# Gamma Eta Gamma

Gamma Eta Gamma (ΓΗΓ) is a co-ed professional law fraternity that was a member of the Professional Fraternity Association. Chapters are limited to law schools on the approved list of the American Bar Association.

## History

Gamma Eta Gamma was founded on February 25, 1901, at the University of Maine School of Law as a law fraternity for men. Its founders were Charles Vey Holman, Charles Hickson Reid Jr., and Harold Dudley Greeley.
From the beginning, the fraternity exhorted its members to a high degree of personal and professional conduct. At its founding, the three men who established the Fraternity wrote in their handwriting into the preamble of its constitution:
   "We the undersigned students of the Law School of the University of Maine, with a view of establishing on this and other schools of law, as well as in the general practice of the profession, an elevated standard of personal deportment, a high code of professional ethics and a broad and catholic development of mental culture and moral character do associate ourselves in the lasting bonds of a fraternal union under the name of Gamma Eta Gamma."
Its officers were chancellor, proctor, judge, lictor, sheriff, quaestor, recorder, bailiff, and tipstave. The pledge manual included chapters on how to study law effectively, a chapter on etiquette, and general fraternity information.
The Gamma Eta Gamma annual convention called a Witan, was first held on May 29, 1901. Later, the convention shifted to a biennial basis, with province conferences held in off years. The Beta chapter was installed at the Boston University School of Law on May 24, 1902.
Gamma Eta Gamma published a songbook in 1909 and 1915. In 1912, the fraternity started publishing an annual called The Rescript; it became a semi-annual and, later, quarterly in 1920. Also in 1912, the chapters at Albany and Cornell owned a chapter house, while the chapters at Boston, Creighton, and Indiana rented houses.
By 1976 it had granted 33 charters with a national roster of over 7,000 initiates. By 2017, there was one remaining active chapter, the University of Minnesota Law School in Minneapolis, which is coed. It provides low-cost housing for law students in a Richardsonian Romanesque style house that was built in 1892.

## Traditions and insignia

Founders' Day is generally held on the founding anniversary, February 25. However, some chapters celebrated the Prandium Cancellari on June 7, the date of the fraternity's first banquet in 1901.
The fraternity's badge is a shield with a lamp, a star, and a Roman fasces or bundle, above the motto. A triangle encloses the letter Π with Γ on both sides and below a balance. The official badge contains 20 pearls surrounding the shield. The outgoing president or high chancellor is awarded a badge with a diamond border.
The pledge pin is a circular button, with the letters Γ Η Γ appearing in a circle on a red field, imposed on a triangle, with the rest of the button in black. There is a fasces key, in gold, for alumni who graduated with a law degree, with the letters of the Fraternity name on the face of the key. The colors of the fraternity are red and black.

## Governance

While the fraternity had multiple chapters, a council of twelve members called the Curia managed the fraternity between conventions. The Curia consists of four elective executive officers and officials from the eight provinces of the fraternity. Eight of these twelve leaders were required to be alumni.
Governance is now held by the University of Minnesota Law School chapter which operates as an informal, local fraternity.

