Nu Beta Epsilon Explained

Nu Beta Epsilon
Letters:	Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ΝΒΕ
Birthplace:	Northwestern University Law School
Affiliation:	Independent
Status:	Defunct
Defunct Date:	After 1969
Type:	Professional
Emphasis:	Law, Jewish
Scope:	National
Motto:	Latin: Nomus Carcilia Esta (Law is king)
Publication:	The Nu Bate
Lifetime:	1,750 (as of 1963)
Chapters:	23
Country:	United States

Nu Beta Epsilon (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ΝΒΕ) was an American professional Jewish law fraternity.^{[1] [2]}

History

Nu Beta Epsilon was formed in 1919 at Northwestern University School of Law by Barnet Hodes, with the assistance of Louis Brandeis and Dean Wigmore, as a Greek letter fraternity for Jewish students at accredited law schools.^{[3] [4] [5]} It expanded to other law schools across the United States.^[6] It also established an alumni association.

Alpha Kappa Sigma (ΑΚΣ) was a Jewish law fraternity founded by H. Edwin Siff at University of Maryland Law School in 1918.^[7] Representatives of the two fraternities met at a convention in Columbus, Ohio in 1939 with Hodes as the keynote speaker.^[8] The merger of the two fraternities went into effect in 1940 under the name of the Nu Beta Epsilon group.^[9] A. D. G. Cohn of Atlanta was elected as its vice grand chancellor.

Nu Beta Epsilon's quarterly newsletter was The Nu Bete. The fraternity presented three awards each year:

• Barnet Hodes Awards to an alumnus performing outstanding service to the fraternity on a national level
• Ben Rubin Endowment to an undergraduate for scholarship, with the trophy going to his chapter
• National Pledge Essay Award for the best legal essay written by a pledge

Symbols

Nu Beta Epsilon adopted the seal and motto of the former Nu Beta Epsilon fraternity. Its motto was Latin: Nomus Carcilia Esta, meaning "Law is king". Its seal or crest included symbols associated with the legal professional.

Governance

The Ground Council of the fraternity's annual national convention governed Nu Beta Epsilon.

Membership

Nu Beta Epsilon was founded as non-sectarian, with no racial membership limitations.^[10] Originally male only, its membership became open to women . In 1945, it had 850 members. Its membership had grown to 1,750 in 1968.

Chapter List

The chapters of Nu Beta Epsilon were as follows. Active chapters are indicated in bold. Inactive chapters and institutions are in italics.

Chapter	Charter date and range	Institution	Location	Status	References
Alpha	1918	University of Maryland Law School	Baltimore City, Maryland	Inactive
Brandeis	1919–	Northwestern University Law School	Chicago, Illinois	Inactive	^[11]
Delta	1919–	Temple University Law School	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Inactive
Epsilon	1919–	Newark Law School	Newark, New Jersey	Inactive
Cardozo	1923	DePaul University College of Law	Chicago, Illinois	Inactive
Benjamin	1924		Chicago, Illinois	Inactive	^[12]
Marshall	1926	Washington University School of Law	St. Louis, Missouri	Inactive	^[13]
Chicago	1929–	University of Chicago Law School	Chicago, Illinois	Inactive
Horner	1921		Champaign, Illinois.	Inactive
Beta Gamma	1931	George Washington University Law School and Georgetown University Law School	Washington, D.C.	Inactive
Loyola	1932–	Loyola University Chicago School of Law	Chicago, Illinois	Inactive
Zeta	1933	Atlanta Law School, Emory University Law School, Atlanta's John Marshall Law School	Atlanta, Georgia	Inactive
Coleman	1941		Los Angeles, California	Inactive
Theta	1946	University of Miami School of Law	Coral Gables, Florida	Inactive
Currie	1950	UCLA School of Law	Los Angeles, California	Inactive
Warren		University of San Fernando College of Law	San Fernando, California	Inactive	^[14]
Gamma Gamma Lambda		California College of Law	Hollywood, California	Inactive	^[15]
Traynor		Western State University College of Law	Orange County, California	Inactive	^[16]
Holmes	February 1, 1969	University of West Los Angeles School of Law	Los Angeles, California	Inactive	^[17] ^[18]
	September 1969	John F. Kennedy University	Pleasant Hill, California	Inactive	^[19]
Baker		Humphrey College	Stockton, California	Inactive	^[20] ^[21]
Dooley		Glendale University College of Law	Glendale, California	Inactive	^[22]
Sebring		Stetson University College of Law	Gulfport, Florida	Inactive	^[23] ^[24]

Notable members

Name	Chapter and year	Notability	References
Ellis Arnall	Honorary, 1946	Governor of Georgia	^[25]
Bernard Baruch	Honorary, 1946	Financier and statesman
Louis Brandeis	Brandeis, 1919	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Raymond Burr		actor	^[26]
Benjamin N. Cardozo		Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Joseph E. Davies		United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union
Paul A. Dorf		State senator and judge	^[27] ^[28]
Phillip C. Goldstick		Member of Illinois General Assembly	^[29]
Barnet Hodes	Brandeis, 1919	Counsel of the City of Chicago	^[30]
Sam Massell	Alpha, 1936	Mayor of Atlanta
Eurith D. Rivers	Zeta Honorary 1941	Governor of Georgia	^[31]
John M. Slaton	Zeta Honorary 1941		^[32] ^[33]
Harold Washington		Mayor of Chicago and U.S. House of Representatives	^[34] ^[35]
Wendel Wilkie		lawyer, corporate executive, and nominee for President of the United States.
Bernard B. Wolfe		Member of Illinois General Assembly	^[36]

