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Pi Nu Epsilon Collection

 Collection
Identifier: 2017-01

Scope and Content Note

The bulk of this collection consists of governing documents, scrapbooks, and photographs documenting Pi Nu Epsilon Delta Chapter’s activities at Shippensburg State College and Shippensburg University. Also included in this collection are constitutions, by-laws, and meeting agendas for meetings of the national Pi Nu Epsilon organization, and correspondence related to the national organization’s efforts to expand to other schools in Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Governing documents include minutes, agendas, and member lists pertaining to Delta Chapter business with the bulk of the content spanning the years 1955 to 1985. During the collection’s inclusive dates of 1955 to 2016, a large portion of the materials changed physical location each year when the chapter elected new secretaries and historians. As a result of this fluid custody arrangement and the hazards of being a volunteer organization led by officers with different interests and abilities, the records contain chronological holes which hampers full documentation of the history of the chapter’s operation at Shippensburg.

The records are arranged in 3 series. Series include 1) Scrapbooks, 2) Administrative Files, and 3) Photographs. Series 2 contains four sub-series to distinguish files created by different functions or officers of the Delta Chapter. Contents of all series are arranged chronologically where possible.

Dates

  • 1958 - 2016

Restrictions

This collection is open for research, with the exception of the address book located in Series 2, Sub-series 4, which is restricted until 2035.

Reproduction

Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the Shippensburg University Archives and Special Collections. Contact the archivist for more information.

History

Pi Nu Epsilon is a national honorary music fraternity that was active at Shippensburg State College and later Shippensburg University from 1955 through 2016. The Shippensburg State College Delta Chapter was chartered in 1956 and was the third established by the national organization, which was formed in 1947. At its height, Pi Nu Epsilon had seven chapters, with six of them based at colleges and universities in Pennsylvania.

Pi Nu Epsilon is an organization for non-music majors, regardless of gender, who are active in campus music organizations. Members were chosen partially on the basis of musical ability but also based on involvement and participation in campus music groups. The Delta Chapter’s goal was to support music department faculty and activities through a variety of service activities. Goals of the Delta Chapter listed in its constitution were to “honor those outstanding men and women who have unselfishly devoted their time and energies to the musical organizations of Shippensburg University and the surrounding community;... stimulate interest in and to further the aims of the musical organizations of Shippensburg University;” and “foster and develop a broader interest in music and musical affairs.”

As of the 2017-2018 school year, Pi Nu Epsilon was inactive at Shippensburg University, but was still listed as a fraternity by the Shippensburg University Department of Music.

Extent

0.75 Linear Feet (2 manuscript boxes plus 1 oversize box)

Language of Materials

English

Custodial History

This collection was received by Archives and Special Collections as a donation during the spring 2017 semester.

Accruals

No further accruals are expected.
Author
Jessica Rudy
Date
November 2017
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Repository Details

Part of the Shippensburg University Archives & Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Ezra Lehman Memorial Library room 207
Shippensburg University of PA
1871 Old Main Drive
Shippensburg PA 17257
717-477-1123 x3357