Zeta Beta Tau

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ZBT - Zeta Beta Tau

Motto	"A Powerhouse of Excellence"
Colors	Medium blue and white with gold trim
Flower	Gold Carnation (adopted 2004)
Founded	December 29, 1898 at City College of New York, New York, NY
Type	Social
Scope	National
Headquarters	3905 Vincennes Rd. Suite 300 Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Chapters	71
Fraternity Song	"My Brother, Here's My Hand"
Homepage	ZBT Website

Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT, brothers of which are nicknamed Zebes) is a historically Jewish, presently nonsectarian international fraternity. Today the merged Zeta Beta Tau Brotherhood numbers over 130,000 initiated Brothers, and over 80 student chapter locations. The first verse of the fraternity song is "Here's to our fraternity..."

Contents 1 History 1.1 Founding 1.2 Merging with other fraternities 1.3 Pledging abolished 2 Semi-Annual Brotherhood Review Vote 3 Notable Alumni 3.1 Academia 3.2 Business/Philanthropy 3.3 Civil service 3.4 Arts/Entertainment 3.5 Media/Literature 3.6 Sports 4 External links 5 References

[edit] History

[edit] Founding

The Zeta Beta Tau fraternity was inspired by Dr. Richard J. H. Gottheil, a professor of languages at Columbia University and a Zionist. On December 29, 1898, he formed a Zionist youth society with a group of Jewish students from several New York City universities. The society was called Z.B.T., the first letters in the Hebrew phrase "Zion Bemishpat Tipadeh", which translated means "Zion shall be redeemed with justice". This is taken from Isaiah 1:27 - "Zion shall be redeemed with justice, and her converts with righteousness." ZBT has interpreted Isaiah's prophecy to mean in its ritual that "All Men Are Brothers". At the time Jews were not allowed to join other fraternities due to rampant anti-semitism, thus there was a need for an exclusively Jewish Greek letter fraternity. Z.B.T. changed to Zeta Beta Tau in 1903. The original Hebrew meaning of Z.B.T. is not esoteric. It was publicly revealed in the written history of Zeta Beta Tau, Here's to Our Fraternity: One Hundred Years of Zeta Beta Tau, 1898-1998, by Marianne Rachel Sanua.^[1]

[edit] Merging with other fraternities

The Zeta Beta Tau of today is the result of a merger with four other national fraternities, more than any other North-American Interfraternity Conference fraternity. In 1959, Phi Alpha merged into Phi Sigma Delta. In 1961 Kappa Nu merged into Phi Epsilon Pi. In 1969-70, Phi Sigma Delta and Phi Epsilon Pi merged into Zeta Beta Tau.

[edit] Pledging abolished

Zeta Beta Tau was also one of the first National fraternities to abolish the institution of pledging in 1989 as a way to combat and eliminate hazing.^[2] This change was not new to the world of fraternities, as in 1971 Lambda Chi Alpha became the first North-American Interfraternity Conference (NAIC) fraternity to eliminate pledging.

[edit] Semi-Annual Brotherhood Review Vote

In conjunction with the 1989 abolishment of pledging, ZBT National instituted a very liberal concept in fraternities then and now, the S.B.R.V. (Semi-Annual Brotherhood Review Vote). ZBT National mandates that all Chapters, twice a year (once a semester) have a vote to see who, if anyone, should be removed from membership within a Chapter. All brothers participate in, and are subject to, the anonymous vote, which are tallied by the Brotherhood Development Director. ^[3] If a brother receives a simple majority of votes, he is kicked out of the fraternity. What makes this policy so different from all other NAIC fraternities is that ZBT does not consider you to be a brother for life once initiated, as any brother has the possibility of being voted out during his college career. Also unique to Zeta Beta Tau is the fact that a former ZBT brother who has been voted out by the Semi-Annual Brotherhood Review Vote may request an unconditional release from ZBT National, and if granted, may join another NAIC fraternity.

[edit] Notable Alumni

[edit] Academia

• Lawrence S. Bacow - President, Tufts University
• Steven Trachtenberg - President, The George Washington University

[edit] Business/Philanthropy

• Walter Annenberg - Founder/Publisher, TV Guide; Former Ambassador to England
• Burton Baskin - Founder, Baskin Robbins Ice Cream
• Henry W. Bloch - Co-founder H & R Block
• Richard Bloch - Co-founder, H & R Block
• Sidney Factor - Max Factor Cosmetics
• William Gaines - Publisher, MAD Magazine
• Bernard Gimbel - Chairman of the Board, Gimbel's Department Stores
• Samuel Goldwyn - Film Producer, Director; MGM Productions
• Don Green - Co-Founder, Roots Athletic Wear
• Stanley Marcus - Founder, Neiman Marcus Department Stores
• Stanford J. Newman - Chairman, J.C. Newman Cigar Co.
• William S. Paley - Founder, Chairman of the Board, CBS
• Irving Rabb - Founder, Stop and Shop supermarket chain
• Samuel Rosen - Chairman of the Board, 20th Century Fox
• Jack Warner - President, Warner Brothers

