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A Brief History of the TAURUS SOCIETY and the Delta Psi Chapter of BETA THETA PI at Baylor University.

Following World War II, on April 16, 1947 a group of seven G.I.s attending Baylor University on the G.I. Bill [link], formulated plans for the organization. By the end of the fall quarter of the 1947-48 school year, 22 charter members had participated in this effort. A temporary charter was granted on October 8, 1947. Twenty of the charter members appeared in the organization's first yearbook photo [photo], with two having graduated. With the initiation of thirteen pledges in the winter quarter, The Taurus Society became established in the fraternal and service organizations of Baylor as a club formed to satisfy the need for an on-campus men's social organization to "promote wholesome fellowship and encourage worthwhile social activities." [attribute] Shortly after the formation of Taurus, Tryon Coterie (later to affiliate with Phi Delta Theta) was formed. These organizations, along with the Chamber of Commerce and Esquire(?) made up the backbone of the men's organizations that existed on the Baylor campus for the next 25 or more years. From it's inception, the club was active in campus affairs and activities such as the annual Homecoming Parade, May Day events, and intramural sports, sponsored various parties and social activities for it's members, and performed social services, the first of which raised financial aid for European students following the war.

The fraternity's shield and all that it stands for was created by the 1948-49 school year. [By whom, what are its elements, etc.?]

Taurus continued its strong social participation and membership growth during the 1950s. As with all of America, however, the fraternity was influenced by the Korean conflict. A number of the membership ended up joining our nation's military in active and support positions [ who, how many, where, why, ho]as was the fraternity's faculty sponsor[who?]from 1952-53. Lore of the fraternity continued to develop with pledges wearing Mexican serapes embossed with the "Taurus" name and neckties bearing a Gothic "T". By the 1953-54 school year the fraternity's name had been signified in Greek letters as Tau Alpha Sigma (ΤΑΣ). By the mid-50's "gentlemanly conduct" and "brotherhood" were added to the club's original premise for formation. By the late-50's "social training" was added as a purpose, and formal teas were conducted in honor of the pledges of the women's social clubs and other men's clubs on campus. The fraternity began holding a reunion event during the summer months.

As the largest fraternity on campus during the 1960s, The Taurus Society typically dominated intramurals and was a major participant in "All University Sing" and in the Homecoming float competition. The summer reunions appear to have ended by the mid-60's, but were replaced by an annual Spring retreat. In 1965, the Taurus membership made the claim that it had won the All-Intramural Trophy every year since the trophy’s inception [in what year?]. In 1966, Taurus boasted a record pledge class of 36 and participate in the club's first participation in Baylor's "Diadeloso," [a xxxxxxxxxx]

The Vietnam war in the late 60s and early 70s changed the face of the fraternity system all across the country, and has its effect on Taurus,as well. Departed [deceased?] brothers were noted in the "Roundup," Baylor's yearbook. Photos, which had always been formal individual coat and tieshots began to change. No photo appeared in the 1970 Roundup for the first time in club history, and the 1971 club photo was a group shot with members wearing jerseys and noticeably longer hair styles. Taurus continued to win the "Class A" Homecoming float competition almost every year with unique iron-welded float designs, and continued to base it's existence on the historic premises of the club and its traditional activities. With the 1971-72 school year (the club's silver anniversary), Taurus began a new program of choosing 22 annual "Little Sisters," representing the number of Taurus charter members. This was the first women's auxiliary to be part of any men's organization on the Baylor campus.

