The Loving Cup
The Loving Cup is endearing to Betas because of the significance of The Cup itself and occasions for the ceremony. When Pater Knox and his wife Isabel celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary, a solid silver Loving Cup was presented to the couple. In 1946 The Cup was returned to the Fraternity. Today, it resides in a specially designed exhibit in the Archives Museum, Administrative Office, Oxford, Ohio.
Oh, you and I can ne'er grow old while this fair cup is nigh, Here's life and strength, here's health and wealth, Here's all in phi kai phi.The Loving Cup Ceremony is of unknown origin having been performed as early as the 1903 Convention and probably predating Horace Lozier's The Loving Cup. Lozier said that the song was written for the 1902 songbook "in response to demand for copy." The ceremony is performed in the Mystic Circle, formed by Betas clasping hands alternatively with open arms and arms crossed right over left. As The Cup is passed, it is held at all times by the right hands of three men while the song is sung. The Cup is passed so that high ranking Fraternity officials drink first. The Cup may be passed to the left (preferred by Chandler) or to the right (preferred by Shepardson.)
The Loving Cup Presentation: The John Reily Knox Loving Cup was presented to Pater and Isabel Briggs Knox on the occasion of their golden wedding anniversary.
