Our History
Part I: Fourteen Kindred Spirits (1903-1905)
Acacia’s Founding Father’s – 1904 (left to right)
Back Row: E.E. Gallup, R.B. Scatterday, E.R. Ringo, R.W. Bunting (pledge), C.C. Valkenburgh (pledge), C.G. Hill and B.E. DeRoy
Middle Row: H.J. Howard, H.B. Washburn, W.J. Marshall, H.P. Rowe, W.S. Wheeler, G.A. Malcom and J.W. Hawkins
Front Row: C.A. Sink and J.M. Cooper
The origins of Acacia begin in the Fall of 1903 at the University of Michigan Library, during a conversation between Charles Sink and William Marshall, who were both Freemasons. They had both been members of the University of Michigan Masonic Club, which had begun in 1894, but was now a shell of its former self. In 1896, there were as many as 94 members, but by 1903 that number had dwindled to a mere three. Marshall had been absent from the university to teach for the previous two years and was saddened to hear about the state of the campus masonic club and, being an enthusiastic man, was now emboldened with a new idea “We’ve got to organize on a fraternity basis.” He said. “We will take only those who are interested and will work, rather than keep it open to all Masons of the university.” Thus, the idea of Acacia Fraternity was born.
The two men met over the ensuing days and labored over the idea. Soon after, they began to meet outside of the library, in a room occupied by another Mason, Benjamin DeRoy at 236 South Thayer Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The House there was also owned by another Mason, Edward Gallup. Over the winter of 1903 into ‘04 a small group of Masons met weekly to bring the masonic fraternity concept into fruition. On January 31, 1904, a committee was formed “to ascertain the legal requirements for forming a fraternal organization to be national in scope.” They also informed Masonic authorities of their intentions, so that there’d be no misunderstandings or repercussions from the Grand Lodges. The name “Acacia” was chosen because of its distinctiveness, being a word and not a combination of greek letters along with its historical and traditional association with Masonry, and the acacia tree being an evergreen, it was a fit symbol for a lasting organization. Once the legal matters had been cleared, they were ready to begin. On May 11, 1904, the 14 founders went to the office of the Justice of the Peace and drew up the articles of association. The next day, on May 12, 1904 this document was filed with the Clerk of Washtenaw County- Acacia Fraternity was born, marking our founders’ date. The first meeting was on Saturday May 14, 1904, which recorded: “In so much as that organization known by the name ‘The University of Michigan Masonic Club’ having served its purpose, we the members of said ‘Club’ have met for the purpose of organizing a fraternity to be known in law as the ‘Aleph Chapter of Acacia Fraternity,’ adopting its articles of incorporation and electing its officers for the ensuing year.” By the end of the Spring 1904 semester, the colors, constitution and badge had been adopted. Three pledges, R.W. Bunting, C.C. Van Valkenburgh and L.F. Cleveland also had been initiated by June of 1904.
Aleph Chapter Charter – 1904 (first chapter of Acacia)
June 1905 – First National Conclave
Once founded, news of the new fraternity quickly reached masonic students and clubs on campuses across the country. Within a year chapters were subsequently created at Stanford University (Beth), University of Kansas (Gimel), Nebraska (Daleth) and UC Berkeley (He). The first national convention, or conclave, was held in Ann Arbor, Michigan on June 26-30, 1905. Hebrew nomenclature for naming chapters was originally chosen because of the prominence of acacia wood in Jewish culture, with the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant being constructed of the wood. Many local Masonic clubs on campuses across the nation soon transitioned into Acacia chapters. The story was no different here at Iowa State University.
