Phi Beta Gamma

Phi Beta Gamma
Phi Beta Gamma
ΦΒΓ
Founded	April 24, 1922; 102 years ago; Georgetown University School of Law
Type	Professional
Former Affiliation	PFA
Status	Defunct
Emphasis	Law
Scope	National
Colors	Blue and Gold
Publication	The Advocate; Blue and Gold
Chapters	7
Members	2,500 (est.) lifetime
Headquarters	Baltimore, Maryland; United States

Phi Beta Gamma (ΦΒΓ) was a professional fraternity in the field of law.^[1]^[2] It was established at Georgetown University School of Law in 1922.^[1]

History

Phi Beta Gamma was founded on April 24, 1922, at Georgetown University School of Law.^[1]^[3] Its goals were to install its members with the ethics and ideals of law, to encourage the study of the technical rules of law, and to improve the facilities of law schools.^[4]

Its members adopted Canons of Ethics and Rules of Conduct and secret ritualistic degrees.^[5] Membership in Phi Beta Gamma was limited to male law students.^[5] However, the organization also included alumni and honorary members.^[6] Its officers were called chief justice, associate justice, secretary, treasurer, and bailiff.^[4]

Phi Beta Gamma incorporated in Washington, D.C. as a national fraternity in April 1922.^[4]^[5] The Beta chapter formed at the National University School of Law in 1924, followed by the Gamma chapter at the Minneapolis College of Law in 1925.^[4]

Although the fraternity had a social aspect with parties, banquets, and dances, it encouraged its members to be active in campus political and social affairs and to develop relationships with faculty.^[6]^[4] Alumni and honorary members were expected to assist collegiate members in their studies through quiz lectures and legal discussions.^[6] As a result, the fraternity established a central agency to maintain a connection with alumni members. The fraternity held its first national convention in Washington, D.C., in 1924.^[6] By 1950, it had six chapters and had initiated 1,600 members, making it the smallest of the law fraternities at the time.^[2]

Phi Beta Gamma was a founding member of the Professional Interfraternity Conference (PIC) in 1928.^[7] The fraternity was headquartered in Washington, D.C., but moved to Baltimore, Maryland sometime before 1963.^[1]^[5]^[6] Its original publication was called Blue and Gold.^[6] Later, it published a quarterly journal called The Advocate.^[1]

Symbols

Phi Beta Gamma's colors were blue and gold.^[6]

The fraternity had both a badge and a watch key.in the shape of an inverted triangle thats only decoration was the Greek letters ΦΒΓ.^[5] Phi Beta Gamma also had a scholarship key that was shaped like an open book bearing the fraternity's coat of arms.^[5] The scholarship key was exclusively for the member with the highest grade point average in each class.^[5]

Chapters

The chapters of Phi Beta Gamma were as follows; a review of campus websites shows all are dormant.

Chapter	Charter date	Institution	Location	Status	References
Alpha	April 24, 1922	Georgetown University Law School	Washington, D.C.	Inactive	^[1]
Beta	1924–1954	National University School of Law	Washington, D.C.	Merged	^[1]^[a]
Gamma	1925	Minneapolis College of Law	Minneapolis, Minnesota	Inactive	^[1]^[6]^[b]^[c]
Delta	1925–1956 ?	St. Paul College of Law	Saint Paul, Minnesota	Inactive	^[1]^[c]^[d]
Epsilon	1925	George Washington University Law School	Washington, D.C.	Inactive	^[1]
Zeta	1926	Loyola University New Orleans College of Law	New Orleans, Louisiana	Inactive	^[1]
Eta	1927–19xx	Cumberland School of Law	Homewood, Alabama	Inactive	^[1]
Theta	1929	Jefferson School of Law	Louisville, Kentucky	Inactive	^[1]
Iota	1932	University of Baltimore School of Law	Baltimore, Maryland	Inactive	^[1]
Kappa	1932	University of Miami School of Law	Coral Gables, Florida	Inactive	^[1]
Lambda	1939	University of Tulsa College of Law	Tulsa, Oklahoma	Inactive	^[1]^[4]^[e]

^ National University School of Law merged with the George Washington University Law School in 1954.
^ This school closed in 1940, in a merger with the Minnesota College of Law
^ ^a ^b This school, with eight other predecessor schools, would eventually coalesce into what is now the Mitchell Hamline School of Law.
^ In a merger of law schools, the St. Paul College of Law became the William Mitchell College of Law in 1956. A 2015 merger created the Mitchell Hamline School of Law.
^ Chapter formed from the Tulsa Law Club (local)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p William Raimond Baird (1991). Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities. Baird's Manual Foundation, Incorporated. pp. V-87.
^ ^a ^b York, Kenneth H. (1952). "Legal Fraternities". Michigan Law Review. 50 (7): 1048–1049. doi:10.2307/1284939. JSTOR 1284939 – via University of Michigan.
^ Professional Fraternities by Professional Interfraternity Conference - 1950
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f The Kendallabrum. University of Tulsa. 1949.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Robson, John, ed. (1963). Baird's Manuel of American College Fraternities (17th ed.). Menasha, Wisconsin: The Collegiate Press, George Banta Company, Inc. p. 476.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Shepard, Francis W., ed. (1927). Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities (11th ed.). Menasha, Wisconsin: George Banta Publishing Company. p. 403 – via Google Books.
^ "The ARCHI of Alpha Rho Chi" (PDF). Vol. IX, no. 7. July 31, 1928. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)

[8] National University School of Law merged with the George Washington University Law School in 1954.

