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Text Box: Phi Kappa Sigma was founded at the University of Pennsylvania on 16 August 1850.  The primary leader of the movement was Samuel Brown Wylie Mitchell who later became a noted physician, and who was a member of Franklin Lodge No. 1341, Philadelphia, PA. A quick perusal of the Phi Kappa Sigma website will reveal a few images and principles that will be familiar to Master Masons (About Phi Kappa Sigma).  The arms of the badge of the order, designed by Mitchell, resonate with Masonic and Knight Templar influence.  The shield bears a cross patée, the pin of the order, at its center, while the crest consists of a skull and crossbones.      

Text Box: Delta Tau Delta was founded 5 March 1858 at Bethany College, Bethany, West Virginia.  One of the primary leaders in the organization of the fraternity was William R. Cunningham, a Freemason and Church of Christ minister.  Cunningham had been inducted into the Masonic fraternity before the formation of Delta Tau Delta, and he was influential in the development of the ritual and constitution, both containing Masonic language (The history behind, n.d.).  The crest of the Delta Tau Delta badge consists of an all-seeing eye, and the shield includes the symbol of the blazing star.  Albert Mackey, in his encyclopedia, states that the blazing star is one of the most important Masonic symbols and is symbolic of “a true Mason, who, by perfecting himself in the way of truth, that is to say, by advancing in knowledge, becomes like a blazing star, shining with brilliancy in the midst of darkness” (Mackey, p. 130).