Notes and References

1. Book: Sanua, Marianne Rachel . Going Greek: Jewish College Fraternities in the United States, 1895-1945 . 2003 . Wayne State University Press . 978-0-8143-2857-6 . 318 . en . Google Books.
2. Robson, John, ed. (1963). Baird's Manuel of American College Fraternities (17th ed.). Menasha, Wisconsin: The Collegiate Press, George Banta Company, Inc. pp. 547.
3. . via JSTOR
4. News: 1971-01-14 . Woman Judge to Address Chapter of Law Fraternity . 10 . Valley News . Van Nuys, California . 2023-08-04 . Newspapers.com.
5. News: 1939-06-24 . Hodes to Speak as Jewish Law Fraternities merge . 13 . Chicago Tribune . 2023-08-04 . Newspapers.com.
6. News: 1930-12-05 . Becker Elected as New President of Alumni Law Club . 14 . Suburbanite Economist . 2023-08-04 . Newspapers.com.
7. News: 1936-01-07 . Massell Will Head Alpha Kappa Sigma Jewish Law Council . 14 . The Atlanta Journal . 2023-08-04 . Newspapers.com.
8. News: 1939-06-28 . Atlantian Elected by Nu Beta Epsilon . 21 . The Atlanta Journal . 2023-08-04 . Newspapers.com.
9. Legal Fraternities. Kenneth H. . York . Michigan Law Review . 50 . 7 . May 1952 . 1284939. 1048. 10.2307/1284939 .
10. Book: Marianne Rachel Sanua. Going Greek: Jewish College Fraternities in the United States, 1895-1945. 2003. Wayne State University Press. 0-8143-2857-1. 318.
11. Web site: Collection: Records of Nu Beta Epsilon, Northwestern University (Brandeis) Chapter Archival and Manuscript Collections . 2023-08-04 . Northwestern.
12. October 1928 . Nu Beta Epsilon Fraternity . Chicago-Kent Law Review . 7 . 1 . 4.
13. https://scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1164&context=cklawreview Chicago-Kent Law Review October 1928
14. News: 1966-09-08 . Law Fraternity Branch Formed at Valley School . 13 . Los Angeles Evening Citizen News . 2023-08-04 . Newspapers.com.
15. News: 1967-09-08 . Chapter of Law Fraternity Receives Charter in Rites . 12 . Valley News . Van Nuys, California . 2023-08-04 . Newspapers.com.
16. News: 1976-03-01 . Local Men New Legal Fraternity Leaders . 12 . Anaheim Bulletin . Anaheim, California . 2023-08-04 . Newspapers.com.
17. News: 1969-01-09 . Fraternity to Gain Chapter . 165 . The Los Angeles Times . 2023-08-04 . Newspapers.com.
18. News: 1979-11-21 . Nu Beta Epsilon Nat Law Frat . 68 . The Los Angeles Times . 2023-08-04 . Newspapers.com.
19. News: 1969-09-11 . Law Fraternity Formed at JFK . 33 . Contra Costa Times . Walnut Creek, California . 2023-08-04 . Newspapers.com.
20. News: 1971-06-30 . County District Attorney Lauded . 20 . Tracy Press . Tracy, California . 2023-08-04 . Newspapers.co.
21. News: 1974-06-03 . Fellow voters, Joe Baker is the only Experienced, Qualified Candidate . 7 . Tracy Press . Tracy, California . 2023-08-04 . Newspapers.com.
22. News: 1972-03-12 . Chapter Announces Scholar Fund Drive . 299 . The Los Angeles Times . 2023-08-04 . Newspapers.com.
23. News: 1969-08-31 . Naze-Masi . 67 . Tampa Bay Times . Florida . 2023-08-04 . Newspapers.com.
24. News: 1969-04-22 . Honorary Member . 9 . The Orlando Sentinel . Florida . 2023-08-04 . Newspapers.com.
25. News: Baruch, Arnall to Be Honored . en . 14 . The New York Times . 2023-08-04.
26. News: 1960-08-22 . Law Fraternity to Meet Here . 11 . The Evening Sun . Baltimore, Maryland . 2023-08-04 . Newspapers.com.
27. Web site: Maryland State Senator Paul A. Dorf . 2023-08-04 . msa.maryland.gov.
28. Web site: 2012-07-08 . Judge Paul A. Dorf, 86 . 2023-08-04 . Baltimore Sun.
29. Web site: New Members, General Assembly. vol. 74 (1965-1966). . 2023-08-03 . Paul Powell, Secretary of State, State of Illinois . 41 . 2027/uiug.30112077332515?urlappend=%3Bseq=1 . en . Hathi Trust.
30. Web site: Halstead . Whitney . The Hodes Collection . 2023-08-04 . www.artforum.com . en-US.
31. News: 1941-07-10 . A. D. G. Cohn Heads Nu Beta Epsilons . 25 . The Atlanta Journal . 2023-08-04 . Newspapers.com.
32. Bauman . Mark K. . Fall 1998 . Factionalism and Ethnic Politics in Atlanta: The German Jews from the Civil War through the Progressive Era . The Georgia Historical Quarterly . 82 . 3 . 556 . 40583948.
33. News: 1938-03-25 . Former Governor John M. Slaton . 14 . The Atlanta Constitution . 2023-08-04 . Newspapers.com.
34. https://books.google.com/books?id=ghw-lFHzhTwC&pg=PA52 Official Congressional Directory, Volume 98 p 52
35. Web site: New members, General assembly. v.74 (1965-1966). . 2023-08-03 . Paul Powell, Secretary of State, State of Illinois . 92 . 2027/uiug.30112077332515?urlappend=%3Bseq=1 . en . Hathi Trust.
36. "New members, General assembly. v.74 (1965-1966)". Paul Powell, Secretary of State, State of Illinois. p. 93. Retrieved 2023-08-03 – via Hathi Trust.