Gamma Eta History
On November 2, 1912, Thomas Burke Floyd, Jr., number five on the Gamma Eta Rolls, founded the colony of Alpha Pi Alpha. We were the tenth chapter on Georgia Tech’s campus. The first President of the new colony was Curtis Rand. Our chapter was granted its charter on September 6, 1916, by the 77th General Convention at the United States Hotel in Saratoga, New York. The chapter became active on January 16, 1917, initiating the first class of thirty men. General Secretary Francis W. Shepardson presided over the ceremony, held at the Ansley Hotel. He was assisted by Vice President William L. Graves and District Chief Herbert A. James. Alumni from Davidson, North Carolina, and Vanderbilt were in attendance.
Since its founding at Georgia Tech in 1917, our chapter has initiated over two thousand men of all backgrounds, talents, and accomplishments. Many of our members serve as campus leaders, community volunteers, varsity athletes, and scholars from all fields of study. However, it is our common goals and strong brotherhood that have helped us to become one of the best chapters at Georgia Tech.
Old Main Hall at Miami University from 1896
Beta National History
In 1839, when Beta Theta Pi was founded at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, the college fraternity world consisted of only 19 chapters of five secret Greek-letter fraternities, located on 10 college campuses in five states. Life, and certainly collegiate life were very different.
Beta Theta Pi is the oldest social college fraternity founded west of the Appalachian Mountains. A part of the Miami Triad, along with Phi Delta Theta (1848) and Sigma Chi (1855), Beta is a story of eight men who strove to create warm bonds of friendship and fidelity.