A Collection of College Words and Customs

by Benjamin Homer Hall

PHI BETA KAPPA. The fraternity of the [Greek: Phi Beta Kappa] "was imported," says Allyn in his Ritual, "into this country from France, in the year 1776; and, as it is said, by Thomas Jefferson, late President of the United States." It was originally chartered as a society in William and Mary College, in Virginia, and was organized at Yale College, Nov. 13th, 1780. By virtue of a charter formally executed by the president, officers, and members of the original society, it was established soon after at Harvard College, through the influence of Mr. Elisha Parmele, a graduate of the year 1778. The first meeting in Cambridge was held Sept. 5th, 1781. The original Alpha of Virginia is now extinct.

"Its objects," says Mr. Quincy, in his History of Harvard University, "were the 'promotion of literature and friendly intercourse among scholars'; and its name and motto indicate, that 'philosophy, including therein religion as well as ethics, is worthy of cultivation as the guide of life.' This society took an early and a deep root in the University; its exercises became public, and admittance into it an object of ambition; but the 'discrimination' which its selection of members made among students, became an early subject of question and discontent. In October, 1789, a committee of the Overseers, of which John Hancock was chairman, reported to that board, 'that there is an institution in the University, with the nature of which the government is not acquainted, which tends to make a discrimination among the students'; and submitted to the board 'the propriety of inquiring into its nature and designs.' The subject occasioned considerable debate, and a petition, of the nature of a complaint against the society, by a number of the members of the Senior Class, having been presented, its consideration was postponed, and it was committed; but it does not appear from the records, that any further notice was taken of the petition. The influence of the society was upon the whole deemed salutary, since literary merit was assumed as the principle on which its members were selected; and, so far, its influence harmonized with the honorable motives to exertion which have ever been held out to the students by the laws and usages of the College. In process of time, its catalogue included almost every member of the Immediate Government, and fairness in the selection of members has been in a great degree secured by the practice it has adopted, of ascertaining those in every class who stand the highest, in point of conduct and scholarship, according to the estimates of the Faculty of the College, and of generally regarding those estimates. Having gradually increased in numbers, popularity, and importance, the day after Commencement was adopted for its annual celebration. These occasions have uniformly attracted a highly intelligent and cultivated audience, having been marked by a display of learning and eloquence, and having enriched the literature of the country with some of its brightest gems."—Vol. II. p. 398.

The immediate members of the society at Cambridge were formerly accustomed to hold semi-monthly meetings, the exercises of which were such as are usual in literary associations. At present, meetings are seldom held except for the purpose of electing members. Affiliated societies have been established at Dartmouth, Union, and Bowdoin Colleges, at Brown and the Wesleyan Universities, at the Western Reserve College, at the University of Vermont, and at Amherst College, and they number among their members many of the most distinguished men in our country. The letters which constitute the name of the society are the initials of its motto, [Greek: Philosophia, Biou Kubernaetaes], Philosophy, the Guide of Life.

A further account of this society may be found in Allyn's Ritual of Freemasonry, ed. 1831, pp. 296-302.

PHILISTINE. In Germany this name, or what corresponds to it in that country, Philister, is given by the students to tradesmen and others not belonging to the university.

Und hat der Bursch kein Geld im Beutel,
So pumpt er die Philister an.

And has the Bursch his cash expended?
To sponge the Philistine's his plan.
The Crambambuli Song.

Mr. Halliwell, in his Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, says of this word, "a cant term applied to bailiffs, sheriffs' officers, and drunkards." The idea of narrowmindedness, a contracted mode of thinking, and meanness, is usually connected with it, and in some colleges in the United States the name has been given to those whose characters correspond with this description.

See SNOB.

PHRASING. Reciting by, or giving the words or phraseology of the book, without understanding their meaning.