Zeta Beta Tau is an amalgamation of what were once five seperate fraternities:

• Kappa Nu
• Phi Alpha
• Phi Epsilon Pi
• Phi Sigma Delta
• Zeta Beta Tau

Zeta Beta Tau was the first of the five. It was inspired by Richard J. H. Gottheil, a professor of languages at Columbia University. On December 29, 1898, Professor Gottheil gathered together a group of Jewish students from several New York City universities to form a Zionist society called Z.B.T. The society came to serve as a kind of fraternal body for college students who, as Jews, were largely prevented from joining existing fraternities because of the sectarian practices which then prevailed in the country. The continuing need for a Greek-letter fraternity open to Jewish students prompted Z.B.T. to change its structure and emphasis and to become Zeta Beta Tau.

By 1903, Zeta Beta Tau had adopted its first constitution and established chapters at a number of New York area universities, thereby beginning to gain recognition among the existing Greek-letter fraternities. As many new fraternities were being established, ZBT expanded rapidly. By 1909, it had established 13 chapters throughout the Northeast and a 14th at Tulane University in New Orleans, thereby taking on a truly national dimension.

In the period shortly after World War II, there began to emerge a body of opinion that felt there was no longer a place for sectarianism in the Zeta Beta Tau brotherhood. In 1954, Zeta Beta Tau passed a amendment to its Constitution which eliminated sectarianism as a qualification for membership.

As more and more people began attending college, more and more colleges were established to accommodate them. Spearheaded by the growth of state and municipal university systems, hundreds of new institutions were opened in the quarter century following World War II, and by the 1960's virtually every American had an opportunity to attend college at a cost they could afford. Due to this new trend, ZBT chapters increased from 30 to 80 during the span of 1945 to 1969. In time, it became apparent to many fraternities that they could not remain competitive with other fraternities which had seized the opportunity for growth, advanced management and increased member programming. Rather than fade out of existence or otherwise deny their members the chance for a fraternity experience, a number of fraternities consummated mergers. The history of mergers in the Zeta Beta Tau brotherhood followed a pattern of linking common traditions. In 1959, Phi Alpha merged into Phi Sigma Delta, and in 1961 Kappa Nu merged into Phi Epsilon Pi. In 1969-70, Phi Sigma Delta and Phi Epsilon Pi merged into Zeta Beta Tau. The Vietnam conflict caused the Zeta Beta Tau roster to dip from a high of 145 chapters in 1969-70, to a low of 56 chapters in 1973. It wasn't really until 1981 that Zeta Beta Tau recovered its position of strength and stability. Many of the chapters that were forced to close in the 1970's have now been rechartered, and are running strong.