[9] This school closed in 1940, in a merger with the Minnesota College of Law

[schoolmerge-10] This school, with eight other predecessor schools, would eventually coalesce into what is now the Mitchell Hamline School of Law.

[11] In a merger of law schools, the St. Paul College of Law became the William Mitchell College of Law in 1956. A 2015 merger created the Mitchell Hamline School of Law.

[12] Chapter formed from the Tulsa Law Club (local)

[Bairds1991-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p William Raimond Baird (1991). Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities. Baird's Manual Foundation, Incorporated. pp. V-87.

[:2-2] York, Kenneth H. (1952). "Legal Fraternities". Michigan Law Review. 50 (7): 1048–1049. doi:10.2307/1284939. JSTOR 1284939 – via University of Michigan.

[PIC50-3] Professional Fraternities by Professional Interfraternity Conference - 1950

[:3-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f The Kendallabrum. University of Tulsa. 1949.

[:0-5] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Robson, John, ed. (1963). Baird's Manuel of American College Fraternities (17th ed.). Menasha, Wisconsin: The Collegiate Press, George Banta Company, Inc. p. 476.

[:1-6] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Shepard, Francis W., ed. (1927). Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities (11th ed.). Menasha, Wisconsin: George Banta Publishing Company. p. 403 – via Google Books.

[7] "The ARCHI of Alpha Rho Chi" (PDF). Vol. IX, no. 7. July 31, 1928. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)

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v t e Greek Letter Organizations in the field of Law
Founded as Professional Fraternities and Sororities	Delta Theta Phi Gamma Eta Gamma Kappa Alpha Pi (pre-law) Kappa Beta Pi Nu Beta Epsilon Phi Alpha Delta Phi Beta Gamma Phi Delta Delta Phi Delta Phi Sigma Delta Kappa
Founded as Honor Societies	Order of the Coif (law) The Order of Barristers (law; litigation) Alpha Phi Sigma (criminal justice) Lambda Epsilon Chi (paralegal)

v t e Professional fraternities and sororities organizations and members
Currently active members of the Professional Fraternity Association	Alpha Zeta Alpha Kappa Psi Alpha Rho Chi Alpha Phi Omega Alpha Chi Sigma Alpha Omega Epsilon Delta Chi Xi Delta Epsilon Mu Delta Theta Phi Delta Kappa Alpha Delta Omicron Delta Sigma Pi Delta Sigma Chi Epsilon Nu Tau Theta Tau Kappa Epsilon Kappa Epsilon Psi Kappa Eta Kappa Kappa Kappa Psi Kappa Lambda Chi Kappa Psi Lambda Kappa Sigma Mu Beta Phi Mu Phi Epsilon Pi Sigma Epsilon Rho Pi Phi Sigma Alpha Sigma Alpha Iota Tau Beta Sigma Phi Alpha Delta Phi Beta Phi Gamma Nu Phi Delta Epsilon Phi Delta Chi Phi Sigma Pi Phi Chi Theta
Former and formerly active members of the Professional Fraternity Association or its predecessors: Professional Panhellenic Association or Professional Interfraternity Conference	Alpha Delta Theta Alpha Delta Sigma Alpha Kappa Kappa Alpha Sigma Alpha Alpha Tau Delta Alpha Omega Beta Alpha Psi Gamma Eta Gamma Gamma Iota Sigma Delta Epsilon Iota Delta Sigma Delta Delta Psi Kappa Epsilon Eta Phi Zeta Phi Eta Theta Kappa Psi Theta Sigma Upsilon Theta Sigma Phi Iota Sigma Pi Kappa Alpha Pi Kappa Beta Pi Kappa Delta Epsilon Kappa Phi Kappa Nu Sigma Nu Xi Psi Phi Omicron Delta Kappa Omicron Nu Pi Lambda Theta Sigma Delta Chi Sigma Nu Phi Sigma Sigma Sigma Sigma Phi Delta (now social) Phi Beta Gamma Phi Beta Pi Phi Delta Delta Phi Delta Gamma Phi Delta Kappa Phi Delta Pi Phi Delta Phi (now honor society) Phi Epsilon Kappa Phi Lambda Kappa Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (now social) Phi Rho Sigma Phi Upsilon Omicron Phi Chi Chi Beta Phi Psi Omega Omega Tau Sigma Omega Upsilon Phi Pershing Rifles Scabbard and Blade Scarab
North American Interfraternity Conference	Alpha Gamma Rho Alpha Gamma Sigma
Active independent professional fraternities	Alpha Gamma Kappa Alpha Zeta Omega Alpha Eta Rho Alpha Iota Alpha Psi Gamma Epsilon Tau Delta Sigma Theta Delta Theta Sigma Delta Kappa Gamma Delta Kappa Phi Delta Phi Epsilon Kappa Gamma Psi Kappa Pi Nu Beta Epsilon Phi Delta Kappa (sorority) Phi Sigma Gamma Phi Psi Chi Delta Mu Chi Eta Phi Block and Bridle Queens' Guard
Inactive independent professional fraternities	Aleph Yodh He Alpha Epsilon Iota Alpha Tau Sigma Chi Zeta Chi Delta Omicron Alpha Pi Delta Nu