Text Box: Gems of Purpose Business Name Text Box: In the article “Collegiate Freemasons”, Almond Fairfield identifies a fourth collegiate order exclusive to Master Masons (1965).  The Order of the Golden Key was first conferred at the University of Oklahoma on 21 March 1925 (Farifield).  It should not be confused with the Golden Key International Honor Society founded in 1977, or the honorary award of Phi Theta Kappa.  Fairchild wrote, “The ritual of the order was written by a college Mason for college Masons with the purpose of giving them a comprehensive understanding of the Rites of Initiation and of Masonic Philosophy” (p. 17).     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Text Box: The association and connection between Freemasonry and college fraternities is only one example of the great impact the Freemasonry has had upon American society.  Although the Masonic fraternity has in many ways lost a great deal of its former influence, there exists an immense need for men to be indoctrinated with the spirit of Freemasonry.  There is no other organization today, either on college campuses or in the world at large, that offers the moral and spiritual lessons of Freemasonry.  It has been mimicked and copied many times but never surpassed.  Freemasonry has a great deal to offer young men, and old men alike, who have experienced the initiation rites of lesser orders.  William Ellenberger (1998), in his article “The Acacia Fraternity”, makes the assertion that the Acacia Fraternity and those like it offer the Masonic fraternity an untapped source of members.  In order for Freemasonry to attract men of high quality it must be an organization that lives by the principles it teaches.  Freemasons must walk circumspect to the world and truly be bringers of light.  We must discover unto the world the happy affect of this ancient and honorable institution.