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Ouachita Baptist began in 1886. Like many Baptist colleges and colleges formed during the age of Populism, Ouachita did not allow national social fraternities. In fact, early Ouachita students were required to sign an oath not to join any "secret fraternity."

The first social organizations were literary societies, a popular alternative to Greek letter societies in the South. The first was a co-ed group, the Adelphian Circle, formed with the college in 1886. In 1888, a disagreement led to a split in the Adelphian Circle. Two men's groups were created, Hermesian and Philomathean. Two years later, in 1890, the women created two literary societies of their own: Alpha Kappa (Greek letters for Adelphian Circle) and Corrinean. Two other societies briefly existed, both created around 1910: Athenian for men and Polymnian for women. The popularity of literary societies waned in the 1920s. Ouachita's male societies had disappeared by 1930. The women's societies lasted until 1932.

A plethora of loosely-organized and short-lived "social clubs"(perhap 80-90) existed in Ouachita's early years. Most of these clubs were groups of four or five students who either lived or ate together. Some were even known as "eating clubs." These clubs were banned by the college administration in Fall 1914.

The first true fraternity system at Ouachita began with the formation of Sigma Sigma sorority in 1909-1910. It was followed in 1910-11 by Phi Delta Nu and a fraternity of sorts, U.F.A. In 1912-13, Delta Delta Kappa, a fraternity appeared, along with Zeta Mu, a sorority. Zeta Mu, however, only lasted that one year. All of these fraternities and sororities were killed by the club ban in 1914-15. The fraternities died under protest.

The Kewpie Klub, a club for women, was formed in secret in November 1917 while the club ban was in force. The Kewpies went public in 1918-19 when the ban was lifted and are believed to have been the first of the modern social clubs. A rival, S.L.C. lasted only the 1918-19 year. A fraternity, Omicron Sigma Phi, was formed at about the same time but seems to have quickly disappeared.

Two other women's social clubs soon appeared: E.E.E. (October 1925) and W.C.F. (1926-27). A fraternity, the Knights of Psi Sigma Phi, made its debut in 1926-27. S.L.V. was formed in Fall 1930. Most of its members also belonged to Psi Sigma Phi. The SLV described itself as a "secret organization" although its members were clearly known to the public.

A yearbook parody in 1930-31 displayed two mock fraternities: Alpha Sigma Sigma and Mu Kow Mu. Members of Psi Sigma Phi and SLV are among the men pictured in both groups.

Psi Sigma Phi disappeared sometime after Spring 1931, although some of its members remained enrolled until at least 1934-35. The last two members of SLV graduated in Spring 1932.

Sigma Alpha Sigma was begun by three men in October 1932. Accounts of the origin differ, but the founder Joe Bill Gillespie Jr. has said that there were three founders who formed the group as a secret social group whose activities were limited to drinking and visiting the Belvedere Club, a popular roadhouse in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The group may have been originally called the Four Roses Society after a popular advertising campaign for Four Roses Blended Whiskey. While there are no known connections to the earlier groups, Sigma Alpha Sigma was likely influenced by Psi Sigma Phi and SLV, and perhaps–in name only–by Alpha Sigma Sigma.

After Ouachita College captured the state football championship in Fall 1934, 25 Ouachita men united to continue the school spirit the team had created. This group was chartered as Rho Sigma in March 6, 1935. Most of the early members were varsity athletes. Known as the Red Shirts, Rho Sigma was influenced by both the Hermesian Literary Society and Psi Sigma Phi. Several Psi Sigma Phi members were older brothers of the early Red Shirts, and the last Psi Sigma Phi members to graduate lived and were friendly with the Rho Sigma charter members.

When Rho Sigma was formed, one of Sigma Alpha Sigma's early members, Charles Hagins, quit the SAS to join Rho Sigma. This prompted Gillespie to reorganize Sigma Alpha Sigma and began a friendly rivalry between the two groups. The SAS was chartered November 12, 1935 with either 12 or 13 members.

Another woman's social club, the High Hats, began in October 1936. Still another, Phi Delta Sigma, began in Fall 1938. This brought the number of women's social clubs at Ouachita to five: Kewpies, E.E.E., W.C.F., High Hats, and Phi Delta Sigma.

A quasi-social club, the Rifle Club, began around 1938-39. This group was similar to later military honor societies such as Pershing Rifles and Scabbard & Blade. Many of its members also belonged to other men's social clubs. The group seems to have disappeared around 1946, probably due to the formation of Gamma Iota, a fraternity for veterans formed that year.

Sigma Alpha Sigma and Rho Sigma sometimes overlooked the more bookish ministerial students when choosing members. Beta Beta, a men's social club formed to break down barriers between ministerial and lay students, was chartered with 12 members on December 8, 1941. Initially, the Beta Beta constitution required that membership be half ministerial and half lay student.

Phi Delta Sigma deactivated in 1942-43, paving the way for a replacement, Gamma Phi, which was chartered with 10 members on March 2, 1944.

Gamma Iota, a social club for military veterans, was formed in 1945-46. Members often belonged to other men's social clubs. It lasted, under the name Omicron Gamma Iota, until the formation of the national military honor society chapters (Pershing Rifles, Scabbard & Blade) in the mid-1950s.