Part II: The Iowa State Craftsmen (1908-1909)
1909 – Iowa State College Craftsman Club
The Craftsmen Club was a local club founded at Iowa State in Early 1908 as a club for masonic faculty and students. A charter member of the Cornell (Nun) Chapter and Grand Vice-President of Acacia Fraternity, Professor Howard C. Pierce, along with two other men, J.E. Brindley and A.H. Snyder were the ones responsible for the organization of the Craftsmen Club. The club operated much like a fraternity, among other things they held weekly meetings, elected officers, had committees, held social events and even had a house. They continually searched for Masons and the sons of Master Masons on campus to join their organization. During the course of their short existence they had as many as 67 members. It appears in their notes that by December of 1908, they had a few members renting out a property at 2818 West Street and also had already started to petition the Acacia headquarters to become a chapter.
For a year, these masons had looked forward to the day they would be initiated into the secrets of the Acacia Fraternity. That day came for them on Saturday March 20, 1909. Starting at 8 o’clock There was an initiation ceremony, and a large banquet afterwards. The tables were arranged in the form of a large right triangle, the walls were decorated with the colors of the fraternity along with Acacia banners and pennants of each of the other colleges and universities with Acacia Chapters on their campuses. Around the room and in the center of the triangle there were many ferns, palms, flowers and other potted plants. At the end of a very long and profitable day, the Craftsman Club had ceased to exist, and in its place the 19th Chapter of Acacia Fraternity – The Koph Chapter had risen to take its place as the principal organization for Freemasons on Iowa State College’s campus.
The Acacia Journal from May 1909 says this about the Koph Chapter (Now known as the Iowa State Chapter):
“The Chapter starts out with an excellent foundation and her prospects for the future are unusually bright. Of her thirty one members, 12 are members of the faculty. The president of the college, Dr. A.B. Storms, has worked with the chapter since it was first formed as a local organization. As time goes on more and more students, who are masons, are discovered. With plenty of new material and the backing of the faculty and local lodges, the chapter has as promising a future before it as any fraternity in the school. The relations with the greek letter fraternities are of the best. The infant chapter starts out with the determination to be the best and strongest fraternity in the school and to always be a credit to Acacia.”
1909 – Koph Chapter (now Iowa State Chapter) original charter
Part III: A house divided (1918-1933)
While the Iowa State Chapter was beginning on the local level, nationally the fraternity was having an identity crisis. The first obstacle the fraternity faced was the question of dual-membership. Dual-membership was where a member of Acacia could also be a member of another greek letter college fraternity. In the early days, it was accepted that the reason men joined Acacia was their love of masonry, and the concept that Acacia be separate and distinct from other college fraternities was not considered essential. As early as 1906, there was a motion made at the Second Grand Conclave to end the ability of members to have dual membership. This motion seemingly went nowhere but the issue would arise at subsequent conclaves year after year.
The trend was that the younger members, mostly from state and public schools with large undergraduate student bodies like Kansas and California were the ones primarily opposing duel-membership, while the older members at ivy league chapters like Yale and Harvard, which had a much higher amount of graduate students who no longer had to contend with the greek letter fraternities of their undergraduate years were in support of dual-membership. In May 1911, the Michigan chapter wrote, “While the fraters at Michigan recognize the fact that many good Acacians are also members of Greek Letter Organizations, yet it is a principle as old as history itself that ‘No man can serve two masters.’ And in the division of interests one organization or the other must suffer. As the Greek Letter Fraternities have for the most part priority in membership, it is to them that the candidate’s greater loyalty is given.” After nearly 16 years of debate the matter was finally resolved on March 21, 1921, when it was announced that 22 of the 25 chapters had approved an amendment to the Laws of Acacia which barred membership from anyone connected with another Greek letter fraternity.
As soon as the argument about dual membership ended, new debates arose. The largest one was with the masonic requirement and the issue of “pre-pledging.” The post-World War I prosperity allowed younger men, most of whom weren’t even twenty, to enter college. Chapters had to take desperate measures in order to stay afloat. One of these tactics was pre-pledging, where the Acacia accepted men who weren’t qualified because they weren’t yet members of the Masonic Order, but stated that at some point in the future, they intended to petition for the Masonic degrees.
