Theta Nu Epsilon Society - History of the New York University Chapter

The Theta Nu Epsilon Society.

The Sigma & Upsilon Upsilon Chapters at the New York University.

There were two chapters at New York University. One of the first things to undetstand about NYU is that the campus was originally downtown, then after the Civil War, a new (and very impressive) campus was built on the University Heights section of the Bronx overlooking the East River and the parks at the northern tip of Manhattan, and then again after the twenties, the continuing downtown units of the university began to reassert themselves, so that by the 1970’s the University Heights campus was abandoned and the downtown Washington Square campus became the final university campus. —At least until they get bored again and wander back north to their home.

The Sigma Chapter was a legitimate chapter founded by the Alpha Chapter on the then main campus at University Heights on May 16, 1890. As was noted in the Wesleyan Argus, “The Sigma Chapter was organized at New York University on Friday evening, May 16. Douglass, Little, Atkinson and Kidd of the Wesleyan Chapter officiated at the ceremonies, and initiated in all forty men from the four college classes.” The chapter was a very strong one, and became the focal point for several chapters in universities in the area.

There was a report from unsympathetic quarters thet the chapter was weak from 1904 - 1912. The record does not support this, but that is not conclusive proof one way or the other. The Sigma Chapter was driven from the society in the 1913-16 Interfraternity Conflict, and it is last known about 1916.

There was a surviving informal entity among alumni at NYU up until the close of the uptown University Heights campus in 1974. We suspect they are survivors of the Sigma chapter, not the Upsilon Upsilon, although the evidence has not been examined first hand, and the members themselevs seem to not have made a study of the matter.

There is a completely illegitimate individual in the city now perpetuating the memory of this organization as if it were a living organization. That person should not be trusted by any members or non-members, and they should not be entrusted with either time or money.

The Upsilon Upsilon NYU Chapter in 1932.

The Upsilon Upsilon Chapter was organized on April 12, 1912 on the Washington Square campus. It was a legitimate chapter, chartered by United National. This was a case of intentionally creating a second chapter on the same campus. The claim why there should be two chapters was unusual. The main organizer of the chapter was Chalmers W. T. Overton of Rutgers, who said that the second chapter will not “compete in any way with the N. Y. U. chapter at [University] Heights because the divisions of the University at Washington Square are entirely separate from the divisions at the Heights. They are part of the same University in name only. We’ll take our men from the Commerce and Law School divisions, located at Washington Square, while the Heights chapter takes its men from the Arts and Sciences divisions, that is, all the schools located at the Heights. The Heights chapter has never come down town for men and hasn’t any desire to do so, so there can be no question of interference. It’s a good opportunity to establish another good City chapter and in my opinion a step further in the direction of establishing a T.N.E. Club in New York City.” It seems that Brother Overton tips his hand a little at the end, as can be seen in the main society history, the organizing for a New York City club was a rallying cause for many members in the region, and one that was viewed with unease by the rest of the society. Not only would a downtown chapter provide connections that would strengthen the plans for a club, it also was another vote at any society meeting for the same.

The Main Lobby of the Hotel Pennsylvania.

The Upsilon Upsilon chapter did become a very vigorous center of activity in the society, and it nearly dominated the society in the years leading up to World War I. For more detail on this see the national history. It did also have a very negative effect on the existing traditional Sigma chapter at University Heights, including forcing Sigma off the pages of the NYU yearbook. If one were to suggest that the intent of the founders of the second chapter was to kill the earlier chapter, there is nothing in the record to contradict such an interpretation.

In the 1920’s, the Upsilon Upsilon Chapter made the transition to a full four year college fraternity fairly easily, and was one of only two chapters to do so. The chapter was very strong, with a full range of activities, including a Hallowe’en Ball at the Hotel Great Northern in 1936, and a Spring Formal that year at the Hotel Pennsylvania. Though it seems to have favored the Hotel Piccadilly in later years. The men of Theta Nu Epsilon also dominated the interfraternity basketball competition every year.

The Chapter was largely left to its own devices after 1938, for some reason unknown to everyone, Perry O. Powell, the National Secretary of the society, declared the chapter suspended, (the society was already collapsing at this time and had just a handfull of chapters left), and he refused to allow any national officer to contact them. It says something about the state of affairs that when the Upsilon Upsilon chapter printed the list of chapters in the 1939 yearbook, they used a nine year old list, not knowing that nine of the fourteen chapters were defunct. The Upsilon Upsilon was last known to exist in 1940.

In recent years, there has been an imposter claiming a continuing vestige of a chapter at NYU. This claim is part of a much broader hoax, including several societies. This same person also claims that NYU’s two classic literary societies from the 19th century, the Eucleian and the Philomathean, have magically survived to the present day, although NYU university archives and the whole rest of the world knows the two societies have been dead for decades. Specifically, the Eucleian Society died in 1943, and the Philomathean Society died in 1888. But according to the hoax, not only have the societies continued, but they changed utterly from open literary societies holding debates and other public performances to private, secret societies without student members, and disconnected from the university. Somehow, the Sigma or Upsilon Upsilon chapter of Theta Nu Epsilon is supposed to be a third society still alive and along for the ride with Eucleian and Philomathean. This fraud has gone so far as a pair of whopper Wikipedia articles that remained unchecked for a few years, and several bogus blog websites making all sorts of ridiculous claims. We assume the only reason for these claims is so the claimant, probably an old NYU alumnus, can still have the odd surreal dinner party somewhere out in the West Village somewhere. As entertaining as he might think himself to be, this person is demonstrably mendacious, and anyone contacted by such a person should consider themselves duly warned.