"At nine o'clock on the evening of the eighth day of the eighth month of the year 1839..." 

Beta Theta Pi was founded at Miami University in the year 1839 by eight, bold young men. Since then, Beta has grown to around 9,000 undergraduates and nearly 130,000 living alumni. During this span of nearly 176 years, Beta has developed and refined many programs to help polish its members. From the Wooden Institute, to Keystone Conferences, or even Convention, Beta offers leadership development programs for its undergrads to help them grow and prepare for life after college.

Beta Theta Pi has been a pioneer of the idea for a General Fraternity Convention with its first one being held in 1842, allowing the fraternity to improve on each one thereafter. General Convention is where undergraduates, alumni, and friends of Beta from all over the country can come together to celebrate the Fraternity and the success of itself, as well as, its individual chapters. Further, "The award-winning John and Nellie Wooden Institute for Men of Principle is an incredible opportunity for initiated Betas that focuses on the ritual of Beta Theta Pi and becoming a better leader." While, "Keystone Regional Leadership Conferences are a high quality, regional education experience focusing on chapter officer development, principled leadership and volunteer training." Both of these programs have been so successful that they have received all numerous awards and endowments to support them. Keystone and Wooden are relatively new programs established by the Fraternity to develop Men of Principle while helping prepare its members to lead a chapter while also preparing for success later in life. It is recommended for every undergraduate to attend at least one program due to their capability to unleash potential.

For more information on any of these programs, please see the links below:

General Convention: http://beta.org/programs/general-convention/

Wooden Institute: http://beta.org/programs/wooden-institute/

Keystone Conference: http://beta.org/programs/keystone-conference/