Mu Beta Psi
Encyclopedia
Mu Beta Psi National Honorary Musical Fraternity is a service and music fraternity
with chapters and colonies at universities
throughout the eastern United States
. Founded in 1925 at North Carolina State University
by the director of bands, Major Percy Walter "Daddy" Price, this group began as a male-only, honorary fraternity for colleges lacking a music major. It spread early to several colleges throughout the southern United States. In 1961 it expanded eligibility requirements to admit women. By the early 2000s, the fraternity had expanded to several colleges throughout the eastern half of the United States.
Although an honorary fraternity, Mu Beta Psi views itself as primarily a music service group. Several of the chapters run scholarship programs and pride themselves on providing service to their music departments.
Any member of the fraternity is referred to as a "Brother" without regard to the member's sex. This practice comes from the fraternity's beginnings and is used in context as a designation of membership status, not gender.
† Gamma Chapter was never formally designated; Percy Price died before a school could be finalized and a Charter issued, and the effort was lost. Records speculate that Gamma was going to be at The College of William and Mary but that has never been confirmed.
‡ The Mu Beta Psi Alumni Association is a separate organization, but considered an active chapter. The Alumni Association is open to alumni of all Mu Beta Psi chapters, active or otherwise.
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
with chapters and colonies at universities
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
throughout the eastern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Founded in 1925 at North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution...
by the director of bands, Major Percy Walter "Daddy" Price, this group began as a male-only, honorary fraternity for colleges lacking a music major. It spread early to several colleges throughout the southern United States. In 1961 it expanded eligibility requirements to admit women. By the early 2000s, the fraternity had expanded to several colleges throughout the eastern half of the United States.
Although an honorary fraternity, Mu Beta Psi views itself as primarily a music service group. Several of the chapters run scholarship programs and pride themselves on providing service to their music departments.
Any member of the fraternity is referred to as a "Brother" without regard to the member's sex. This practice comes from the fraternity's beginnings and is used in context as a designation of membership status, not gender.
Chapters
The chapters were named in order of their acceptance to Mu Beta Psi. Chapters are:| Chapter | Location | Chartered | Status (Inactive Date) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha (Α) | North Carolina State University North Carolina State University North Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution... |
1925 | Active |
| Beta (Β) | Davidson College Davidson College Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. The college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently ranked in the top ten liberal arts colleges in the country by U.S. News and World Report magazine, although it has recently dropped to 11th in U.S. News... |
1929 | Inactive (1931) |
| Gamma (Γ) | never chartered† | N/A | N/A |
| Delta (Δ) | Clemson University Clemson University Clemson University is an American public, coeducational, land-grant, sea-grant, research university located in Clemson, South Carolina, United States.... |
1937 | Inactive (2005) |
| Epsilon (Ε) | Washington and Lee University Washington and Lee University Washington and Lee University is a private liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States.The classical school from which Washington and Lee descended was established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, about north of its present location. In 1776 it was renamed Liberty Hall in a burst of... |
1965 | Inactive (ca. 1985) |
| Zeta (Ζ) | Michigan Technological University Michigan Technological University Michigan Technological University is a public research university located in Houghton, Michigan, United States. Its main campus sits on on a bluff overlooking Portage Lake... |
1967 | Active |
| Eta (Η) | Virginia Military Institute Virginia Military Institute The Virginia Military Institute , located in Lexington, Virginia, is the oldest state-supported military college and one of six senior military colleges in the United States. Unlike any other military college in the United States—and in keeping with its founding principles—all VMI students are... |
1970 | Inactive (1971) |
| Theta (Θ) | St. Augustine's College St. Augustine's College (Raleigh) Saint Augustine's College is a historically black college located in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. The college was founded in 1867 in Raleigh, North Carolina by prominent Episcopal clergy for the education of freed slaves.- History :... |
1973 | Inactive (ca. 1986) |
| Iota (Ι) | Duke University Duke University Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B... |
1981 | Inactive (ca. 1984) |
| Kappa (Κ) | Wofford College Wofford College Established in 1854 and related to the United Methodist Church, Wofford College is an independent, Phi Beta Kappa liberal arts college of 1,525 students located in downtown Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States. The historic campus is recognized as a national arboretum and features “The... |
1989 | Inactive (1996) |
| Lambda (Λ) | Anderson University Anderson University (South Carolina) Anderson University is a private comprehensive university located in Anderson, South Carolina, offering bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees in approximately 60 areas of study. Anderson is affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention and is accredited as a Level V institution by the... |
1991 | Inactive (1992) |
| Mu (Μ) | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States... |
1993 | Active |
| Nu (Ν) | State University of New York at Oswego State University of New York at Oswego State University of New York at Oswego, also known as SUNY Oswego and Oswego State, is a public university in the City of Oswego and Town of Oswego, New York, on the shore of Lake Ontario... |
1994 | Active |
| Xi (Ξ) | Saint Vincent College Saint Vincent College Saint Vincent College is a four-year, coeducational, Roman Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts college in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, located about 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. It was founded in 1846 by Boniface Wimmer, a monk from Bavaria, Germany. It was the first Benedictine monastery in the... |
1996 | Inactive (2006) |
| Omicron (Ο) | Roanoke College Roanoke College Roanoke College is an private, coeducational, four-year liberal-arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The college is located in Salem, Virginia, a suburban independent city adjacent to Roanoke, Virginia... |
2001 | Active |
| Pi (Π) | Rutgers University Rutgers University Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American... |
2007 | Active |
| Rho (Ρ) | Northern Michigan University Northern Michigan University Northern Michigan University is a four-year college public university established in 1899 located in Marquette, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. With a population of nearly 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, Northern Michigan University is the Upper Peninsula's largest... |
2008 | Active |
| Sigma (Σ) | St. Louis University | 2009 | Inactive (2011) |
| Tau (Τ) | American University American University American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893... |
2011 | Active |
| Alumni Association‡ | N/A | 1970 | Active |
† Gamma Chapter was never formally designated; Percy Price died before a school could be finalized and a Charter issued, and the effort was lost. Records speculate that Gamma was going to be at The College of William and Mary but that has never been confirmed.
‡ The Mu Beta Psi Alumni Association is a separate organization, but considered an active chapter. The Alumni Association is open to alumni of all Mu Beta Psi chapters, active or otherwise.