Reviewed by Louella Moore Indiana State University
This is the second of two volumes on the history of Beta Alpha Psi. This volume discusses four eras: (1) Postwar Expan-sionist 1946-60, Chapters 1-8; (2) Moderate Reformist, 1961-70, Chapters 9-12; (3) Activist Participation, 1971-79, Chapters 13-14; and (4) Decentralized Consolidation: The First Five Years, 1980-84, Chapters 15-16. End materials include indices for Volumes 1 and 2.
Chapter 1 details events in the expansion of membership opportunities to women, steps in the integration of racial minorities, and cases of early religious discrimination. Other major themes of Part I include reactivation of chapters after WWII, debates over the need to include only accredited programs, scholastic requirements for membership, honorary versus professional aspects of membership, and the origination of the activity program. Chapter 7 includes an inspiring story of the role of the A. J. Penz family in the tradition of chapter banners while Chapter 8 relates a number of shorter fraternal anecdotes.
Part II discusses moderate reforms caused by pressures of increasing size. Changes in the activity program, modifications of the initiation ceremony, greater commitment to chapter visitation, and problems of graduate and branch university chapters are highlighted. The creation of a separate director of activities, election of two women councilors, the creation of a National Advisory Council, and the beginnings of regional and annual meetings were the major events of the Activist Participation program of the seventies.
The Decentralized Consolidation period is named for the creation of a permanent home in Sarasota, Florida, coupled with the creation of Area Councilorships. Part IV also details the evolution of the Associates program for supplemental funding, case study competitions, and the creation of Alumni groups.
The work is based on interviews of twenty-two former national presidents of the organization, documents supplied by other past presidents, newsletters, and surveys of local chapters. Photographs were obtained from national files, individuals, and several university archives. The variety of sources, especially the individual interviews, capture an important aspect of accounting history that otherwise would have been lost in only a few more years. The depth and detail of the two volume set makes them a potentially valuable resource for academic researchers of the history of accounting education.
The work was produced with only minimal direction from the national headquarters as is evidenced by the fact that some unpleasant events in the history of Beta Alpha Psi were not excluded from the work. In the cases of religious, racial, and gender bias within the organization, the author presents not only the evidence but also makes an effort to place the incidents within their proper context. Consequently, the historical record within Beta Alpha Psi also speaks to broader issues within the accounting profession as a whole. In other cases, such as reports of rumored petty jealousies among Council members, the redeeming value of such reports is less clear. The inclusion of such information seems more a matter of source bias than of a need to know. Those leaders who submitted to personal interviews were more negatively portrayed than those who supplied only written documents for the author’s use.
This is not the first time Beta Alpha Psi has asked an author to produce a history of the fraternity. As early as 1966 A. J. Penz was nominated to produce a 10-12 page document for distribution at an anniversary celebration and for use in educating new initiates about the fraternity. Penz’s effort actually produced a 57 page document, but too late for the celebration. The fraternity also sponsored the production of a videotape in 1981 of a conversation between two past Grand Councilor’s Fred Mueller and Herb Miller.
Sheldahl’s total length of 1689 pages gives it the status of being the most comprehensive and authoritative historical rec-ord of Beta Alpha Psi to date. Yet the length and tedious detail severely limit its usefulness to student members and local faculty advisors. Judicious use of graphic analyses would have been more succinct and enlightening than the pages of description devoted to initiation trends and details of rising secretarial costs within the organization. The length factor is compounded by the fact that the indices are categorized primarily by names of persons, schools, chapters, and organizations. Classification by major issues is omitted. Furthermore, the preponderance of typographical errors seems inexcusable with the availability of word processors with spelling checkers. This unfortunate flaw may give an undesired message to those few student readers courageous enough to attempt the volumes.