A struggle between the survival of chapters and keeping the integrity and principles of the organization continued to be argued at conclaves throughout the 1920s. With the 1929 Stock Market Crash and the onset of the Great Depression, both masonic initiations and college enrollment were on the decline, and something had to be done. This came to a head at the 1931 Conclave in Estates Park, Colorado. There were three camps: those who would see the fraternity die if necessary but still have its masonic requirements intact, those who wanted to continue the policy of pre-pledging continued and lastly those who wanted to face the facts and drop the masonic requirement in order to survive. A mediocre compromise was reached that allowed chapters to keep a certain percentage of members who were the sons of masons, even if they weren’t Masons themselves. In 1933, the masonic requirement was dropped by the chapters in a 20 to 7 vote. Nearly 20 years of debate was over and Acacia took the last major step for it to compete on common ground with the other greek-letter fraternities on campuses across the country. As it was written in the October 1933 issue of The TRIAD, “Thus Acacia, as a strictly Masonic fraternity, passes-on to make way for a new order. Its passing will be a source of deep regret to every member, but those of us who have been studying the trend realized that we could no longer struggle on and the hope of building a stronger fraternity on the masonic foundation gradually faded. But the Masonic Tradition will live on – Acacia will always maintain her high ideals and her worthy objectives.”
Part IV: Movement, Depression and War (1909-1945)
While the direction of the fraternity was being debated at the national level, on the local level, Iowa State Chapter continued to flourish and grow. From 1909 to 1916 Iowa State Acacians continued to live in the house they had rented since the days of the Craftsmen Club, known as the “Beardshear Residence” or 2818 West Street. During this time, the chapter held many social events with Masons and other Greek organizations. Acacians were also often involved in a wide range of organizations on campus, from clubs to academic fraternities to sports.
1915 – 2818 West Street (Beardsheer Residence)
1911 – Iowa State Acacia in 2818 West St.
1911 – First Formal Picture of Iowa State Chapter
The first time the chapter moved, it was to 2110 Lincoln Way in 1916, purchasing the land for $3,000. Shortly thereafter, the United States entered World War I in April of 1917. The chapter remained active during the war, but the chapter house was turned over to the Student Army Training Corps. At least 28 Iowa State Acacians served in the U.S. Armed Forces during the First World War. One Iowa State Acacian, Mitchell E. Northrop (#162) was awarded with the Croix De Guerre (War Cross) by the French Government for his service with the all-volunteer American Field Service during 1917 and later assisting wounded French soldiers with the U.S. Army Ambulance Service.
1916 – Acacians watching magic show in 2110 Lincoln Way
1918 – 2110 Lincoln Way
1923 – Brothers on car outside 2110 Lincoln Way
1926 – Pledge Class Formal Photo
After the war, things returned back to a state of normalcy for the nation, and for the chapter. Acacia continued to do well through the “roaring twenties” with steady growth, stand-up members and the chapter being involved greatly with the Masons and the Greek community. Faculty involvement was also high around this time. Many other fraternities only had a handful of faculty members, but Acacia had as many as 19 faculty members in the mid-1920s. Daily events in Acacia were entertaining house guests, dinners and cigars with brothers.
Unsurprisingly, the early 1930s hit the chapter hard. Iowa State student enrollment was down, Acacia had strict membership requirements and, most of all, the Great Depression led the chapter to struggle. Acacia continued to live in the chapter house at 2110 Lincoln Way until August 1933, when they sold it for $13,500. They most likely moved because the chapter lacked the sufficient membership to cover the expenses needed to occupy the property. The second move was into a property they were renting a property at 218 Welch, southwest of campus. In the summer of 1934, less than a year after moving to the property on Welch, Acacia moved for the third time into a house at 233 Lynn Avenue after the closure of the Pi Chapter of Phi Omega Pi sorority. Acacia moved for the fourth and last time in the August of 1940 into a house at 142 Gray Avenue. This house was previously owned by Phi Sigma Kappa, which had closed in 1939.
