Fraternity Motto: What We Stand For

As I have mentioned in previous posts, our fraternity is rich with history dating back to the Civil War. Our Creed has stood just as long, and it is what our nationwide brotherhood abides by. It is entitled "The True Gentleman" By John Walter Wayland, and was written in Virginia in 1899:

The True Gentleman is the man whose conduct proceeds from good will and an acute sense of propriety, and who self-control is equal to all emergencies; who does not make the poor man conscious of his poverty, the obscure man of his obscurity, or anyman of his inferiority or deformity; who is himself humbled if necessity compels him to humble another; who does not flatter wealth, cringe before power, or boast of his own possessions or achievements; who speaks with frankness but always with sincerity and sympathy; whose deed follows his word; who thinks of the rights and feelings of others, rather than his own; and who appears well in any company, a man with whom honor sacred and virtue safe.

This grammatically correct single sentence is the guiding spirit of our fraternity, and each line has its own important lesson in living life as a gentleman. If you'd like to get a more in depth description behind the meaning of The True Gentleman, click here.