Eta Mu History

Our Chapter History

    During the Spring Quarter of 2009, 15 Men came together and proposed a new Fraternity, a place for legacy and incredible friendships. In light of the recent campus events, starting a new Fraternity was next to impossible, many said it could not be done. With the commitment and passion of the founding fathers as well as ZBT's non hazing and non pledging policies, it was decided that ZBT should be given a chance. On June 4, 2009 the Beta Tau Colony at the California Polytechnic University of San Luis Obispo was founded.

    For 4 years the colony worked diligently, expanding it's membership from the original founding fathers to the 55 brothers strong. The Beta Tau Colony excelled in Academics, Philanthropy, with the annual Get on the Ball event, and in IFC athletics.

    The founding fathers aspired an organization of exceptional gentlemen with outstanding leadership, brotherhood, and moral integrity. On February 15, 2012 this became a reality. The Beta Tau Colony became the Eta Mu Chapter, cementing the hard work and dedication for many years to come.

It's great to be a Zeebe

Zeta Beta Tau History

The History of our Brotherhood

    Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity was inspired by Richard J. H.   Gottheil, a professor of languages at Columbia   University and a leader in the early American Zionist   movement. On December 29, 1898, Professor Gottheil   gathered together a group of Jewish students from   several New York City universities to form a Zionist   youth society. The society was called Z.B.T.

    During this brief period, the society came to serve as   a kind of fraternal body for college Zeta Beta Tau   expanded rapidly. By 1909, it had established 13   Chapters throughout the Northeast and a 14th at

Tulane University at New Orleans, thereby taking on a truly national dimension. In 1913, it established its first Canadian Chapter at McGill University in Montreal. Five years later, it founded its first West Coast Chapter at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. At the 1954 National Convention, the delegates amended Zeta Beta Tau's Constitution, ritual and internal procedures both in theory and in practice to eliminate sectarianism as a qualification for membership.

   Spearheaded by the growth of state and municipal university systems, hundreds of new institutions were opened in the quarter-century following World War II. By the 1960′s virtually every American had an opportunity to attend college. From 1945 to 1969, the number of ZBT chapters increased from 30 to 80 units.

   The history of mergers in the Zeta Beta Tau Brotherhood followed a pattern of linking common traditions. In 1959, Phi Alpha merged into Phi Sigma Delta, and in 1961 Kappa Nu merged into Phi Epsilon Pi. In 1969-70, Phi Sigma Delta and Phi Epsilon Pi merged into Zeta Beta Tau.

   Traumatic experiences were generated by the polarization over the Vietnam conflict. The American fraternity system – including Zeta Beta Tau, was subsequently affected by the great wave of anti-establishment feeling that was pervasive throughout the country. Many of the Chapters which survived this period of turmoil did so in a weakened condition. During the late 1970′s and the early 1980′s, there was a renewed interest in fraternity life, resulting in increased initiation statistics, revival of many dormant Chapters and expansion to new campuses.

   During the 1980′s, every Greek-letter group continued their efforts to stop hazing. Despite ZBT's best efforts, hazing continued and increased in frequency and severity. ZBT concluded that all efforts to reform the institution of pledging had failed; pledging was the problem. This was because pledges were considered second-class citizens, with no rights and no chance to refuse even the most outrageous demands of a Brother, unless he quit the Fraternity. In 1989, in a last-ditch effort to eliminate hazing, ZBT eliminated pledging and all second-class status from the Fraternity. In its place, ZBT established a Brotherhood Program, with minimum standards (Brotherhood Quality Standards), as well as programs of education, bonding, and earning one's Brotherhood status that applied to all Brothers of ZBT.

   Today, the merged Zeta Beta Tau Brotherhood is some 110,000 Brothers strong, and ZBT Chapters and Colonies are established at over 80 campus locations. Through good times and bad, ZBT has been in the forefront in pioneering new concepts – as evidenced by its very founding, its elimination of sectarian membership practices, its acceptance of mergers, its elimination of pledging, and its ability to solve enormous problems when others abandoned the effort.

ZBT continues to maintain a tradition of leadership and respect in the interfraternity world.