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Gamma Eta Gamma
ΓΗΓ
Founded	February 25, 1901; 123 years ago (1901-02-25) University of Maine School of Law
Type	Professional
Affiliation	Independent
Former affiliation	PIC
Status	Active
Emphasis	Law
Scope	Local (previously National)
Member badge
Colors	Red and   Black
Symbol	Lamp, Star, Fasces, Balance
Publication	The Rescript
Chapters	33 chartered, 1 active
Members	~10,000 active
Headquarters	1126 5th Street SE Minneapolis, Minnesota 55414 United States

Gamma Eta Gamma (ΓΗΓ) is a co-ed professional law fraternity that was a member of the Professional Fraternity Association. Chapters are limited to law schools on the approved list of the American Bar Association.

History

Gamma Eta Gamma was founded on February 25, 1901, at the University of Maine School of Law as a law fraternity for men. Its founders were Charles Vey Holman, Charles Hickson Reid Jr., and Harold Dudley Greeley.

From the beginning, the fraternity exhorted its members to a high degree of personal and professional conduct. At its founding, the three men who established the Fraternity wrote in their handwriting into the preamble of its constitution:

"We the undersigned students of the Law School of the University of Maine, with a view of establishing on this and other schools of law, as well as in the general practice of the profession, an elevated standard of personal deportment, a high code of professional ethics and a broad and catholic development of mental culture and moral character do associate ourselves in the lasting bonds of a fraternal union under the name of Gamma Eta Gamma."

Its officers were chancellor, proctor, judge, lictor, sheriff, quaestor, recorder, bailiff, and tipstave. The pledge manual included chapters on how to study law effectively, a chapter on etiquette, and general fraternity information.

The Gamma Eta Gamma annual convention called a Witan, was first held on May 29, 1901. Later, the convention shifted to a biennial basis, with province conferences held in off years. The Beta chapter was installed at the Boston University School of Law on May 24, 1902.

Gamma Eta Gamma published a songbook in 1909 and 1915. In 1912, the fraternity started publishing an annual called The Rescript; it became a semi-annual and, later, quarterly in 1920. Also in 1912, the chapters at Albany and Cornell owned a chapter house, while the chapters at Boston, Creighton, and Indiana rented houses.

By 1976 it had granted 33 charters with a national roster of over 7,000 initiates. By 2017, there was one remaining active chapter, the University of Minnesota Law School in Minneapolis, which is coed. It provides low-cost housing for law students in a Richardsonian Romanesque style house that was built in 1892.

Traditions and insignia

Founders' Day is generally held on the founding anniversary, February 25. However, some chapters celebrated the Prandium Cancellari on June 7, the date of the fraternity's first banquet in 1901.

The fraternity's badge is a shield with a lamp, a star, and a Roman fasces or bundle, above the motto. A triangle encloses the letter Π with Γ on both sides and below a balance. The official badge contains 20 pearls surrounding the shield. The outgoing president or high chancellor is awarded a badge with a diamond border.

The pledge pin is a circular button, with the letters Γ Η Γ appearing in a circle on a red field, imposed on a triangle, with the rest of the button in black. There is a fasces key, in gold, for alumni who graduated with a law degree, with the letters of the Fraternity name on the face of the key. The colors of the fraternity are red and black.

Governance

While the fraternity had multiple chapters, a council of twelve members called the Curia managed the fraternity between conventions. The Curia consists of four elective executive officers and officials from the eight provinces of the fraternity. Eight of these twelve leaders were required to be alumni.

Governance is now held by the University of Minnesota Law School chapter which operates as an informal, local fraternity.

Chapters

Following is a list of Gamma Eta Gamma chapters. Inactive groups indicated by italics, the active chapter in bold.

1. Chapter's charter was withdrawn due to low membership at the University of Maine's law school, resulting in a loss of state funding.
2. ^ Chapter closed during World War I and was not reformed.
3. Chapter formed by absorbing the Bachelors Club.

