What fraternity first happened at Williams College?
Williams College was founded in 1793 in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was the first college to have a non-secret fraternity in the United States, Delta Upsilon, which was founded there in 1834. Ironically, fraternities were phased out of the college in the early 1960s and it became co-educational in 1970. “Williams forms part of the historic Little Three colleges, along with Wesleyan University and Amherst College.” Sources: http://en.wikipedia.
The Sigma Phi Society, founded on 4 March 1827 on the campus of Williams College as a part of the Union Triad in Schenectady, New York is the second oldest Greek social fraternal organization in the United States. The Sigma Phi Society was the first Greek organization to establish a second chapter at another college, which occurred with the founding of the Beta of New York at Hamilton College in 1831, thus making it the first National Greek Organization. Its Union College chapter has been in continual operation since its founding, making it the oldest fraternity chapter in the United States. Little is known about the membership or initiation procedures of the Sigma Phi, as it began and remains a secret society. Sources: http://en.wikipedia.
On June 30, 1962, the Williams College Committee on Review of Fraternity Questions (informally known as the Angevine Committee, after its chairman Jay B. Angevine II) submitted its report to the Board of Trustees, urging that the college assume responsibility for providing room and board to the entire student body. Up to that time, that role had been filled by the extensive system of fraternities at the college. However, mounting concerns over the effect fraternities were having on the social life of the college had led to the formation of the Angevine Committee in the fall of 1961. The complete report can be found here. A New York Times article from the days immediately following the report’s publication summarized the recommendations. A Standing Committee was appointed by the Board of Trustees in order to help implement the recommendations of the Angevine Committee. The Standing Committee solicited the help of several Williams alumni, including David Phillips 1958. A partial record o
