Phi Beta
Phi Beta Fraternity: National Professional Association for the Creative and Performing Arts (ΦΒ) is an American national professional college fraternity for the creative and performing arts. It was founded in 1912 at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Phi Beta is coed and incorporates all art forms into its membership.
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Origins
Phi Beta Fraternity began as a local club at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL on May 5, 1912. The three founders, Josephine Mack, Elsie Schultz and Gladys Burnside, had no idea that their local club would grow to a national association. From its inception Phi Beta held the ideal of uniting arts, evidenced by the selection of some her first members: from the School of Music came Mae Aurelius and Clara Ayers and from the School of Oratory came Rosebud Fortier, Gertrude Thomas and Evelyn Owens.
In the beginning, the fraternity was exclusive to women majoring in music and speech. Over time, the fraternity has grown to embrace all of the creative and performing arts and their related therapies and histories. In the years 1974 and 1975 chapters voted on the matter of gender exclusion. Phi Beta today includes women and men.
Founders' vision
The founders' vision of an organization that would promote the arts through service appealed to others. By 1915, a group of women at the Chicago Conservatory had petitioned to charter a chapter of Phi Beta Fraternity. Beta chapter was installed on July 13, 1917. Helen Rowan served as Phi Beta's first national president. The first Convention was held in the spring of 1918 in Chicago, IL. Interest continued to grow in the relatively new fraternity. Phi Beta continued to initiate new chapters nationwide.
Incorporation
In the fall of 1914 the fraternity was incorporated by the State of Illinois. Phi Beta, at that time consisting exclusively of women, rented a house at 1928 Sherman Avenue in Evanston. Susan B. Davis, an admired member of the faculty, was chosen as the first honorary member of Phi Beta. Grace Mattern, who penned many of Phi Beta's rituals and ceremonies, was not initiated until 1914, when she returned to Evanston to pursue her Master's degree and join the faculty at Northwestern's School of Speech.
In 1915 the Alpha chapter of Phi Beta also petitioned the social women's fraternity Alpha Delta Pi for a charter. Because most of Phi Beta's members were enrolled in professional two- or three- year coursework, as opposed to traditional four-year programs, the petition was denied. Phi Beta remained a professional organization.
National projects
Phi Beta has completed several national projects including: hand enlarging music for the visually impaired, service in USO shows, aid to music programs in Mexico, and most notably her continued work with the MacDowell Colony.
Affiliations
Phi Beta is affiliated with the Fraternity Communication Association (FCA), the Professional Fraternity Association (PFA) and the National Interfraternity Music Council (NIMC)
