Delta Chi () is an international collegiate social fraternity. It was formed in 1890 at Cornell University as a professional fraternity for law students, becoming a social fraternity in 1922. In 1929. Delta Chi became one of the first international fraternities to abolish "hell week". It is a charter member of the North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC). Delta Chi has initiated over 116,000 members at over 110 chapters.

History

Founding

According to Frederick Moore Whitney, two or three groups were working on the idea of a new law fraternity during the spring of 1889. After the class election, there were meetings held in Myron McKee Crandall's apartment as well as in Monroe Marsh Sweetland's law office. It is not clear how these two groups came together, though there seem to have been some individuals who had attended both groups.

thumb|The founders of the Delta Chi Fraternity

Over the summer of 1890, many of the details of the organization were worked out by Myron Mckee Crandall, who had stayed in Ithaca until after school opened. Regarding the adoption of the constitution, Albert Sullard Barnes wrote the following in a 1907 Quarterly article:<blockquote>As I recall it, after refreshing my recollection from the original minutes now in my possession, on the evening of October 13, 1890, six students in the Law School, Brothers John M. Gorham, Thomas J. Sullivan, F.K. Stephens, A.D. Stillman and the writer, together with Myron Crandall and O.L. Potter, graduate students, and Monroe Sweetland, a former Student in the Law School, met in a brother's room and adopted the constitution and by-laws, and organized the Delta Chi Fraternity.</blockquote>Its founding fathers were Albert Sullard Barnes, Myron McKee Crandall, John Milton Gorham, Peter Schermerhorn Johnson, Edward Richard O'Malley, Owen Lincoln Potter, Alphonse Derwin Stillman, Thomas Allen Joseph Sullivan, Monroe Marsh Sweetland, Thomas David Watkins, and Frederick Moore Whitney. Potter was the first president.

The fraternity was recognized by Cornell on October 13, 1890, now considered the group's founding date. As a professional law fraternity, Delta Chi had originally allowed members from other general fraternities to join. The change in policy led to the loss of chapters in New York Law School, West Virginia University, Northwestern University, and Washington University in St. Louis.

In 1930, Delta Chi had chartered 42 chapters, 15 alumni chapters, and had initiated 8,301 members. The fraternity's colors are red and buff. Delta Chi has raised over one million dollars for the V Foundation. There is also a Housing Corporation to manage chapter or provisional chapter housing facilities and all legal responsibilities of such management. The Housing Corporation is a separate, incorporated legal entity.

The undergraduate officers are designated by single letters, including A (president), B (vice president), C (secretary), D (treasurer), E (historian), F (sergeant at arms).

alt=Delta Chi chapter house at Ohio State University|thumb|Delta Chi chapter house at [[Ohio State University]]

Chapters

Delta Chi has chartered more than 110 chapters. Delta Chi chapters and provisional chapters (colonies) are named by institution, and sometimes by self-naming. Therefore, its first chapter is known as the Cornell Chapter.

Notable members

Delta Chi has initiated more than 127,200 members.

Local chapter misconduct

In February 2021, Virginia Commonwealth University's chapter was suspended after freshman Adam Oakes died of alcohol poisoning after an off-campus fraternity party. The VCU chapter was later expelled from the university three months after Oakes's death, after the university found that the chapter had violated several university policies, including those on hazing and alcohol.

On January 25, 2026, the University of Michigan's chapter was suspended after sophomore Lucas Mattson was found dead on January 24th.

In May 2026, a fraternity member at Louisiana State University turned himself in to the local police for a rape at the fraternity house.

See also

  • List of social fraternities

References

  • The Delta Chi Fraternity
  • The Delta Chi Educational Foundation
  • The V Foundation