| rdfs:comment | - Phi Tau Coeducational Fraternity at Dartmouth College was founded as the Tau Chapter of Phi Sigma Kappa in 1905. Phi Sigma Kappa was the sixteenth fraternity to open a chapter at Dartmouth. Being a relative late arrival on campus, prime lots on Webster Avenue, where most of the other fraternities were located, were unavailable. With the help of the national organization, a house for the fraternity was purchased on what was then the northern edge of the college campus. By the late 1920s, however, the house had begun to show its age, and a building campaign resulted in the demolition of the old building and the construction of a new building during the 1927-1928 academic year. This new house was built with three stories above ground with a basement, and included living quarters for eighteen
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| abstract | - Phi Tau Coeducational Fraternity at Dartmouth College was founded as the Tau Chapter of Phi Sigma Kappa in 1905. Phi Sigma Kappa was the sixteenth fraternity to open a chapter at Dartmouth. Being a relative late arrival on campus, prime lots on Webster Avenue, where most of the other fraternities were located, were unavailable. With the help of the national organization, a house for the fraternity was purchased on what was then the northern edge of the college campus. By the late 1920s, however, the house had begun to show its age, and a building campaign resulted in the demolition of the old building and the construction of a new building during the 1927-1928 academic year. This new house was built with three stories above ground with a basement, and included living quarters for eighteen students (the maximum permitted by the College at the time.) Although the new residence included a kitchen, fraternities at Dartmouth were not allowed to serve meals on a regular basis, and the kitchen was used primarily by the residents and during social functions. Over the years, there were many changes to the building, including two different porches constructed on the south side of the building, the installation of sump pumps and finishing of rooms in the basement, and the relocation of the boiler room, social areas, and even a staircase. The brotherhood of the Tau Chapter of Phi Sigma Kappa underwent a great transition in the years of World War II and immediately afterward. Many members of the classes of 1942 through 1945 were rushed through their academic studies and went off to war without so much as a graduation ceremony. At the same time, the U.S. Navy organized a V-12 Navy College Training Program on the Dartmouth College campus. Many Phi Sigma Kappas from Dartmouth went off to war, and at least one spent time as a prisoner of war. When brothers returned to finish their education after the war, attitudes in the house were less innocent, and many changes took place in how the brotherhood treated one another. Various pledge activities, for example, were completely eliminated, as their shock value no longer entertained anyone.
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