Fraternities Founded from 1860-1899
Several factors changed in higher education during this period. The
Morrill Act of 1862 stimulated the creation of land-grant colleges which
resulted in more diversified curricula adding agriculture, engineering,
and the sciences to the traditional classics, theology, and liberal arts.
Faculties began to welcome student self-government. Enrollment was growing
rapidly and institutions could not house and feed everyone. The civil War
closed many Southern chapters and their national organizations were
reluctant to return to the South. A few fraternities were spawned
specifically to expand in the South and capitalize on the absence of
organizations that once had powerful chapters. An increasing US
population, that in itself was becoming more diverse, eventually was
reflected in the college population.
| Theta
Xi
|
1864
|
The only fraternity founded during the Civil War.
Founded primarily for engineering majors and initially planned to
expand only to schools with engineering programs. It changed to a
general social fraternity in 1926. |
|
|
| Alpha Tau
Omega
|
1865
|
Founded by 3 young Confederate soldiers who had been
cadets at VMI during the war. Their prime object was to restore the
Union by uniting fraternally young men of the South with those of
the North. It was the first fraternity established after the Civil
War. The first 22 chapters founded were in the South. The first
Northern chapter was chartered in 1881. |
|
|
| Kappa Alpha
Order
|
1865
|
Founded at Washington and Lee. While its alumni rolls
includes men from every part of the nation and alumni chapters are
found throughout the continental US, the territorial expansion of
active chapters, however, has been limited by policy. However, there
is nothing of a sectional or regional nature in either the Ritual or
the Constitution which would prohibit further expansion into any
section of the country. |
|
|
| Kappa Sigma Kappa
|
1867
|
Founded at VMI by 4 cadets to assist the school
administration in subduing pranksters from two rival groups on
campus. Small enrollment and faculty opposition to fraternities in
the 1880s affected growth. Chapters became inactive, the last three
affiliated with another fraternity in 1886. In 1935 a group of
students at the University of Virginia reactivated the old Delta
Chapter which expanded; however in 1962, twenty-one chapters merged
with Theta Xi. |
|
|
| Pi Kappa Alpha
|
1868
|
Founded at the University of Virginia. Although not
founded to be regional, the 1889 convention restricted expansion to
the South. The 1904 convention authorized chapters in the Southwest.
The 1909 convention in New Orleans lifted regional restrictions
within the US and in 1933 permission to expand to Canada was
granted. |
|
|
| Sigma Nu
|
1869
|
Founded at VMI by 3 cadets. Organization
proceeded from the VMI Legion of Honor, a secret society
dedicated to the eradication of hazing and other immature practices.
At the time of their founding, one of the founders as a Mason. |
|
|
| Kappa
Sigma
|
1869
|
Founded at the University of Virginia. It
was established as an extension of, and was named for, a secret
university organization at the University of Bologna in Italy. Three
of the founding group had studied there. One of the founding members
was also a Master Mason. |
|
|
| Phi Sigma Kappa
|
1873
|
Founded at Massachusetts Agricultural
College (now U of MA) by 6 sophomores. Founded upon the teachings of
the Golden Rule. The first chapter was multi-professional. The
second chapter became restricted to medical students and the third
to law students. |
|
|
| Phi Kappa Theta
|
1889
|
Founded at Brown and Lehigh Universities
since it is a consolidation of an equal basis of two predecessor
national fraternities - Phi Kappa (1889) and Theta Kappa Phi (1902).
Both were founded by Catholic students. The initiation ritual is
based on a ceremony written by an SAE, who was a Catholic Priest who
had been a minister of the Episcopal Church. PKT was one of the
earliest fraternities to adopt a specific colonization procedure. |
|
|
| Delta Chi
|
1890
|
Founded at Cornell Law School. Initially
restricted to law students. There have been minimal changes to its
ritual since its writing. In 1921 it opened its ranks to all
students. |
|
|
| Pi Lambda Phi
|
1895
|
Founded at Yale. Founded by 3 students of
different religious backgrounds. Their aim was to form a
college fraternity on lines broader and more liberal than those
employed at the present time - one in which all men are brothers.
Formed primarily as a protest against fraternities that excluded
Jewish men as well as against the establishment of exclusively
Jewish fraternities. Merged with Phi Beta Delta in 1941, Beta Sigma
Tau in 1960, and Beta Sigma Rho in 1972. |
|
|
| Alpha Chi Rho
|
1895
|
Founded at Trinity College by an Episcopal
clergyman and 4 students, one of who was his son. The Father was a
member of a local fraternity at Trinity which later became a chapter
of Psi Upsilon. Founded upon the concept of the "brotherhood of
all men." |
|
|
| Sigma Pi
|
1897
|
Founded as Tau Phi Delta Society at
Vincennes University. Several alumni attempted to found a second
chapter but were discouraged by the Vincennes local. In 1907
the name was changed to Sigma Pi Fraternity of the United States for
the purpose of becoming a national fraternity. It merged with Delta
Kappa, a small national, in 1964. With the establishment of a
Canadian chapter in 1985, the fraternity became international. |
|
|
| Zeta Beta Tau
|
1898
|
Founded by a group of young men attending
several universities in New York City who gathered at the Jewish
Theological Seminary. After about 2 years the older members
scattered and its original Zionist objective eliminated, and in its
place a social college fraternity came into being. In 1969 ZBT
merged with Phi Sigma Delta (which had previously merged with Phi
Alpha). In 1970 it merged with Phi Epsilon Pi (which had previously
merged with Kappa Nu). ZBT became non-sectarian in 1954. In 1988,
ZBT eliminated the institution of pledging, being the first
fraternity to do so. |
|
|
| Tau Kappa Epsilon
|
1899
|
Founded as the Knights of Classic Lore at
Illinois Wesleyan University. Changed to Tau Kappa Epsilon in 1902.
Nationalization was proclaimed in 1901. |
|
|
| Delta Sigma Phi
|
1899
|
Founded at the College of New York City.
Quickly followed by two other chapters at schools in the New York
area. Founded as a non-sectarian organization with no racial
restrictions. In 1914, they amended the Constitution to require
members to be Christian. |
|
|
| The
information on this page is for information only. Every attempt has
been made to make the information accurate. Please report any
inaccuracies to historian@sigepsouth.org |
