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| | Sigma Chi/Brief History of Fraternities/Phi Beta Kappa |
 | | The principles of Phi Beta Kappa were "Fraternity, Morality, and Literature." A badge was designed in the shape of a square; a secret handshake was devised; a secret ritual, including an obligation, was written; a motto---"Philosophy is the guide of life"---was patterned after the name of the fraternity: Phi Beta Kappa. |
 | | Although the concept of Phi Beta Kappa was not unique, it developed uniqueness because it became "highly selective, it was secret, and [later] it initiated a pattern of sister branches within and without the state." At first the only secrets were the mysterious letters used on the badge. |
 | | Phi Beta Kappa "was intended to form a philosophical club, whose purpose should go far beyond the narrow range of the college studies of those days, and should include not only the wide range of what was then called `philosophy,' but the consideration, at the same time, of political questions. |
| www.sam.edu /~eng_wpf/frat_hist.html (2642 words) |
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