The Phi Beta Kappa Society (ΦΒΚ) is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, and to induct the most outstanding students of arts and sciences at only select American colleges and universities. It was founded at the College of William and Mary on December 5, 1776, as the first collegiate Greek-letter fraternity and was among the earliest collegiate fraternal societies. Since its inception, 17 U.S. presidents, 40 U.S. Supreme Court justices, and 136 Nobel laureates have been inducted as members.
The American Whig–Cliosophic Society, sometimes abbreviated as Whig-Clio, is a political, literary, and debating society at Princeton University and the oldest debate union in the United States. Its precursors, the American Whig Society and the Cliosophic Society, were founded at Princeton in 1769 and 1765 by James Madison, William Paterson, Oliver Ellsworth, and Aaron Burr.
The University of Georgia is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is one of the oldest public universities in the United States. It is the flagship school of the University System of Georgia.
Pi Kappa Phi (ΠΚΦ), commonly known as Pi Kapp(s), is an American Greek Letter secret and social fraternity. It was founded by Andrew Alexander Kroeg Jr., Lawrence Harry Mixson, and Simon Fogarty Jr. on December 10, 1904 at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina. The fraternity has 187 active chapters (168 chartered chapters and 19 associate chapters), and more than 113,000 initiated members.
Alpha Delta Phi is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. Alpha Delta Phi was originally founded as a literary society by Samuel Eells in 1832 at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. Its more than 50,000 alumni include former presidents and senators of the United States, and justices of the Supreme Court.
The Philomathean Society of the University of Pennsylvania is a collegiate literary society, the oldest student group at the university, and a claimant to the title of the oldest continuously-existing literary society in the United States, a claim disputed by Columbia University's Philolexian Society, which was established in 1802. Founded in 1813, its goal is "to promote the learning of its members and to increase the academic prestige of the University." Philomathean is derived from the Greek philomath, which means "a lover of learning." The motto of the Philomathean Society is Sic itur ad astra.
Young Harris College is a private Methodist-affiliated liberal arts college in Young Harris, Georgia, United States.
The Demosthenian Literary Society is a literary society focused on extemporaneous debate at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. It is among the oldest literary societies in the English-speaking world and was founded on February 19, 1803 by the first graduating class of the University's Franklin College. The object of the Society is "to promote the cause of science and truth by the cultivation of oratory and the art of debate at weekly meetings." It is named after the Greek orator Demosthenes.
The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi is an honor society established in 1897 to recognize and encourage superior scholarship without restriction as to area of study, and to promote the "unity and democracy of education". It is the fourth academic society in the United States to be organized around recognizing academic excellence, and it is the oldest all-discipline honor society. The society's motto is Φιλοσοφία Kρατείτω Φωτῶν, which is translated as "Let the love of learning rule humanity", and its mission is "to recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others." It is a member of the Honor Society Caucus, which is composed of four honor societies: Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Sigma Xi, and Omicron Delta Kappa.
The Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies, Inc. commonly known as DiPhi or The Societies, are the original collegiate debating societies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and together comprise the oldest student organization at the University, as well as the oldest public student organization in the United States. During the academic year, the Societies hold regular meetings at 7:30 PM on Mondays in the Dialectic Chamber at the top of the New West Building. The Societies also hold occasional social events in the Philanthropic Chamber at the top of New East Building.
William Tate served as the dean of men at the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens, Georgia, from 1946 until 1971.
The Philodemic Society is a student debating society at Georgetown University founded in 1830 by Father James Ryder, S.J. The Philodemic is among the oldest such societies in the United States, and is the oldest secular student organization at Georgetown. The society's motto, "Eloquentiam Libertati Devinctam" reminds its members that they are pursuing Eloquence in Defense of Liberty.
The Bancroft Literary Association and the Carrollton-Wight Literary Society are two competitive forensic societies at the Baltimore City College and are the formal names for the school's speech and debates teams. Founded in 1876 and 1878 respectively, the Bancroft and Carrollton-Wight Societies are the oldest literary societies at a public high school in the United States. Historically, the two societies competed mainly between themselves. The rivalry culminated each year with an annual debate. In the 20th century, the societies began to compete with other secondary schools and some universities. At the time, the teams' most notable rival was Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, City College's chief rival in sports and academics. The Bancroft and Carrollton-Wight Societies disbanded for a time in the 1980s and early-1990s, but were revived in the late-1990s. Baltimore City College is a charter member of the Chesapeake Region of the National Forensics League and the National Catholic Forensic League, and is founding member of the Baltimore Catholic Forensic League and the Baltimore Urban Debate League.
The Peithologian Society was an undergraduate debate society at Columbia University. It was founded in 1806, four years after Columbia's first literary society, the Philolexian Society, by freshmen who were disenfranchised by Philolexian's requirement that its members be upperclassmen. Its emphasis on debate, composition, and rhetoric was similar to Philo's literary aims, and the two societies shared other superficial characteristics as well. Philo adopted light blue as its official color, while Peithologian adopted white. Whereas Philolexian's symbol was a rising sun, Peithologian's was a star. Its Latin motto was "Vitam Impendere Vero" meaning, roughly, "To devote one's life to truth."
The North American fraternity and sorority system began with students who wanted to meet secretly, usually for discussions and debates not thought appropriate by the faculty of their schools. Today they are used as social, professional, and honorary groups that promote varied combinations of community service, leadership, and academic achievement.
College literary societies in American higher education are a particular kind of social organization, distinct from literary societies generally, and they were often the precursors of college fraternities and sororities. In the period from the late 18th century to the Civil War, collegiate literary societies were an important part of campus social life. These societies are often called Latin literary societies because they typically have compound Latinate names.
The Irving Literary Society was a literary society at Cornell University active from 1868 to 1887. The U.S. Bureau of Education described it as a "purely literary society" following the "traditions of the old literary societies of Eastern universities." During the period when the Cornell literary societies flourished, the Irving and its peers produced literature at a rate higher than the campus average for the next generation, leading commentators at the turn of the 20th century to question whether academic standards had fallen since the university's founding. Named after the American writer Washington Irving, the Irving Literary Society was founded on October 20, 1868, shortly after Cornell opened. Past members who went on to prominent careers included Judge Morris Lyon Buchwalter, Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, and the journalists John Andrew Rea and Francis Whiting Halsey. The Irving's last public meeting was held on May 23, 1887. After that it ceased to exist as a Cornell University student society. However, the New York Alpha Chapter of the Phi Kappa Psi undergraduate fraternity at Cornell claims to have "served as steward of the Irving Literary Society since 1888".
Sigma Phi Epsilon Literary Society (ΣΦΕ) is one of three female societies at Illinois College in Jacksonville, IL. Sigma Phi Epsilon was founded January 22, 1916. Sigma Phi Epsilon is headquartered on the top floor of the David A. Smith house on the Illinois College campus.
Phi Delta Gamma (ΦΔΓ) was an American professional fraternity in the field of forensics. It merged into Tau Kappa Alpha in 1935.
