Project Editor: J.V. Dorsey, UCARE, 2008

Theta Nu Epsilon

• Motto: "Little is known, what is known is kept secret."


• Insignia: Skull and crossed keys, one red eye for Bacchus the god of wine, one green eye for jealousy (of what, they do not say)


• Purpose: They see themselves as the moral police of the Greek system


• Claim to Fame: Bi-annual Newsletter, Game Day Banners

The Alpha Eta (sometimes referenced as Lambda Lambda) chapter of Theta Nu Epsilon (TNE) was established at the University around the early 1890's. Consequently, this was the same time that Nebraska grad and founding father of Harvard Law, Roscoe Pound, came back to Nebraska (the connection is implied in numerous documents). The implication that several Greek alumni are members also shows that membership is limited to men who are already members of other secret fraternities. TNE began as most fraternities at the time did, as a social outlet. However, it quickly turned into a drinking club and became involved in campus politics. TNE across the country is known for its involvement in University politics (most famously at the University of Alabama where TNE is known simply as "The Machine"). At Nebraska, they were active, but mostly overlooked until the 1940's.

During initiation practices in 1940, a student at the Missouri chapter was killed and TNE began to leave graffiti all over the UNL campus. During that decade, they presented (by messenger) flowers to the May queens during Ivy Day activities and projected their insignia on a wall during a university dance. Some called them bold and others called them foolhardy, but they seemed unstoppable. Not only was their membership kept a secret, but it was widely known that some of the most powerful and influential Nebraska alumni were also members of TNE. In 1951, the chapter was suppressed by the administration and "replaced" by a group calling themselves Pi Xi. However, the chapter was said to have been reestablished by "prominent TNE Lincoln alum" in 1957. This all seems to be a bit inconsistent with what was going on in the mid 1950's though.

In 1954, the Daily Nebraskan (DN) published a rebuttal to the TNE newsletter called "the Pink Rag". The writers of the DN made fun of known members and berated the chapter as a whole for perceived hypocrisy. This was the first time that the DN had recognized the newsletter and it shows that TNE's supposed suppression was not as successful as the administration had hoped. The administration tried to suppress them again shortly after the DN ran a story about the fraternity in 1962, but at the 1965 homecoming game they flew their first welcome banner over the stadium.

They were believed to be active throughout the 1970's, but did not begin to make noise until 1980 and entirely by accident. In the spring of 1980, a letter concerning the business of the fraternity written on Inter-Fraternity Council (IFC) letterhead was obtained by the DN. The newspaper launched an investigation and interviewed Bob the Picture Man who had taken a group photo for the fraternity (he said that they never identified themselves and paid in cash). All members of the IFC executive team denied being members of TNE (every man elected to the council has to take an oath vowing to never be a member of a sub-rosa), as did the top officers of ASUN, who were also suspected. A roster from the 1988-1989 school year housed in the Archives goes a long way in proving that they do in fact have a great deal of prominent alumni, as eight of the then fourteen members went on to become leaders in their chosen fields throughout the state and country. Since then, TNE had gone on to raise the ire of campus Greeks with their newsletters, but had been mostly ignored until 2006.

In 2006, the Lincoln Journal Star decided to run a story on the chapter and that seems to have prompted them to want to make a splash. In February of 2007, they delivered one of their saltiest newsletters in recent history to the DN. They included their usual commentary, but then added a call to Greek women to apply for their sister organization Rho Delta (Red Dot). The story was the talk of campus for a few weeks, but had died down by the end of the month. With the presumed re-establishment of Rho Delta, the publication of the newsletters, the homecoming banners and no real plan to stop them, TNE is sure to be a fixture within the University's history for years to come.