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The Eclectic Society of Phi Nu Theta (ΦNΘ) was originally a college fraternity at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, and was one of the oldest fraternal college organizations in the United States. The society was formally founded by Herman Merrills Johnson, Jonathan Coe, Joshua Newhall, Clark Titus Hinman, and Chester Dormund Hubbard, who met on September 13, 1838, and elected and initiated themselves on that date. (Chandler Robbins was also elected that night but was initiated a week later.) The early Wesleyan societies adopted English names, and not Greek ones; but Eclectic quickly adopted a motto, the Greek initials of which are Phi Nu Theta, and the society operated under both names. The society has always claimed an 1837 foundation for itself, for reasons understood to the members, although no advocate of the society has contravened the fact that the founding meeting was in late 1838. Eclectic was Wesleyan's second fraternity, after the Mystical 7. In the 1850s a Beta Chapter existed for ten years at Ohio Wesleyan University and a Gamma Chapter enjoyed a month's existence at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, but both succumbed to the perturbations accompanying the Civil War or to anti-fraternity sentiment among faculty members. There were long discussions about a chapter at Genesee College which never were fruitful. Thereafter, the only chapter was the Alpha Chapter at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. == Eclectic Society of Phi Nu Theta to 1970 == The Eclectic Society, Phi Nu Theta, was founded in 1838, as is clear from the first meeting date of the society. However, Eclectic has always claimed an 1837 founding date, making it presumptively as old as its older competitor, the Mystical 7 society. (The Mystical 7 is known to have been in existence on July 17, 1837 when an acknowledgement on that date was received from the president of the university.)〔The Mystical Seven: Wesleyan University 1837 - 1937; Carl F. Price; privately printed; Middletown, Conn. 1937.〕 None of the original Wesleyan societies, the Mystical 7, Eclectic, Tub Philosophers, or Thecanians, had a Greek-letter name. As other Greek-letter societies came to Wesleyan, Eclectic did quickly adopt a Greek motto, and has since been equally known as Phi Nu Theta as Eclectic (with one or the other dominating different eras). The original society may not have survived the stresses of the Civil War without the tireless dedication of William North Rice, '65, who later went on to become a Professor at the University for 51 years and also from time to time as acting President of the University. He was universally regarded as the guiding spirit of the society through the 1920s. From about 1856 to 1865 the Eclectic Society was partners in the Alpha Eating Club with the Mystical 7.〔Alumni Record of Wesleyan University, ''Annals'', Frank W. Nicholson, ed., 1883 edition, pg. xcviii〕 After 1865, Eclectics controlled the club exclusively, and the Alpha Eating Club survived until 1975. The alumni organization of Eclectic was incorporated by the Connecticut legislature as the Socratic Literary Society in 1870. The first permanent house for the society was the construction of a house in 1882 on a site behind the Allbriton Center where Cross Street currently runs; this had no residential accommodations for undergraduates, and was used for meetings, dining facilities, and society offices. The society in 1906 hired Henry Bacon, formerly of the architectural firm McKim, Mead and White to design a Doric Greek revival structure at 200 High Street. The house is an exemplary design for group living. Many people see the Eclectic house as a design precursor to Bacon's later Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. (They are both designed in a strong Doric style, but lack the typical pediment.) The Alpha Eating Club was housed in the lower stories of the southern wing of the house. In 1912, at the seventy-fifth reunion of the society, Stephen Henry Olin reported in an address to the society that after a detailed analysis of the academic standing of each college fraternity chapter at every major university in America back to the 1820s, Phi Nu Theta then had the highest academic ranking of any chapter of any fraternity in the country. Noted alumni of the old Phi Nu Theta Eclectic include Chester D. Hubbard, a founder of Eclectic, and his son, member William P. Hubbard, both prominent at the founding convention of the State of West Virginia, Frederick W. Pitkin '58, two-term Governor of Colorado from 1879, the Congressman and banker Frederick M. Davenport, Walter B. Wriston, who presided over the development of modern consumer banking and the ATM while serving as president and CEO of Citibank, now known as Citicorp, and poet Charles Olson. The list of Society alumni also includes several Wesleyan University Presidents, including Joseph Cummings '40, (former President of Genesee College, later President of Northwestern University), Cyrus David Foss '54, John W. Beach '45, William North Rice '65 (Acting), Stephen Henry Olin '66 (Acting), John Monroe Van Vleck '50 (Acting), and Edwin Deacon Etherington, '48. Many buildings on Wesleyan University's campus are named after prominent Eclectic members, such as Crowell Concert Hall, Olin Memorial Library (Stephen Henry Olin, '65 and his father), Hall and Atwater Labs, the Zilkha Gallery (Ezra Khedouri Zilka, '46 and his wife), and the Van Vleck Observatory, (Astronomy Professor John Monroe Van Vleck). A history of the society has recently been published by the Wesleyan University Press, called (A History of The Eclectic Society of Phi Nu Theta, 1837–1970 ). The author, William B.B. Moody, is a member and an alumnus of the class of 1959. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Eclectic Society (fraternity)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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