[edit] Civil service

• Rudy Boschwitz - Senator, Minnesota
• Martin Frost - Former Representative, Texas (CD24)
• Arthur Goldberg - Former Supreme Court Justice
• John Lindsay - Former Mayor of New York City
• Sam Massell - Former Mayor of Atlanta
• Newton Minow - Former FCC Chairman
• Richard Newberger - Senator, Oregon
• Abraham Ribicoff - Representative/Senator, Connecticut
• Robert Shapiro - Lawyer
• Howard Krepack - Lawyer
• Kenneth Duberstein - former White House Chief of Staff 1988-89

[edit] Arts/Entertainment

• Jack Benny - TV & Radio Comedian; Actor
• Leonard Bernstein - Composer; Conductor
• Benjy Bronk - Comedian and Writer: Howard Stern Show
• Keith Gale - Senior Director, National Promotion, RCA Records Nashville
• Michael Ovitz - Former Head of Creative Artists Agency (CAA)
• Jerry Herman - Playwright: Hello Dolly!, La Cage aux Folles
• Tom Jannarone - Entertainment Attorney, Promotor & Manager, Actor, Musician, GM of Bar-A
• Robert Klein - TV Comedian, Motion Picture Actor
• Harold Ramis - Screen Writer & Actor: Animal House, Stripes, Ghostbusters

[edit] Media/Literature

• Mel Allen - Sports Broadcaster
• Howard Cosell - Sports Broadcaster
• Marty Glickman - Hall of Fame Announcer & Sports Writer
• Jim Nantz - CBS Announcer
• Dick Schaap - Sports Broadcasting
• Mike Wallace - TV News Commentator
• Robert Zelnick - Former World News Tonight Pentagon Correspondent and Chairman, Boston University Department of Journalism

[edit] Sports

• Alan Cohn - President, New York Knicks & New York Rangers
• Sid Gillman - Professional Football Coach
• Sid Luckman - Member of College & Professional Football Hall of Fames
• Robert Nederlander - Former General Manager of New York Yankees
• Abe Pollin - Owner, Washington Wizards
• David Werblin - Founder, New York Jets
• Donnie Edwards - All-Pro NFL Linebacker, San Diego Chargers

[edit] External links

• Official ZBT website

[edit] References

1. ^ ZBT Centennial History Book. Retrieved on August 11, 2006.
2. ^ ZBT History. Retrieved on August 11, 2006.
3. ^ Chapter Officers Responsibilities. Retrieved on August 11, 2006.

North-American Interfraternity Conference

Acacia  • Alpha Chi Rho  • Alpha Delta Gamma  • Alpha Delta Phi  • Alpha Epsilon Pi  • Alpha Gamma Rho  • Alpha Gamma Sigma  • Alpha Kappa Lambda  • Alpha Phi Alpha  • Alpha Phi Delta  • Alpha Sigma Phi  • Alpha Tau Omega  • Beta Chi Theta  • Beta Sigma Psi  • Beta Theta Pi  • Chi Phi  • Chi Psi  • Delta Chi  • Delta Kappa Epsilon  • Delta Phi  • Delta Psi  • Delta Sigma Phi  • Delta Tau Delta  • Delta Upsilon  • FarmHouse  • Iota Phi Theta  • Kappa Alpha Order  • Kappa Alpha Psi  • Kappa Alpha Society  • Kappa Delta Phi  • Kappa Delta Rho  • Lambda Chi Alpha  • Lambda Phi Epsilon  • Lambda Sigma Upsilon  • Lambda Theta Phi  • Phi Gamma Delta  • Phi Iota Alpha  • Phi Kappa Psi  • Phi Kappa Sigma  • Phi Kappa Tau  • Phi Kappa Theta  • Phi Lambda Chi  • Phi Mu Delta  • Phi Sigma Kappa  • Phi Sigma Phi  • Pi Kappa Alpha  • Pi Kappa Phi  • Pi Lambda Phi  • Psi Upsilon  • Sigma Alpha Epsilon  • Sigma Alpha Mu  • Sigma Chi  • Sigma Lambda Beta  • Sigma Nu  • Sigma Phi Delta  • Sigma Phi Epsilon  • Sigma Phi Society  • Sigma Pi  • Sigma Tau Gamma  • Tau Delta Phi  • Tau Epsilon Phi  • Tau Kappa Epsilon  • Theta Chi  • Theta Delta Chi  • Theta Xi  • Triangle  • Zeta Beta Tau  • Zeta Psi