Tau Mu Tau

TM group picture from Gustavian 2009.

Nicknamed the TM’s, the sorority Tau Mu Tau was founded at Gustavus and nationally in 1904 however, the college documentation states 1909. The colors of the TM’s are maroon and grey. The events that the TM’s are a part of are: Relay for Life, Suicide Prevention and Awareness (Yellow Ribbon Project), help with Salvation Army, National Guard, and donating to the St. Peter Food Shelf. They also did Sober Drivers and Patrick’s Homecoming Fundraiser.

TM group picture from Gustavian 1912.

Sororities were not founded on the Gustavus Adolphus campus until around the 1890’s. They were created because the women around campus were encountering a lot of boredom and wanted to be involved in some new activities. However, when they were formed they were just small, informal social clubs.

In 1904, The Tau Mu Tau’s, or the TMs was created by twelve women on campus. They had developed a nickname which was “The Modest Twelve” however, because the sorority group was growing they had to change their nickname to “The Modest Tribe”.

At the beginning, they had a set schedule for their meetings. The typical meeting would include different activities such as: a short vocal solo, a short recitation, a paper, and a piano solo. They had a punishment if they were late as well. They would have to pay a penny if they were late to the meeting and have to pay a nickel for every time they had to leave the meeting early.

Around the 1950s things were beginning to change among the greet system as fraternities and sororities became more involved. The idea of the establishment of brother and sister relations between the two was put into action. The fraternity that the TMs were involved with was the Omega Kappas and become brother and sister. Although, the OKs are no longer on campus.

As the years went on, the fraternities and sororities became more oriented in social functions rather than literary studies. The TMs had become more involved in social projects as well such as: ice cream socials, visiting the Gillette Hospital with the OKs, and other things such as charity fundraisers.

There were new regulations for new Tau Mu Tau members, and they were now not able to rush in both the fall and the spring, and therefore were only allowed to join once a year. As well new rules were being put upon for the Greek Life at Gustavus in the 1980s, and was a major transition period. There were now rules and restrictions on rush, activities that were once allowed were banned. However, the TMs did not let this stop their fun, they created new traditions to replace the old such as an informal invitation in 1983 and sitting around a campfire after rush was finished.

In the 1990s the administration of Gustavus no longer wanted to recognize any fraternities or sororities, which was a major battle that they had to endure. However, they were finally allowed back on campus in 1993, when they had promised that the Greek life would begin to run more smoothly.

They TMs now have even more traditions such as Sober drivers, Patrick’s Homecoming Fundraiser, fall and spring banquets, and the TM/Theta Valentines Day Semi-Formal.