Nu Beta's history began on October 11th, 1909, when a group of men from the Class of 1912 convened at 43 Winants Hall and formed an organization called the Rutgers Silver Fox Club. At this point in Rutgers' history, there was a demand for more housing and social outlets.  One month later, the formal constitution of Rho Sigma Zeta, as the Silver Fox was also known, was written. On November 9, 1909,  the new club was launched, headed by president Fred Glender.

In 1910, the name of the group was changed to the Scarlet Society Club. The new badge consisted of a gold monogram of an "S" inlaid with garnets superimposed on the letter "C".  The Club prospered in the fall and winter of 1910.  Internal organization was strengthened, as were finances, and soon it was realized that Winants hall was not adequate as a meeting place and home.

On May 16, 1911, the new club leased a house at 524 George St., and began to research joining a national fraternity.   That September, the eager new inhabitants of 524 George arrived to find the house in rather poor condition, but after some expenditure and effort, things were copacetic. As The Chronicle of Nu Beta (1955) put it:

"... after improvements were made and furniture purchased the property was in fairly good shape. After the original and supplementary procurements, the Scarlet Club had one of the finest furnished homes on the campus with accommodations for sixteen men. A woman was engaged to clean the house, and in November a pillow shower was given for the Club by the women friends of the members."

Phi Gamma Delta was the choice of the 'suitors' . The members then adopted the motto "Phi Gamma Delta or NOTHING"  following a March 5, 1912 meeting at which the Club vowed to devote its efforts toward obtaining a Charter. From that moment, again quoting the Chronicle, "every effort was made to pattern the[ir] ideals and policies .. after Phi Gamma Delta."

During the period 1912 to 1917, the group pursued the requirements of becoming a chapter by striving to be all it could be.  Delegations were sent to Phi Gamma Delta in New York, among whose members were Carl Woodward, Charles Martin, and Henry Van Mater. As visual evidence of their resolve, the motto was lettered, framed and hung in the clubroom.  Outreach was also done to other Chapters of FIJI, and the location of the Ekklesia of 1913 in Atlantic City, NJ was reportedly a boon to 'networking'. Woodward is the only Nu Beta (currently) on the national list of Distinguished Fijis.

The Scarlet Club soon became one of the leading organizations on campus, ranking among the four top fraternities on the academic level, and producing some of the finest athletes of their time, such as Robert Nash, William Summerill, Howard Huber and Harold Wettyen.  For example, during the 1912-1913 scholastic year, it continued its high scholarship record while also placing men on all Rutgers athletic teams.

In 1913- 14 the drive continued to strengthen the club in the eyes of Phi Gamma Delta; the club was incorporated in New Jersey, and a Board of five Trustees elected from the alumni of the club and from honorary members. In October a group visited fraternity headquarters in New York and received a warm welcome. On campus, the Scarleteers, paced by Bill Summerill, won the intramural swimming title and baseball crown. In March 1915 the chief of Section II together with Columbia and NYU chapter members were entertained at a smoker.

In 1916, a booklet stating the Scarlet Club's case was compiled and mailed to Fiji chapters; the Columbia, Purdue, Colorado and Texas chapters gave their support to the petition, with many more to come.

The Scarlet Club went all out for honors in the same year. Clifford Colville and Charles Martin were elected to Phi Beta Kappa, Herbert was manager of the Glee Club, Winfred Bloom was active in the Y.M.C.A., Harold Wettyen captained the varsity track team, and was member of Cap and Skull, Carl Woodward was manager of the track team and member of the top Club, Daniel Bowman was Editor-in-Chief of the Scarlet Letter yearbook, Norman Dahl was class Historian, and Michael L. Higgins managed the swimming team.

Charles A. Watson, one of the older members of Phi Gamma Delta, and a charter member of the Yale chapter, became one of the Club's most ardent supporters in 1916. He stated that he was anxious to see a chapter at Rutgers, and that he would visit the Club, and push for its membership at the Cleveland Ekklesia.  In order to bolster the Club's desirability, a circular went out to members urging that dues owed to a Building Fund be paid, as a favorable financial position would be very helpful. The second term of the 1915-16 year also saw the Club rank first among other clubs in academic standing. A late filing made recommendation before the Ekklesia unavailable, but a Scarlet Club presence was still found.

