![]() ![]() ![]() The Iota chapter lingered for a few years, and was inactive by 1940.Ĭlyde E. This may have been the reason it remained local, then joined the smaller national fraternity of Alpha Lambda Tau, also a Junior NIC member. Hence, as Tri-State was not yet accredited, the chapter may have realized or been advised it was ineligible for a charter with ΤΚΕ. ΣΜΣ had been a Junior member ΤΚΕ was a Full member. At this juncture, chapters at some schools were incompatible with the larger nationals because the NIC (as well as the NPC) required that Full member fraternities may only allow chapters at accredited institutions. Small nationals were merging or dissolving across the country during this difficult time, however for the Tri-State chapter, the reason may have been that they were unwelcome. One year later, in 1936, Alpha chapter affiliated with Alpha Lambda Tau, signaling that for some reason, a 1935 merger with ΤΚΕ had been unworkable. But both Alpha and Iota chapters chose to remain as independent Sigma Mu Sigma chapters without a national organization. While these three chapters found a new national affiliation in ΤΚΕ, the remaining chapters did not participate: The Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Theta chapters dissolved. Sigma Mu Sigma's Zeta chapter at Purdue University and the Eta chapter at the University of Illinois merged with existing ΤΚΕ chapters at their respective campuses. The merger was effected in March 1935 with the Epsilon chapter at George Washington University becoming the Alpha-Pi chapter of ΤΚΕ. Sigma Mu Sigma had nine chapters at the time of the decision. In the fall of 1934, Sigma Mu Sigma national decided to dissolve itself and allow its chapters to be absorbed by Tau Kappa Epsilon. ![]() The effect was especially felt on Sigma Mu Sigma because of the added constraints of its Masonic membership requirement. In the early 1930s, the United States was in the midst of the Great Depression, resulting in college enrollment and fraternity membership dropping significantly. In 1929, the fraternity's membership requirements were changed to allow both Masons and sons of Masons. Sigma Mu Sigma became a junior member of the North-American Interfraternity Conference (NIC) in 1928. However, the fraternity did require a high scholarship record of its pledges. This was soon found to be impracticable and the Phi Beta Kappa standard was soon dropped. The fraternity's original intent was to limit membership to Master Masons and to maintain the scholarship standards of Phi Beta Kappa. Faced with the possibility of expelling twelve of the top students at Tri-State, the college moved to end its ban on fraternities. Sigma Mu Sigma announced its formation to administrators and professors of the college. The three founders of ΣΜΣ selected nine other students who were also Master Masons and among the top students at the college. Īt the time of the fraternity's founding, Tri-State College had a ban on secret societies however, several sub-rosa organizations were known to exist on campus. Its founding date was Good Friday, March 25, 1921. ΣΜΣ was founded as a fraternity exclusively for Master Masons with a zeal for the promotion of the fraternity's cardinal principles of sincerity, morality, and scholarship. The three founders were Claude Brown, Charles Knapp, and Harold Van Vranken. In 1921, Sigma Mu Sigma was founded by three Knights Templar students at Tri-State College in Angola, Indiana. A few remaining chapters of Sigma Mu Sigma transformed into a co-ed service fraternity in 1984 but went defunct around 2020. Sigma Mu Sigma was later revived, developed another dozen chapters, and several of these were absorbed by Kappa Sig, Acacia and others. As a national fraternity, Sigma Mu Sigma dissolved in 1935 when it was absorbed by Tau Kappa Epsilon. Sigma Mu Sigma was historically an all-male social fraternity open originally to Master Masons, and later open to all undergraduate male students. Sigma Mu Sigma ( ΣΜΣ) is a former American college fraternity founded in 1921 at Tri-State University. ![]()
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