1937 – 233 Lynn Ave
1941 – 142 Gray Ave
Fifteen months after moving into the house at 142 Gray Avenue, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, bringing the United States into World War II. The war affected both Iowa State and Acacia Fraternity. Iowa State student enrollment dropped 60% between 1942 and ‘44. Despite this, the chapter continued to operate through 1943, doing what they could to support the war effort from the homefront. Acacia ran a booth at VEISHEA in 1943 where students could pay to throw bean bags at targets that looked like Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo. Nearly $50 in war savings stamps were sold. Acacia was closed in 1944, and the house was used as a living space by female students, since their dorms were confiscated by the U.S. Navy as living quarters for Sailors. At least 33 Iowa State Acacians served with the United States Armed Forces during World War II, serving on all fronts from Europe to the Pacific, and in every branch.
With the defeat of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in 1945, many veterans came back from war and wanted to pick up where their lives left off. For many this meant enrolling in college through the benefits in the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 or “G.I. Bill”. These benefits included, among other things, paid tuition along with books and supplies for school. This post-war educational boom led to some of the highest enrollment at Iowa State, and subsequently in Acacia Fraternity, and would last for an entire generation.
Part V: The Atomic Age (1945-1970)
1949 – Brother in chapter room in 142 Gray Ave
With World War II over, the few members that were around spent many hours doing improvements to the house, sanding the floors and placing in new ceilings, before the chapter officially reopened in 1946. The next year, Mrs. Dinsmore, “the former housemother, returned to restore much of the house-like atmosphere known before the war.” Within a year of reopening, Acacia had nearly doubled from 14 to 30 members by the end of 1947. The rest of the decade saw the chapter steadily grow at rates not seen since the twenties.
In June of 1950, as part of the anti-Communist foreign policy of the Cold War, the country was drawn into the conflict in Korea. At least 10 Iowa State Acacians served in the armed forces at the time, and nationally nearly 500 Acacians served during the war. Back home, In the summer of 1951, Iowa State hosted a regional conference of 22 Acacia chapters in the midwest.
1953 – Brothers showing House Mother Dinsmore the composite
1951 – Brothers with House Mother Dinsmore
The rest of the decade can be best described with an excerpt from the 1951 Iowa State College Bomb “…every day, every week, a bright one in this fraternity.” Acacia was massively involved in Varieties and VIESHIA, and formals and other large social events were a regularity of the chapter through the 1950s.
Despite the 1960s being a generally tumultuous decade where there was broad national uncertainty around the issues of counter-culture, the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War, this decade proved to be a “golden age” for Acacia. There was extremely high chapter involvement, many members in honoraries, masonic relations were re-established and the Iowa State chapter was recognized nationally for academics and overall chapter performance.
In 1964, the Iowa State chapter was awarded its first Malcom Award, the highest honor awarded upon a chapter. In the mid-1960s, there was at least one Acacian on every committee or organization that had importance at Iowa state, from Student Body President to VEISHEA to the Engineering Council.
Starting in mid-1964 and continuing until 1966, the chapter also purchased five other properties to the east of 142 Gray along Beach Avenue and Sunset drive. These houses were 125 Beach Ave, 119 Beach Avenue, 121 Beach Avenue along with 2017 Sunset Drive and 2013 Sunset Drive (until it burned down in 1969). These houses included single car garages, full kitchens, dining and living rooms. These would typically be occupied by the upperclassmen of Acacia, although they were occasionally rented out to other students.
1960 – Pledge Class with the ‘Pledge Rock’
1957 – Brothers in chapter room of 142 Gray Ave
1968 – Brothers on front steps of 142 Gray Ave
Part VI: Good times and Decline (1970 – 1992)
1971 – Brothers on front lawn of 142 Gray Ave
1983 – Venerable Dean Jim Mueller
Unlike the 1960s, the 1970s saw the chapter be more individualistic. There wasn’t a cohesive or grand vision for the chapter. For the most part, members kept to themselves and there wasn’t high involvement in student organizations like there had been just a few years prior. Alumni involvement was practically nonexistent.
