One of North America's oldest fraternities, as of August 2023 it consists of 150 active chapters and colonies in the United States and Canada.

A student of the school, John Reily Knox, began to gather members of both the Erodelphian and Union Literary Societies to create a new fraternity.

In a letter that he wrote four years after the founding of the Alpha chapter, Knox said that other fraternities being formed possessed "many objectionable features which rendered them liable to be used as engines of evil as well as instruments of good.

[9] The five core values espoused by Beta Theta Pi are cultivation of intellect, responsible conduct, mutual assistance, integrity, and trust.

The fraternity explains it represents courage and respect, depicted as "...calm and caring, rather than [as] many other dragons that are made to seem threatening or aggressive."

"[10] The badge of Beta Theta Pi was designed to be worn by members of the association under their original constitution that was produced and published in 1839.

The pledge pin looks similar to the Beta badge, it is an 8-sided shield of white and gold that has 3 golden 5-pointed stars running diagonally across it.

Delicate shades of pink and blue symbolize gentlemen and chivalry, and were chosen for Beta because of their difficulty to produce and sensitivity to stains.

Many times people have tried to change the official Beta colors to darker shades of blue and red but these ideas have always been turned down quickly.

As part of a multi-year dispute over co-ed student housing issues, the Beta Theta Pi chapter at Wesleyan University had been refusing access to campus security personnel.

[20][21][22][23][24] In March 2013, the Carnegie Mellon University chapter was suspended following a police investigation of sexually explicit videos and photographs of female students circulating among members.

[28][29] In 2017, the Pennsylvania State University chapter was permanently disbanded due to the death of a pledge, Tim Piazza, related to hazing and alcohol abuse.