappa - University of Maryland at Baltimore, Medical School. - 1904-1915
*Sigma Rho - University of Georgia - 1904-1915
*Sigma Phi - University of Tennessee Medical College - 1908-1929
*Eta Eta - University of Massachusetts - 1909
*Gamma Beta - Thomas Jefferson University - 1909-1928
*Epsilon Deuteron - University of Rochester Alumni Chapter, Theta Pi Sigma - 1909-1942
*Zeta Zeta - University of Wyoming - 1910-1917
*Rho Rho - Norwich University - 1910-1930
*Sigma Tau - University of Maryland at Baltimore, Medical School. - 1910-1934
*Nu Nu - Marquette University - 1911-1936
*Xi Xi - University of Louisville - 1911-1935
*Sigma Sigma - Virginia Medical College - 1911-1916
*Upsilon Upsilon - New York University, Washington Square - 1912 - 1972
*Psi Psi - Iowa State University - 1912-1935
*Alpha Beta - State University of New York at Buffalo - 1914-1930
*Alpha Gamma - Duke University - 1914-1930
*Alpha Eta - Rush Medical College - 1915-1925
*Alpha Epsilon - University of South Dakota - 1915-1929
*Alpha Kappa - Northwestern University Dental School - 1916-1923
*Beta Gamma - Chicago College of Dental Surgery - 1917-1925
*Beta Epsilon - Oklahoma State University - 1917-1949
*Delta Beta - Lehigh University - 1922-1925
*Delta Lambda - University of Missouri at Kansas City - 1922-1930
*Delta Chi - University of Oklahoma - 1922-1934
*Alpha Iota - Harvard University - 1924-1928
*Kappa Rho - University of Maryland at Baltimore - 1924-1929
*Delta Phi - Lombard College - 1928-1930
*Mu Mu - Coe College - 1928-1934
*Alpha Mu - Southwestern University - 1928-1936

External links

* [http://www.wesleyanargus.com/ "Wesleyan Argus"] , "Wesleyan Argus", History of Theta Nu Epsilon and connection to Skull & Bones, October 10, 1987.
* [http://www.theamericanminerva.com/thetanuepsilon "Theta Nu Epsilon"] , Official website of the Alpha Chapter.
* [http://notforfouryears.blogspot.com/ "Not For Four Years"] ,"Not For Four Years" A journal of some independent Theta Nu Epsilon chapters and fraternity life.
* [http://welcometothemachine.info/pdf/history.pdf "Outline history of Theta Nu Epsilon"] , (a view from one of the 1920s era splinter groups), Cecil Rhodes Walley, ca. 1930.
* [http://media.www.dailynebraskan.com/media/storage/paper857/news/2007/02/20/News/Tne-Publishes.Newsletter.Criticizing.Greeks-2729804.shtml "TNE publishes newsletter criticizing Greeks"] , "Daily Nebraskan". February 20, 2007
* [http://media.www.dailynebraskan.com/media/storage/paper857/news/2007/02/20/News/Society.Has.A.Long.History.Of.Campus.Activity-2729608.shtml "Society has a long history of campus activity"] , "Daily Nebraskan". February 20, 2007
* [http://journalstar.com/articles/2006/05/17/local/doc446a5243de49a564273883.txt "Secret fraternity newsletters still circulating on UNL campus"] , "Lincoln Journal Star". May 17, 2006
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,775693,00.html "Fascism at U. S. C."] , "Time". May 28, 1945