Rebecca Shapiro Thesis (11 May 2011).pdf - Brandeis Institutional ...

The fraternity headquarters staff likewise transitioned into entirely new functions.National fraternity offices transformed overnight into centers to facilitate correspondence.Fraternity headquarters kept track of where members were stationed and through theirjournals they notified everyone when a member was missing, taken prisoner, wounded orkilled. Often times, brothers would be stationed in the same base or ship and woulddiscover their proximity to one another through the military correspondence facilitated bythe organizations. ZBT sent the ZBT bulletin to all of its members stationed abroad andpurposefully included the "Get Acquainted bulletin" which listed the last knownaddresses and names or civilian hosts and chapters willing to help. 134 AEPI similarlyarranged a convention for soldiers and sent letters to the national office, which were thenforwarded to family members and friends.In addition to facilitating wartime correspondence, the fraternities set up funds tosend gifts to the men in service. Unsure of how to respond following America’s entranceinto war, organizations sought advice from the servicemen themselves. ZBTheadquarters sent inquiries to seventy brothers questioning how they could best help.The brothers requested food, newspapers, cigarettes and other reading material, whichwas then purchased by the organization and distributed by the armed forces. AEPIestablished the "Servicemen's Fund" under the auspices of the Armed ServicesCommittee. AEPI sent service wallets, checkers sets and other items with AEPI insigniato members in service. The sororities, such as Alpha Epsilon Phi, helped the war effortby using their ration coupons to feed fraternity men stationed nearby.ZBT later engaged in a project entitled "Service Men's Service." Through SMS,each serviceman, regardless of his location, was sent regular shipments which included134 Sanua, Here's To Our Fraternity, 15537