Scope and Content

Series Description

I. Academic and Professional Organizations, 1911-present [inventory]
Series I, Academic and Professional Organizations, contains material relating to academic and professional organizations that have or currently do exist on campus. Many of these organizations have Greek letters and should not be confused with social fraternities. Many of the organizations are national and many others are honorary in nature.

II. Armed Forces, 1936-present (.2 lin. ft.) [inventory]
Series II, Armed Forces, contains material pertaining to student involvement with armed forces on campus. The material does not specifically reference ROTC, instead it more closely relates to clubs and organizations created by students in response to wars. Additionally, material relating to the G.I. Bill and to Veterans exists within this series.

III. The Arts, 1934-present (.2 lin. ft.) [inventory]
The Arts series contains material relating to music and performing arts. Much of the material is oversized. Noteworthy material in this series is sheet music for songs relating to R.P.I.

IV. Clubs and Organizations, 1886-present (.8 lin. ft.) [inventory]
Over the years, there have been various clubs and organizations created to address any number of interests of the students. Some clubs and organizations were in existence for only a semester. General listings of student activities at various years are also included in this series.

V. Dances and Dance Cards, 1876-1965 (.7 lin. ft.) [inventory]
Dances and dance cards document a wide variety of dances that took place over nine decades. Some of the dance cards are complete - with a pencil attached.

VI. Events, 1949-present (.4 lin ft) [inventory]
The Events series contains information pertaining to an array of events that have taken place on campus with student involvement. Everything from entertainment to seminars to parent's weekend is included within this series.

VII. Grand Marshal, 1865-present (.4 lin. ft.) [inventory]
The Grand Marshal is the highest position for a student in student government. The election process includes a week filled with entertainment and political events leading up to the election for Grand Marshal, President of the Union and class officers. This series contains information about student political parties, GM week events and candidates for both GM and PU.

VIII. Greek Life, 1884-present (1.2 lin. ft.) [inventory]
Greek Life at R.P.I. has traditionally been a big part of student life. This series contains information related to 40 fraternities and 3 sororities - many of which are currently in existence at the school. Information within the folders ranges from histories of the fraternities to floor plans of their houses. The sororities are notated by "SOR" on the folder inventory.

IX. Politics, Committees and Commissions, 1950-present (.4 lin. ft.) [inventory]
Throughout the years at R.P.I. various committees and commissions have been formed to address a range of issues facing students on campus. Many of these have been political in nature because they were commissioned through student government. However, the politics part of the title also refers to groups devoted to national political issues and candidates.

X. Publications, 1953-present (.2 lin. ft.) [inventory]
The Publications series is material related to student publications. Actual publications have been removed and placed in the Publications Collection.

XI. Religious & Multicultural Organizations, 1885-present (1.2 lin. ft.) [inventory]
R.P.I. is not officially affiliated with any single religion and its students come from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds. Efforts to keep this part of their lives alive on campus have sparked the creation of religious and multicultural organizations. These organizations allow students of similar background to meet each other on campus and practice their traditions together. This series reflects the clubs and organizations that have been created to meet these goals.

XII. Sports, 1894-present (.4 lin. ft.) [inventory]
Participation in sports at all levels on the R.P.I. campus has always been a popular pastime. This series contains information relevant to a variety of sports including popular ones such as football and hockey and those with a smaller membership such as fencing and sailing.

XIII. Student Services, 1974-present (.2 lin. ft.) [inventory]
The student services series contains information relating to services designed to enhance the experience of the student while at R.P.I. Material in this series includes campus shuttle service and women services flyers.

XIV. Student Traditions, 1865-present (.2 lin. ft.) [inventory]
Student traditions have, for the most part, changed form over the course of their history at R.P.I. This collection reflects the changes by documenting older traditions and newer ones as well. A notable part of this series is the Calculus Cremation, a traditional end ceremony to the calculus course.