Notable members

References

1. ^ William Raimond Baird (1991). Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities. Baird's Manual Foundation, Incorporated. pp. V–78–79.
2. ^ Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities (7th ed.). G. Banta Company. 1912. pp. 418–420.
3. ^ Baird, Wm Raimond; Brown, James Taylor (1923). Baird's manual of American college fraternities; a descriptive analysis of the fraternity system in the colleges of the United States, with a detailed account of each fraternity. New York: James T. Brown, editor and publisher. p. 507-508 – via Hathi Trust.
4. ^ "Jillison is Chancellor". Boston Post. 1902-05-24. p. 7. Retrieved 2023-04-02 – via Newspapers.com.
5. ^ York, Kenneth H. (1952). "Legal Fraternities" (PDF). Michigan Law Review. 50 (7). The Michigan Law Review Association: 1047–56. doi:10.2307/1284939. JSTOR 1284939. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
6. ^ "Gamma Eta Gamma, University of Minnesota Law School, Minneapolis, MN". LawCrossing.com. 2007-02-19. Retrieved 2023-04-01.
7. "Gamma Chapter Legal Fraternity Instituted". Boston Post. 1904-02-21. p. 6. Retrieved 2023-04-02 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Law Fraternity Installed". The Indianapolis News. 1911-06-16. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-04-02.
9. "To Install Legal Frat". Evening World-Herald. Omaha, Nebraska. 1912-04-09. p. 7. Retrieved 2023-04-02 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "1914 Gamma Eta Gamma Legal Fraternity, Theta Chapter Members". Creighton University. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
11. "Fraternity Chapter is Installed at G.U." The Washington Herald. Washington, D.C. 1914-02-28. p. 14. Retrieved 2023-04-02 – via Newspapers.com.
12. Arthur Studios, N.Y. (1924-01-01). "Portraits & Miscellaneous Photographs, Fraternity - Gamma Eta Gamma". Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship & History.
13. Baird, Wm Raimond; Brown, James Taylor (1923). Baird's manual of American college fraternities; a descriptive analysis of the fraternity system in the colleges of the United States, with a detailed account of each fraternity. New York: James T. Brown, editor and publisher. p. 507-508 – via Hathi Trust.
14. ^ "The Political Graveyard: Gamma Eta Gamma Politicians". politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved 2023-04-01.
15. "Gov. Bates Honored". The Lewiston Daily Sun. Lewiston, Maine. 1904-01-23. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-04-02.
16. Bly, Betsy K., ed. (2000). The Paedagogus (48th ed.). Indianapolis: Lambda Chi Alpha. pp. 62, 64.
17. Levere, William C. (1915). Leading Greeks; an encyclopedia of the workers in the American college fraternities and sororities, 1915. Evanston, Ill. p. 58 – via Hathi Trust.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
18. Schwarz, J. C. (1937). Who's who in Law. J.C. Schwarz. p. 219 – via Google Books.
19. "Joseph Dainow Papers". collections.americanjewisharchives.org. Retrieved 2023-04-01.
20. Schwarz, J. C. (1937). Who's who in Law. J.C. Schwarz. p. 234 – via Google Books.
21. "Justice Emery is a Member: Elected an Honorary Member of Gamma Eta Gamma". The Bangor Daily News. Bangor, Maine. 1903-02-09. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-04-02 – via Newspapers.com.
22. Schwarz, J. C. (1937). Who's who in Law. J.C. Schwarz. p. 297 – via Google Books.
23. Schwarz, J. C. (1937). Who's who in Law. J.C. Schwarz. p. 297 – via Google Books.
24. ^ "Will Initiate Smith; Gamma Eta Gamma, to Which Son Belongs, Will Honor Governor" (PDF). The New York Times. May 1, 1924. p. 20. Retrieved 2023-04-01.
25. "A. H. Henderson Named Surrogate" (PDF). The New York Times. Vol. LXXIX, no. 26390. New York, N.Y. 26 April 1930. p. 4.
26. Schwarz, J. C. (1937). Who's who in Law. J.C. Schwarz. p. 489 – via Google Books.
27. "Obituary of Daniel J O'Mara". Democrat and Chronicle. 1973-01-10. p. 19. Retrieved 2023-04-01 – via Newspapers.com.
28. "Ex-Gov Samuel E. Pingree". Montpelier Evening Argus. Montpelier, Vermont. 1904-01-23. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-04-02 – via Newspapers.com.
29. ^ "Justice Spear a Member Now, Has Been Formally Admitted to Alpha Chapter, Gamma Eta Gamma". The Bangor Daily News. Bangor, Maine. 1903-11-12. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-04-02 – via Newspapers.com.
30. Schwarz, J. C. (1937). Who's who in Law. J.C. Schwarz. p. 925 – via Google Books.

• Student organizations established in 1901
• Professional legal fraternities and sororities in the United States
• Former members of Professional Fraternity Association
• 1901 establishments in Maine