In the Beginning
The Initial Founding of the Tiger Brotherhood:
The initial founding of the Tiger Brotherhood occurred in 1924 [1]. In 1924, Clemson football captain, Butch Hollahan, was expelled from Clemson College because the Commandant sensed that he had consumed alcohol. This led to the school-wide walk-out of 1924 in protest of Hollahan's expulsion. In total, 350 students participated in the walk-out and 50 did not return to campus. After the walk-out, Professor John Logan Marshall instituted the Tiger Brotherhood. The purpose of the club was to settle disputes through compromise rather than violence. Initially, there were 200 founding members.
At the beginning of Tiger Brotherhood's history, there were very little barriers to entry in the club. There were no secret initiations or rituals, and all members had to only recite a formal oath to gain membership. The club did not last very long and disbanded due to high membership and ineffectiveness. The Tiger even referred to the club as a "great, clumsy edifice of colossal structure" [2].
The Reinstituting of the Tiger Brotherhood:
In 1928, the Tiger Brotherhood was reinstituted as a leadership, service, and honorary fraternity [3]. President Sikes and a group of faculty selected the initial "cubs" of the Tiger Brotherhood. The group of faculty that helped Sikes was Mark Bradley, Aura M. Carkuff, W. W. Klugh, John Lane, John Logan Marshall, and Augustus M. Shanklin. Also, the "cubs" were C. E. Britt, M. D. Crook, H. S. Gault, T. L. Hughston, R. C. Harrington, R. E. McConnel, G. H. McCutchin, J. A. Maxwell, G. I. Parker, C. P. Philpot, E. R. Purvis, H. I. Sanedrs, C. W. Shelley, W. P. Timmercan, G. I. Thomason, W. H. Pressly, G. B. Whetstone, H. T. Williams, and T. G. Hanner. During this time, the members of the Tiger Brotherhood selected C.H. Philpot as president, L. W. Shelley as vice president, and H. S. Gault secretary treasurer. The first honorary member and leader of the club was John Logan Marshall, the initial founder. He was still very popular among the members.
President Sikes and the group of faculty was then tasked with drafting the code of ethics for the club. The official code of ethics strived "to meet others in every walk of life fairly, to be on one’s honor at all times, to help make a great Clemson, and to be a loyal son of Clemson".
The initial meeting room of the club was in the basement of the third barracks on campus. The room was covered completely with bamboo, which in effect made the room feel like a jungle hut. During the 1930s, the Tiger Brotherhood helped to bring musicians to campus. Additionally, the club served as an intermediary when there were times of trouble on campus.
Criteria for Membership:
The Tiger Brotherhood was seen as an honors fraternity and members were typically at the top of their class rank. At the end of each year the Tiger Brotherhood would take in one honors freshman from each school, and several outstanding sophomores [4].
For decades, the Tiger Brotherhood barred entry to only male students and faculty. In 1990, the club decided to allow females to become members [5]. They selected two female faculty members and three students to join the club. The female faculty members were Bonnie Dixon of the Clemson Alumni Center and Verna Howell of the Clemson Housing office, and the students were Kelly Ritter, Beth Emory, and Jennifer Dacus. The Tiger Brotherhood changed their policy on female membership to adapt to the upcoming 21st century. Tiger Brotherhood president Sam Irwin stated, "We decided as a group that this was the best way for us to get into the next century. We knew that we couldn't be getting the best people at the university when only half of them were eligible". By allowing women to become eligible for membership, the Tiger Brotherhood opened a level playing field for males and females to gain membership to this prestigious honors and service fraternity.
Was the Tiger Brotherhood a Secret Society?
Although all members of the Tiger Brotherhood wore a secret emblem under the lapel of their coats to keep their membership secret from the rest of the student body, there were aspects of the club that would not be considered secretive, such as posting their meeting times and location. For example, the 2/3/1932 edition of The Tiger posted where the Tiger Brotherhood held their meetings. This information helps conclude that the Tiger Brotherhood is not as secret of a society as one might think.
[1] "C.U. History", Series 37, Tiger Brotherhood, Clemson University
[2] University, Clemson, "The Tiger Vol. XXIII No. 19 - 1928-02-29" (1928). Tiger Newspapers. 880.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/tiger_newspaper/880
[3] Reel, Jerome V., "The High Seminary, Volume 1: A History of the Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina, 1889-1964" (2011). Restricted Access Titles. 2.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/restricted/2
[4] “Tiger Brotherhood Issues Bids to Honor Students”, Series 37, Tiger Brotherhood, Clemson University
[5] The Tiger 2/16/1990, Series 37, Clemson University
[6] University, Clemson, "Taps (1929)" (1929). Yearbooks. 30.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/yearbooks/30
[7] "C.U. History", Series 37, Tiger Brotherhood, Clemson University
[8] "T.B. First Female", Series 37, Tiger Brotherhood, Clemson University