## Chapters

Following is a list of Gamma Eta Gamma chapters. Inactive groups indicated by italics, the active chapter in bold.
| Chapter | Charter date and range | Institution | Location | Status |
| Alpha | February 26, 1901 – 1910 | University of Maine School of Law | Portland, Maine | Inactive |
| Beta | May 24, 1902 – 1917 | Boston University School of Law | Boston, Massachusetts | Inactive |
| Gamma | February 20, 1904 – xxxx ? | Albany Law School | Albany, New York | Inactive |
| Delta | 1908–1932 | Syracuse University College of Law | Syracuse, New York | Inactive |
| Epsilon | 1909–1918 | Cornell Law School | Ithaca, New York | Inactive |
| Zeta | 1911–1929 | University of Michigan Law School | Ann Arbor, Michigan | Inactive |
| Eta | June 15, 1911 – xxxx ? | Indiana University Maurer School of Law | Bloomington, Indiana | Inactive |
| Theta | April 10, 1912 – xxxx ? | Creighton University School of Law | Omaha, Nebraska | Inactive |
| Iota | February 27, 1914 – xxxx ? | Georgetown University Law Center | Washington, D.C. | Inactive |
| Kappa | 1915–1917 | University of Oregon School of Law | Eugene, Oregon | Inactive |
| Lambda | 1919–xxxx ? | Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law | Chicago, Illinois | Inactive |
| Mu | 1919–xxxx ? | University of Detroit Mercy School of Law | Detroit, Michigan | Inactive |
| Nu | 1920–xxxx ? | University of Chicago Law School | Chicago, Illinois | Inactive |
| Xi | 1920–xxxx ? | Fordham University School of Law | Manhattan, New York City, New York | Inactive |
| Omicron | 1920–xxxx ? | University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law | Baltimore, Maryland | Inactive |
| Pi | 1921–1931 | University of Illinois College of Law | Champaign, Illinois | Inactive |
| Rho | 1922–xxxx ? | Ohio State University Moritz College of Law | Columbus, Ohio | Inactive |
| Sigma | 1922–xxxx ? | USC Gould School of Law | Los Angeles, California | Inactive |
| Tau | 1922–1928 | Vanderbilt University | Nashville, Tennessee | Inactive |
| Upsilon | 1923–xxxx ? | University of Wisconsin–Madison | Madison, Wisconsin | Inactive |
| Phi | 1923–xxxx ? | University of Iowa | Iowa City, Iowa | Inactive |
| Chi | 1924 | University of Minnesota Law School | Minneapolis, Minnesota | Active |
| Omega | 1925–1929 | Washington University in St. Louis | St. Louis County, Missouri | Inactive |
| Beta Gamma | 1927–xxxx ? | Wake Forest University | Winston-Salem, North Carolina | Inactive |
| Beta Delta | 1929–xxxx ? | Duke University | Durham, North Carolina | Inactive |
| Beta Epsilon | 1930–xxxx ? | Louisiana State University | Baton Rouge, Louisiana | Inactive |
| Beta Zeta | 1930–1932 | Case Western Reserve University | Cleveland, Ohio | Inactive |
| Beta Eta | 1931–xxxx ? | George Washington University | Washington, D.C. | Inactive |
| Beta Kappa | 1931–xxxx ? | Catholic University | Washington, D.C. | Inactive |
| Beta Theta | 1931–xxxx ? | Santa Clara University School of Law | Santa Clara, California | Inactive |
| Beta Mu | 1934–xxxx ? | DePaul University | Chicago, Illinois | Inactive |
| Beta Nu | 1950–xxxx ? | University of Virginia | Charlottesville, Virginia | Inactive |
* ↑ Chapter's charter was withdrawn due to low membership at the University of Maine's law school, resulting in a loss of state funding.
* 1 2 3 Chapter closed during World War I and was not reformed.
* ↑ Chapter formed by absorbing the Bachelors Club.

## Notable members

| Name | Chapter | Notability |
| W. Russell Arrington | Pi | attorney, Illinois House of Representatives, and Illinois State Senate |
| John L. Bates | Alpha honorary | Governor of Massachusetts, lawyer |
| John B. Bennett | | attorney and United States House of Representatives |
| Homer Bone | | attorney, U.S. Senator, United States circuit judge |
| Thomas Leo Brown | Beta Kappa | politician and United States circuit judge |
| Heriot Clarkson | | justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court |
| Warren A. Cole | Beta | Businessman and lawyer |
| Edward Matthew Curran | | United States district judge |
| Joseph Dainow | Beta Epsilon | professor of law at Louisiana State University |
| L. B. Day | Theta | justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court |
| Lucilius A. Emery | Alpha honorary | justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court |
| Michael Fansler | | justice of the Indiana Supreme Court |
| George S. Fitzgerald | | Attorney and politician |
| John H. Gillis | | judge |
| Martin H. Glenn | Gamma honorary | Governor of New York |
| William H. Hampton | Delta | lawyer, politician, and U.S. Commissioner |
| Albert H. Henderson | Epsilon | lawyer, New York State Assembly, and Surrogate of Bronx County |
| Sveinbjorn Johnson | | attorney general of North Dakota |
| Harold LeVander | Chi | Governor of Minnesota |
| Richard J. McCormick | | lawyer and Massachusetts State House of Representatives |
| Francis M. McKeown | | lawyer and Massachusetts State Senate |
| Frank Murphy | Mu | Lieutenant governor of Michigan |
| Daniel J. O'Mara | Delta | New York State Assembly and Justice of New York Supreme Court |
| Samuel E. Pingree | Alpha honorary | Governor of Vermont |
| Harold M. Ryan | Mu | circuit judge, United States House of Representatives, and Michigan Senate |
| Al Smith | Gamma honorary | Governor of New York |
| James C. Soper | Pi | Illinois Senate |
| Albert Spear | Alpha honorary | Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court and president of the Maine Senate |
| Harold Stassen | Chi | president of the University of Pennsylvania and governor of Minnesota |
| Melvin D. Synhorst | | Iowa Secretary of State |
| Amos Taylor | Beta | Attorneyf and politician |
| Andrew P. Wiswell | Alpha honorary | justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court |