Student fraternity

23:53 Aug 22, 2012 

"In the United States, fraternities in colleges date to the 1770s, but did not fully assume an established pattern until the 1820s. Many were strongly influenced by the patterns set by Freemasonry.[2] The main difference between the older European organizations and the American organizations is that the American student societies virtually always include initiations, the formal use of symbolism, and the lodge-based organizational structure (chapters) derived from usages in Freemasonry[2] and other fraternal organizations such as the Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias."