“Ode on the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta” Poem By Donald Fisher
After receiving his Diamond Owl celebrating 75 years of membership, Donald G. Fisher (Wabash 1952) wrote a poem about the Fraternity:
Ode on the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta
In the Spring of eighteen-forty eight,
Nigh unto two centuries ago,
At Canonsburg, in Penn’s State
On the campus of famed “Jefferson Duo,”
Six students met in Delta Hall One
In Fort Armstrong Dormitory;
Their purpose to discuss the formation
Of a society based on secrecy.
Bound by principles they did favor,
Men of “Distinguished talents and acquisition,
Imbued with a high place of honor,
And possessed of laudable ambition.”
Collegians all, names to remember:
John Templeton McCarty, Ellis Bailey Gregg,
Samuel Beatty Wilson, James Elliott, Jr.,
Daniel Webster Crofts, and Naaman Fletcher,
Their leader, the moving force, was McCarty;
They were classmates, good friends, Romantics,
All debaters in the Franklin Society-
Known forever as the “Immortal Six.”
The meeting adjourned until the first of May,
Henceforth known as Founder’s Day.
A constitution, by Wilson and Elliott drafted,
Was favorably voted and enacted.
T’was McCarty, himself, who designed
The black diamond badge with single white star,
And gold Greek Letters centrally aligned-
The majestic symbol of who we are!
Chosen as mascot, an indigenous fowl
They named “Gamma,” The Snowy White Owl.
Royal Purple became the official color,
Universal symbol of majesty;
Purple Clematis, the official flower
For its pure and delicate beauty.
Chapter expansion was explored
And accomplished by Graduation;
For Brother Fletcher had installed
Beta Chapter at nearby Washington.
After maintaining two months of secrecy,
Finally on Graduation Day,
Black diamond badges were seen worn
On multiple coat lapels on display,
Confirming that- The Fraternity
Of Phi Gamma Delta was born.
The Founders from the onset planned
“To see the Star of Delta glistening,
From every steeple across the land
At every college in good standing.”
Down through the years, both good times and wrong,
Risks and challenges have been faced and won;
But Phi Gamma Delta remains ever strong,
For like its watchword, Perge!, “carry on.”
Like the principles the Founders espoused,
Friendship, knowledge, service, excellence,
Morality- are the core values imbued
In Phi Gamma Delta- its essence.
O’er the years Fiji Brothers oft convey,
“My Fraternity I owe so much to thee;
Phi Gamma Delta, I gratefully say,
You pledged a boy, and made a man of me!”
Friendship, “The Sweetest Influence,” grown
Through the years into modernity,
Faithful Graduate Brothers have known,
A core value of our Fraternity.
The motto of Phi Gamma Delta rings
True today, as ev’ry Brother has known,
What friendship, loyalty and Brotherhood brings
Is, “Not for college days alone.”
