Theta Nu Epsilon Society - History of the U.S.C. Chapter

The Theta Nu Epsilon Society.

The Chapter at the University of Southern California.

This is the history of an illegitimate chapter.

Of all the confusion, chaos, and bitter name-calling ever found in all the history of Theta Nu Epsilon, the most thoughtlessly extreme was provided by no less a publication than Time magazine when it was covering Theta Nu Epsilon at U.S.C. in 1945. It was completely un-called for behavior and utterly irresponsible.

The chapter at U.S.C. was not legitimate at all. It is first heard of, (and last), during the 1945 fracas. However, it is likely that it was a “Society of 1870” type organization, and operated together with the chapters at Oregon State and the University of Oregon starting in the 1920’s or 30’s. Like the others, it probably lapsed in the 1940’s during the war, and then came back afterwards.

Apparently, this Society of 1870 T.N.E. chapter worked as a coordinating body for fraternities in campus elections. Returning veterans, however, were more closely tied as veterans than they ever could be by any college fraternity, and so set up their own organization, “Trovets,” (Trojan veterans), and decided to run their own candidates for campus office. The rogue Theta Nu Epsilon chapter there then threatened the Trovets, (with what, who knows?). The administration of the University then responded in defense of the Trovets, and the whole story ended up not only in the newspapers but in the slick pages of Time. And that is when the staff there fired off every accusation they could.

“Fascism at U.S.C. - Since 1870 many a U.S. campus has been afflicted with the approximate equivalent of Ku Klux Klan and Tammany Hall. Its name: Theta Nu Epsilon. No innocent social fraternity, T.N.E. is an outlaw interfraternity society whose anonymous and generally hard-drinking members often work in secret to control student governments, campus newspapers, fraternity memberships and prom lists, in flagrant defiance of faculty edicts.

“At University of Southern California last year, T.N.E. members presumed to warn fraternity-shunning veterans of World War II not to seek campus office or promote their own social society, ‘Trovets.’ Promptly U.S.C.’s able President Rufus B. von KleinSmid began an enthusiastic campaign of extermination. Last week the battle reached a climax.

“With an election coming up to choose new members of the T.N.E.-dominated Student Senate, president von Klein Smid demanded that the Senate make public a full list of T.N.E. members. When no list appeared, he disbanded the Senate, removed the student president and secretary from office, cancelled the election. A faculty committee denounced T.N.E. as a promoter of ‘native fascism.’

“Led by the campus newspaper, Daily Trojan, fraternity men howled their indignation. But non-fraternity men, sick of T.N.E. domination, hailed the President's action. Said one : ‘They ought to suspend every member.’”

Isn’t cancelling election returns more typical of historical Fascism than anything else?

Calling people Fascists is almost always counter-productive. It’s highly inflammatory, (especially in 1946), and if misapplied, (which it almost invariably is), then it just diminishes the meaning of the word. But any person calling others Fascist when they are obviously not, only serves to diminish that person's credibility. Running underground election schemes may be underhanded, but there’s nothing especially Fascist about it.

We have no need nor inclination to defend this illegitimate Theta Nu Epsilon chapter. It was one of those illicit chapters organized as a political machiene. And clearly here its behavior was reprehensible. The Trovets had real and important issues that legitimately required adjustments by the U.S.C. community. That they were not initially accomodated was shameful.

However, at the same time, rabid accusations of fascism by newsweeklies was probably not constructive, either.

It seems that everyone involved in this issue, in the final analysis, appears to have not come off well, except the veterans themselves whose behavior was exemplary. As a footnote, one of the Trovets in question was Jesse Unruh who later spent many years as speaker of the California State Assembly.