1973 – Formal Picture
In 1973, a little sister program was started, at the request of a friend of several Acacians named Mary Ann Vorisek. She was invited to be a little sister of another fraternity, but since she didn’t know anybody there, she insisted Acacia start their own program. Called the “Daughters of Pythia” they were involved with the various social functions of the chapter, along with generally hanging around the house. The little sister program was ended in 1988 when the North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC) sent out a resolution calling for the end of little sister programs at all fraternities.
1982 – Brothers and Daughters of Pythia out front of 142 Gray Ave
1976 – Brothers in Chapter Room of 142 Gray
In September 1979, all five of the annex houses and properties were sold in order to pay for improvements being made to the chapter house.
1986 – Brothers and Daughters of Pythia out front of 142 Gray Ave
1984 – Broomball Team
1988 – Tailgate
The active chapter attempted to make a comeback in 1990, and eleven men were initiated, but two had to be expelled for failing to pay dues. Ultimately the entire 1991 class was expelled from the chapter and the Corporate Board chose to shut down the chapter. The men were told to move out of the house after the fall 1991 semester’s finals week. The chapter would officially close at the end of the year.
Part VII: Death and Refounding (1992 – 2001)
With the closing of the chapter in 1992, the house at 142 Gray Avenue was initially rented out to another fraternity, Sigma Tau Gamma, while the Acacia Corporate Board continued to own the property with the hopes of returning in the future. The board continued to spend more money than it took in, thus leading to a poll among the alumni whether to sell the house or not. The response was small, but it was decided overwhelmingly that the board should sell the property. Another meeting was held on March 18, 1993 with 31 alumni in attendance, and the decision was made to sell the house.
The house was sold on June 20, 1994 for the price of $240,000. After the purchase, the new owners changed the address from 142 to 138 Gray Avenue to avoid having fraternity mail sent to the new bed and breakfast they were opening in the house, called the “Iowa House.”
Throughout the 1990s, the board president, Bruce Toney, was continuing discussions with Acacia’s international headquarters about restarting the chapter. As early as 1996, a timeline for chapter recolonization was created. During this time, the board also continued work to raise funds for scholarships once the chapter was re-established. As the board researched this timeline more and found out more details from the university, the plan was eventually pushed back from the fall 1997 to the fall of 1998. By the fall, there was a lack of a clear message from the university about the status of Acacia’s recolonization and the timeline was pushed back again. The board resubmitted the materials to recolonize and was denied on March 5, 1998 along with Pi Kappa Alpha’s recolonization effort. After discussions ironing out the conditions of the chapter with the university, it was on November 17, 1999 that the University Committee on Fraternities and Sororities approved the application submitted by the Corporate Board and the International Headquarters for Iowa State to be granted “colony” status.
2000 – Refounding Composite
In the Spring of 1999, the board hired two soon-to-be graduates, Chad Jackson and Dalen McVay from the Acacia chapter University of Central Oklahoma to serve as consultants on recruitment. They were going to move to Ames in December of 1999 and live here for two years assisting the chapter. By March 4, 2000, they had interviewed 40 prospective members and signed 3.
The chapter continued to be involved in the greek community throughout 2000, getting its name out there and proving itself. Numerous repairs and renovations were made to the house including sprinklers, a new boiler and a new heating system. A 10 member fall pledge class was initiated on November 11, 2000. Through its work distinguishing itself, the chapter made a presentation to the University Committee on Fraternities and Sororities on April 18, 2001 and was finally granted the status of “chapter” and with that plans were set in place to recharter during homecoming on October 20, 2001.