The Sixty-Ninth Ekklesia was held at the Hotel Astor in New York in December 1917, and a final prep and presentation was realized by Carl Woodward, William Feitner, Brooks Martin, Austin Rice, Daniel Bowman and Professors F.F. Thompson and J.V. Lewis. Bowman, Rice and Woodward attended as delegates.

The Club's work was rewarded on December 28th, 1917, when the charter was granted; eleven founding members were listed on the charter:

  Norman Becker
  Herbert Boes
  Daniel Bowman
  Norman Dahl
  William Feitner
  Michael Higgins
  Fred Jackson
  Brooks Martin
  Austin Rice
  Henry Schell
  Frederick Summerill
  William Woodward


At the time of the installation ceremony On April 6 1918 at Winants Hall, Nu Beta had 54 graduate and undergraduate members, each of whom was individually installed by a fraternal counterpart from the national organization and various chapters.

Although the onset of US engagement in World War I nearly brought the activities of the University to a standstill until 1919, as students were participating in Army Corps training, the chapter's fledgling years saw much activity, according to the first chapter newspaper, the Nu Beta News Bulletin which reported that Bill Feitner was prepping for captaincy of the football team, Clifford Baker was a standout in the quarterback role, Austin Rice lettered in baseball and managed the Glee Club, and served on two student government bodies. Daniel Bowman, the only senior remaining in his class who had not gone 'Over There' with Pershing's American Expeditionary Force to France and the trenches, was elected first President. He was succeeded by a cabinet of Brooks Martin (Pres.), Earl S. Harris, (Treas.), M. Harold Higgins (Recdng Secy), Walter C. Weller (Corresp. Secy) and Historian Austin Rice.

An active rush took place in April and May; six men were pledged, of whom four were awarded the white star: Harris Willets, Daniel Kuhlthau, Marvin Christie, Donald Beach, William Dunn and William Ware. Here's an interesting excerpt from the Nu Beta News Bulletin of that year:

"Deac Lewis[after service on the border against Pancho Villa] landed a second lieutenancy in the R.O.T.C.

Zeus Liebschutz is no more. It is now Lionel F. Phillips. The former surname smacked a little too strongly of the Teutonic for a good American like Zeus, so he had it changed to Phillips."

Six men pledged in September were Ira Terbush, Ralph Stone, Frederick Muller, Donald Colville, Samuel Ackroyd, Jr. and Jerome Merquelin. Together with Kuhlthau, Dunn and Daniel Garver, were initiated.

In September 1918, Bill Feitner continued his sterling collegiate career by being elected President of the Senior Class. Walt Weller was made captain of the baseball team, Austin (Aut) Rice was a member of the Senior Council, and President of the Mandolin Club, of which Woodward had been a member. Fearon Moore was student captain of the R.O.T.C. unit. Marvin Christie was Sophomore Class Treasurer. Samuel Ackroyd and Bill Dunn played on the football team.

Wartime obligations required that all fraternity functions be discontinued during Oct 12 - Dec 6 1918, due to the exigency of the Great War, and Student's Army Training Corps obligations, during which time Fijis learned about barracks life, along with thousands of other fresh-faced kids.

The Armistice, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh year of a soon-to-be bloody Twentieth Century, produced a world-wide sigh of relief from exhausted combatants and their populations.

On Jan. 2, 1919, the Fijis returned to their George Street home from the barracks.

Officers elected for the following year were Clifford Baker ( Pres), H. Lea Mason, (Treas.), Norman Dahl (Recdng Secy), Foster Voorhees (Corresp. Secy) and A. Wilbur Duryea (Hist).

September 1919 saw a membership of 22, and 8 pledges, namely George MacDonald, J. Richard Nelson, Thomas Summerill, Marcus Wright, Harry Geib and Eugene Duryee (affiliated). Everett Davis and George Wirth pledged. Of these, Davis, Geib, Duryee, Nelson, Summerill and WIrth, along with former Scarlet Club president Herbert Boes, were initiated in a fall ceremony. Willaim Mutch and MacDonald joined in March. Dues were raised to $3.00 a month.  A Bible class was begun as well. That year Nu Beta placed third in the Baker Cup.

Nu Beta of Phi Gamma Delta at Rutgers University
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