"Zeta Psi is an old, elite, and intimate brotherhood. Since 1847 we have taken pride in the caliber of schools we are at and the quality of men we invite to join. Zeta Psi lives at the best schools in the United States and Canada, and from them, recruits the finest of men - leaders, scholars, athletes, brothers." - Zeta Psi Website

"...at the seventieth convention of Zeta Psi, the brothers adopted a resolution in support of the war-which the United States Congress had itself only declared a few weeks previously - :

WHEREAS, The United States of America has been forced into the World War in defense of its national honor and for the protection of international justice and democracy;

BE IT RESOLVED, That the Zeta Psi Fraternity of North America, at the Seventieth Annual Convention assembled at Raleigh, North Carolina, hereby pledges to the President and Congress of the United States of America its unqualified support of whatever war measures the Government may deem necessary and expedient, and places at the disposal of the Government its national organization, its Chapters, and its individual members, for service in whatever capacities the government may direct.

Nor was the pledge mere idle words nor fatuous boasting. Over one quarter of all brethren of Zeta Psi would serve during the First World War in foreign lands, and many did not return." - Zeta Psi Website

 

The nearly all-white demographic of the time, and which is presented even now on the Zeta Psi website's list of accomplished members, along with the presentation of a strong patriotic sense of duty, likely worked in the fraternity's favor when the urge to participate in unseemly or unlawful behavior became irresistible.