Jack Lee Anson (August 3, 1924 – September 15, 1990) was an important leader in the American college interfraternity movement, and was known as "Mr. Fraternity." Under Anson's leadership as

executive director Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization. The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...

of the

North American Interfraternity Conference The North American Interfraternity Conference (or NIC; formerly known as the National Interfraternity Conference) is an association of intercollegiate men's social fraternities that was formally organized in 1910, although it began at a meeting ...

, college fraternities and sororities gained an exemption from

Title IX Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...

legislation to preserve the single-sex nature of the organizations.

Early life and education

A native of

Huntington, Indiana Huntington, known as the "Lime City", is the largest city in and the county seat of Huntington County, Indiana, United States. It is in Huntington and Union townships. It is also part of Fort Wayne, Indiana's metropolitan area. The population wa ...

, Anson graduated from high school there and worked briefly as a sports reporter for the Huntington Herald-Press. He then served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

in the European Theater, fighting in the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

and became the Army's youngest master sergeant following his actions in the battle. He graduated from Colgate University in 1948 where he was a member of

Phi Kappa Tau Phi Kappa Tau (), commonly known as Phi Tau (), is a collegiate fraternity located in the United States. The fraternity was founded in 1906. As of November 2022, the fraternity has 161 chartered chapters, 79 active chapters, 6 Associate chapte ...

fraternity. He did graduate work at

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the ...

in Oxford, where he started a 20-year professional association with Phi Kappa Tau.

Career

He spent his entire career in the service of the North American college fraternity movement. He served his own fraternity,

in a number of positions culminating with his appointment as executive director. In 1971, Anson became executive director of the

National Interfraternity Conference The North American Interfraternity Conference (or NIC; formerly known as the National Interfraternity Conference) is an association of intercollegiate men's social fraternities that was formally organized in 1910, although it began at a meeting a ...

, a position he held until his retirement in 1982. His most significant achievement was his leadership in the effort to gain an exemption from Title IX to retain the single-sex character of American college

fraternities A fraternity (from Latin ''frater'': "brother"; whence, " brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternity ...

and

sororities Fraternities and sororities are social organizations at colleges and universities in North America. Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an undergraduate student, but continues thereafter for life. Some accept gradua ...

. When Title IX was first passed, it looked as though student organizations such as fraternities and sororities would have to become co-educational. With the help of Senator

Birch Bayh Birch Evans Bayh Jr. (; January 22, 1928 – March 14, 2019) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1963 to 1981. He was first elected to office in 1954, when he won election to the India ...

, a fraternity man and other friendly members of Congress, an exemption was gained that has not been in significant jeopardy of repeal since that time. He was the author of ''The Golden Jubilee History of Phi Kappa Tau'' in 1957, ''A Diamond Jubilee History of the National Interfraternity Conference: 75 Glorious Years'' in 1984 and at the time of his death he was serving as editor of the current edition of ''

Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities ''Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities'' was a compendium of fraternities and sororities in the United States and Canada, published between 1879 and 1991.Lurding, Carroll and Becque, Fran. Almanac of Fraternities and Sororities'' Urban ...

''.

Legacy and honors

In 1982 he was awarded the key to the city of Indianapolis, and the Indiana's Sagamore of the Wabash award. In 1985, Anson won the Interfraternity world's highest honor, the Gold Medal of the

. In addition, he was widely honored by men's and women's Greek-letter organizations for his contributions to the North American college fraternity movement including awards from

Lambda Chi Alpha Lambda Chi Alpha (), commonly known as Lambda Chi, is a college fraternity in North America which was founded at Boston University in 1909. It is one of the largest social fraternities in North America, with more than 300,000 lifetime members a ...

Delta Gamma Delta Gamma (), commonly known as DG, is a women's fraternity in the United States and Canada with over 250,000 initiated members. It has 150 collegiate chapters and more than 200 alumnae groups. The organization's executive office is in Columbus ...

and others. In Anson's memory, the Association of Fraternity Advisors presents a Jack L. Anson Award and the National Interfraternal Foundation presents Jack L. Anson Fellowships.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anson, Jack L. 1924 births 1990 deaths Colgate University alumni North American Interfraternity Conference United States Army personnel of World War II Phi Kappa Tau People from Huntington, Indiana United States Army non-commissioned officers