The Kewpie Klub deactivated after 1948-49, and the High Hats followed suit in 1949-50. This left E.E.E., W.C.F., and Gamma Phi as the women's clubs. Men's clubs were Sigma Alpha Sigma, Rho Sigma, and Beta Beta.

An internal dispute over hazing in Sigma Alpha Sigma resulted in two of its members quitting. These men, James Whitten and James Sherwood, formed a new men's social club in March 1953. Alpha Omega Eta was chartered with eight members on April 16, 1953. The group only lasted for two years before dying out but was reactivated by the Student Senate in Fall 1956.

The High Hats were reactivated as the Hi-Hats and chartered on October 31, 1961. Both the Hi-Hats and W.C.F. took Greek names, Delta Kappa Delta and Upsilon Kappa Phi respectively, in an attempt to modernize and increase their popularity, but both had deactivated by 1964-65. This left only E.E.E. and Gamma Phi as women's clubs. The rivalry was fierce.

The administration forced E.E.E. and Gamma Phi to assist in the creation of a third women's club. Theta Lambda Tau was chartered with 25 members in January 1965. Their chosen name was originally Theta Tau Theta, but the name was soon changed after jokes circulated about the appearance of the Greek letters. The Thetas lasted until Spring 1970.

Again,the administration stepped in to create a third women's club. This time E.E.E. and Gamma Phi were forced to contribute six members each. These 12 women, together with six independents, formed the charter membership of Chi Delta, chartered December 1, 1970. Pi Kappa Zeta was formed with 16 members in Summer 1973 to enable more women to participate in social clubs.

The Black American Student Society (BASS) was formed as an interracial group in Spring 1965. BASS briefly acted as an African-American social club from 1967-69 but then reformed as an African-American student group.

Several mock social clubs were formed in the early Seventies. Residents of Conger Hall men's dormitory began Kappa Theta Beta in October 1971. Membership in the first group included members of Rho Sigma and Beta Beta. Although "officially" disbanded by its founders in 1973-74, KTB has persisted in one form or another until the present day. It has also been known as Rho Beta Nu. Missionary students formed Mu Phi Zeta in 1972-73. This group lasted for one or two years. Mu Alpha Nu and T.H.U.G.S. were mock women's social groups in the mid-Seventies.

Alpha Omega Eta disbanded in 1977-78. To fill the gap, the dean of men created Delta Omega Mu in 1978-79. The group was chartered with nine members January 22, 1980. It lasted only one year. The dean's office tried again, helping to form Kappa Chi, which was chartered with 23 members November 10, 1981.

Pi Kappa Zeta deactivated in 1986-87. To fill that gap, Alpha Lambda Omega was formed. It was chartered November 10, 1987 but deactivated the following year. Several members of E.E.E. broke away from that group to help form Tri Chi women's social club in December 1988. One of its members had also belonged to Alpha Lambda Omega.

Rho Sigma lost its charter in May 1997. Two men's social clubs were created to fill that gap. Eta Alpha Omega was formed in Fall 1997 and chartered January 12, 1998. Chi Iota Sigma was also chartered on January 12, 1998.

Rho Sigma regained its charter and made its official return in Fall 1999. Chi Rho Phi women's social club was formed in October 1999. Pi Kappa Zeta was rechartered in 2002-2003. Sigma Alpha Sigma lost its charter in February 2009. Pi Kappa Zeta deactivated for lack of interest sometime in Fall 2009.

As of Fall 2010, Ouachita has nine social clubs. Active men's clubs are: Rho Sigma, Beta Beta, Kappa Chi, Eta Alpha Omega, and Chi Iota Sigma. Active women's clubs are: E.E.E., Chi Delta, Tri Chi, and Chi Rho Phi.

Username57 (talk) 16:51, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Sources

"Men's Social Clubs at Ouachita Baptist University (1973) by Mark Chapel; "Sigma Alpha Sigma Social Fraternity: History of a Secret Society" (1985) by James E. Freeman; Ouachitonian yearbook, various volumes; and The Signal student newspaper, various editions

All of the above are found in the Ouachita Baptist University library, all except the yearbooks in the Special Collections room. "Men's Social Clubs" has no citations, although the information is clearly from a survey of the yearbooks and newspapers. Freeman's paper appears to be a rough draft but does contain information from an interview with Sigma Alpha Sigma's founder. However, there are some contradictory dates in it. Yearbook and newspaper information is sometimes confusing. For example, Sigma Alpha Sigma's founding date is variously listed as 1932, 1933, 1935, and 1936. This may have resulted from confusion over the founding date and the charter date. The number of founders is sometimes listed as four and sometimes three. The number of charter members is listed as either 12 or 13, depending on the source. Similar situations exist for some of the other social clubs.

There is another source there that was consulted: "Brotherhood: A Study of the Fraternities at Ouachita Baptist University" (1999) by J. Douglas Elliott. However, the information it contained was largely speculative and rife with errors. Username57 (talk) 18:08, 2 July 2009 (UTC)