2019 – 138 Gray Ave
The Fall 2001 semester had much anticipation for the rechartering and for the next pledge class, consisting of 10 men. On October 20, 2001 the Iowa State Chapter was officially rechartered by the international fraternity. There was a massive celebration with many alumni present along with members of Acacia’s international council. The international president, Gerald Cook, presented the new charter with the names of the 19 refounding fathers. As the Fall 2001 semester closed, there was much enthusiasm for the chapter as the long awaited dream, taking almost 9 years, of recolonizing and rechartering was finally achieved.
Part VIII: A New Century (2001 – Present)
After the refounding, the chapter continued to grow and expand. Many of Acacia’s members became involved on campus and focused on academics. In the fall of 2003, Acacia was awarded as the highest chapter GPA among Iowa State fraternities at 3.49. At the same time, the house was getting many repairs that it desperately needed, a trend that would continue throughout the 2000s and 2010s, and it was beginning to be more clear that a significant project would need to be undertaken regarding the chapter house.
As the 2010s came, the chapter was at a peak. There was high membership, involved members and high grades. At the 2010 Conclave in New Orleans, Louisiana the Iowa State Chapter was once again awarded the Malcolm Award. 2014 would prove to be a monumental year for Iowa State Acacia, as it won its 3rd Malcolm award.
Additionally, throughout the 2000s and 2010s, the chapter and its brothers continued to participate in more Acacia International Fraternity events through involvement in various activities and conferences. Ultimately the chapters involvement resulted in several Iowa State Acacia brothers earning the opportunity to serve Acacia at the International Level, with Undergraduate Brothers Michael Weber and Drew Sherman having been elected to the International Council of Acacia as Undergraduate Counselors, and with Drew further being elected as the Council’s Vice President; while Brother Michael Weber joined the Acacia International Fraternity’s professional staff as the Assistant Executive Director. Further our re-founding father Jeremy Davis was elected to the International Council of Acacia as its 2nd Vice President in 2008 and then was elected at the 2014 Conclave in New Orleans as President of the International Council of Acacia Fraternity and concluded his term as Acacia’s 26th International President (and only Iowa State Acacian to be International President) at the 2018 Conclave.
2020 – 138 Gray Ave
In the background of all this success, there were problems that needed to be addressed. The house, which the chapter had lived in for several decades was simply not up to par for the chapter’s needs. The southeast corner of the foundation was shifting, pipes were fragile and were prone to bursting. While some areas of the house were relatively nice, like the media room or the president’s suite, there were areas which were worn out.
Following a fundraising feasibility study conducted in 2015 by Pennington & Co., a fundraising consulting firm retained by the Corporate Board to ascertain the desire and ability of the Iowa State Acacia Alumni to support either a significant, total renovation of the existing chapter house or to support the building of a new chapter house; or do no nothing and continue operating the existing chapter house. In October 2015, the feasibility study was completed and a majority of the alumni brothers surveyed through the study were in support of demolishing the existing chapter house and to build a new, state-of-the-art living and learning educational environment for the future of Acacia at Iowa State.
Once the feasibility study results were complete, the Corporate Board retained SB&A Architects and Engineers (based in Ames, Iowa) to begin the process of designing the new chapter house. Following several meetings with the then-undergraduate brothers of the chapter to determine what amenities/features would be desirable for Acacia undergraduates, SB&A was able to produce a design for the new Chapter House that was selected by the Corporate Board. At the same time, it was determined that the Corporate Board would utilize a design-build concept and retained Integrity Construction as the general contractor for the project.
After launching an aggressive fundraising campaign, chaired by Brother Jim Davis, the fundraising had reached a point in early 2019 that the Corporate Board moved forward with the actual construction of the new chapter house. And so, on July 30, 2019, the former chapter house which was purchased in 1940, was reduced to rubble during an 8-hour demolition process. Following demolition, work immediately began on the construction of the new 42-man chapter house at 138 Gray Avenue. Following a 12-month construction process, the new chapter house was officially opened on August 5, 2020.