In the mid-70s, Baylor invited national fraternities to campus to affiliate with the established local clubs. In 1977, after 30 years as the pre-eminent local Baylor Fraternity, the Taurus Society affiliated with Beta Theta Pi at the national convention held at The Homestead in West Virginia. Taurus' rival club, Tryon Coterie affiliated with Phi Delta Theta, part of the Miami Triad [?] and a national rival of Beta Theta Pi, fitting nicely into what had become a Baylor tradition, now with national ramifications. In the Spring of 1977, 30 Taurus members and alumni were initiated into Beta Theta Pi through the Gamma Omega chapter at Southern Methodist University. In the Fall of 1977, the first pledge class of Beta Theta Pi was received at Baylor, but the merging of local and national lore proved difficult to accomplish, but the club continued to move ahead with the Spring of 1978 pledge class (Bell, Freburg, Neal, Roberts, Rogers, Smith, Westergaard). This group would have to be considered the first pledge class to learn Beta lore. However, 30 years of Taurus tradition was hard to overcome and a conflict between the past and the future developed. With designs on the future, members attended a Beta leadership conference in Atlanta and the general convention in Michigan. Shades of the past showed the fraternity still dominating Baylor's homecoming float competition late in the '70's. At the 1980 141st convention of Beta Theta Pi, held at The Homestead in West Virginia and attended by under the leadership of Matt Rogers and his merry band of brothers(33 years into the history of the club), a national charter was granted to the Taurus Society of Baylor University as the Delta Psi Chapter of Beta Theta Pi. This phase of the fraternity strived to succeed, being active in intramurals, campus activities and various social service projects, as well as continuing to excel in Homecoming Float Competitions. In the Fall of 1984(?) the Baylor Beta's homecoming float won honors in the Cotton Bowl Parade and made the front cover of the national fraternity's magazine.

Midway through the 1980s, Baylor was retrenching itself in conservatism in an effort to appease fundamentalist elements of the Southern Baptist Convention, which was in complete disarray as factions within vied for power. Baylor, despite what appeared to be efforts of the fraternity to be a contributing part of the Baylor community, The Taurus Society began to decline in membership and soon the stage was set for disciplinary action to be taken against the fraternity. In 1987, Baylor suspended several fraternities from campus including Phi Delta Theta (Tryon Coterie). The unviersity and the Beta Theta Pi national fraternity agreed to revoke the chapter's charter for a minimum of three years. At the time it had the distinction of having been the oldest social fraternity in continuous existence on the Baylor campus. The legacy seemingly died then and there.

The Taurus alumni, however, believed that the brotherhood, having been the strongest existing fraternity in over 40 years, would again become the premier Baylor fraternal organization. As testimony to such, the alumni pulled together and hosted homecoming events even without a group on campus. In 1991, an officer structure was added to the alumni association in order to more formalize it. The alumni association goals were to promote communication and to continue to hold and participate in traditional homecoming festivities, including a Friday golf tournament and dinner, and attendance at Baylor's Bonfire, the Homecoming Parade, the football game, and the annual Taurus\Beta Homecoming Barbecue & Dance, regardless of the status of the club on campus. Since 1991 over 500 Homecoming Announcements have been mailed out annually. Also, in 1991, the alumni association made efforts to improve alumni records and a research effort into our history was initiated. Along with existing records, research was conducted through the Baylor Alumni Association, the Texas Collection, and national records of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. From this work, almost 800 alumni of Taurus and Beta Theta Pi were identified, 13 of whom had passed away. It is likely that a few remain unknown and hopefully with time these will eventually be identified with continued efforts to upgrade the alumni role book. This means that in the 40 year history of the fraternity on the Baylor campus that some 800 men were part of the brotherhood. Of these 112 were initiated into Beta ThetaPi, including some as old as the charter Taurus members. Of the Alumni whose addresses are known at the time of this writing, most still live in Texas, and many in Waco. In 1991, the Alumni approached Beta Theta Pi and Baylor concerning re-establishment of the fraternity on campus. Not only had three years passed since the fraternity was suspended from campus, but the other fraternities who had been suspended had already been reinstated at Baylor, so it seemed the time was right. From June through July, 1991 negotiations took place, and in the end it became clear that Baylor was not standing by their word to give the fraternity an opportunity to return to campus after the three year suspension. The chain of correspondence between the alumni and Baylor reflects an ...