Delta Sigma Phi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
| Motto | "Better Men, Better Lives" (public) |
|---|---|
| Colors | Nile Green and Carnation White |
| Symbol | The Sphinx |
| Flower | White Carnation |
| Founded | December 10, 1899 at City College of New York |
| Fraternity type | Social |
| Scope | National |
| Headquarters | 1331 N. Delaware Street Indianapolis, Indiana, USA |
| Chapters | 93 Active Chapters, 10 Colonies |
| Founders | Meyer Boskey, Charles A. Tonsor, Jr. |
| Homepage | http://www.deltasig.org |
Delta Sigma Phi (ΔΣΦ, also known as DSP, Delta Sigs) is a fraternity established at the City College of New York in 1899 and is a charter member of the North-American Interfraternity Conference. The headquarters of the fraternity is the Taggart Mansion located in Indianapolis, Indiana. The mansion was once the home of former Indianapolis mayor and congressman Thomas Taggart and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Contents |
[edit] Symbols
In addition to the Sphinx, the lamp, lute (depicted as a lyre), the Gordian Knot and the Egyptian Pyramids are symbols of Delta Sigma Phi. The White Carnation was chosen as the fraternity's official flower because it contains the fraternity's colors; green and white. The publications of the fraternity are often named after its symbols:
- The Sphinx - an esoteric publication
- The Gordian Knot - the pledge manual
The Pledge Emblem - The Lute - the fraternity songbook
- The Carnation - the fraternity magazine
The pledge emblem is a white circle with a green equilateral triangle set inside of it. Gold lines radiate from the center of the emblem to the three points of the triangle in addition to outlining the circle and triangle. The pledge emblem is very prevalent in the symbology of the fraternity, not only is the emblem on the pledge pin, but the emblem also graces the flag, the membership badge and the basic design is also the basis of the fraternity's seal.
[edit] History
[edit] The Beginnings
At the end of the nineteenth century, fraternities were exclusively Christian or Jewish and barred membership to individuals on the basis of religion. When a group of friends at the City College of New York tried to join a fraternity, they were denied membership because the group was composed of Christians and Jews, in response they organized the first chapter of Delta Sigma Phi on December 10, 1899. The chapter was called Insula due to the chapter's location in Manhattan. In late 1902, with five members from Insula signing incorporation papers, Delta Sigma Phi was incorporated with the purpose to spread "the principles of friendship and brotherhood among college men, without respect to race or creed." By 1903 the fraternity had established chapters at Columbia University and New York University.
[edit] The Founders
Delta Sigma Phi considers Meyer Boskey and Charles A. Tonsor, Jr. to be its founders; Boskey was one of the founding members at Insula and Tonsor was a member at University Chapter at NYU. The pair were instrumental in steering the fraternity through the early days starting with the events that occurred in 1905.
In early 1905 the fraternity was growing rapidly, receiving petitions for membership from groups at MIT, Penn State and Washington and Lee University. A conference was called for the purpose of writing a constitution with a subsequent convention to elect national officers. At the 1905 Convention Tonsor was elected as National President and Boskey as National Secretary. It was also during this time that Boskey and Tonsor codified the ritual and symbols of the fraternity.
[edit] Early Troubles
The convention that laid much of the groundwork for the fraternity's growth almost proved to be its undoing. The convention was held at the lavish Park Avenue Hotel and the cost of the convention was to be defrayed by the selling of tickets to the attendees. However, few members outside of the New York City chapters bought tickets and the resulting deficit was large. It was through extraordinary fundraising efforts that the debt was paid but afterwards hard feelings would persist between members and chapters.
At this time many chapters were founded but many others closed or dis-affiliated and the fraternity changed from a New York fraternity to a fraternity with many chapters in the Midwest and South. Unfortunately, the feeling of good will between Christian and Jewish brothers had eroded despite the efforts of Boskey and Tonsor. Some chapters would blackball Jewish pledges before initiation, essentially going against the ideals of the founders. Those chapters would not get along with others and this led to a few chapters withdrawing their affiliation with Delta Sigma Phi.
[edit] The 1914 Convention
The 1914 Convention was held at the Iota Chapter house at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia with only half of the chapters sending delegates despite the efforts of John C. Harris, the National President at the time. At the convention, it was decided that it was in the best interests of the fraternity to become more like the other fraternities and restrict membership to men of Christian faith. This was done in hopes of restoring unity on a national level and to stem the tide of chapter defections.
A new constitution was soon drawn up to express that the belief in the triune Christian God as told in the New Testament was a prerequisite for membership and changes were made to the fraternity ritual. The changes were quickly ratified by the convention on the condition that the requirements were binding only to those who joined the fraternity after the adoption of the 1914 Constitution. Although their place in the fraternity was secure, many Jewish members left the organization; Meyer Boskey did not, although he withdrew from active participation in fraternity.
Upon Meyer Boskey's death in 1969, Tonsor commented that, "Meyer was not bitter. He understood and never gave up his loyalty to Delta Sigma Phi, knowing, as he told me, that time would prove the founders right."
In addition to the Christian clause, the 1914 Convention also saw the adoption of the current versions pledge pin, fraternity badge, coat of arms and ritual. It was also the first convention to end without a deficit, as many of the older members contributed generously to the fraternity's general fund.
[edit] Growth and World War I
In the two years after the 1914 Convention Delta Sigma Phi almost doubled in size with the addition of ten chapters. In 1915, the first West Coast chapter, Hilgard Chapter at UC Berkeley was installed. Hilgard Chapter was named after a Dean at University and is the only chapter in the fraternity without a Greek letter designation, taking the place of Xi Chapter.
As a testament to the geographic shift of the fraternity, the 1916 Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois. By this time, the fraternity had expanded the number of staff and a national headquarters was created at the Riebold Building at Dayton, Ohio.
When the United States entered World War I in 1917 Delta Sigma Phi had over one thousand initiates and nineteen active chapters. During the course of the war over three quarters of the fraternity's membership served the government in some capacity with half of that number in combat duty overseas. The publication of The Carnation, the fraternity's magazine, and the 1917 and 1918 Conventions were suspended for the duration of the war.
Even though the colleges and universities remained open during the war many chapters suspended their operations when most of their members were called to service. Some chapters never recovered from the disruptions of World War I.
[edit] The Roaring Twenties
Delta Sig went through continued expansion during the 1920's, at this time many local fraternities and other social clubs petitioned for fraternity membership. Among these local fraternities was Phi Nu fraternity at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada when Phi Nu was chartered as the Alpha Omicron chapter, Delta Sigma Phi became an international fraternity.
It was also during this time the fraternity published its first pledge manual, the Gordian Knot, it was based upon a manual previously published by the Epsilon Chapter at Penn State. The Gordian Knot is considered to be one of the first pledge manuals to be published on a fraternity-wide basis. Other traditions started at this time was the Sailors' Ball, first held at the Alpha Chi chapter at Stetson University. Today at many Delta Sig chapters, the Sailors' Ball is an annual event that is a semi-formal counterpart to the Carnation Ball, the fraternity's formal banquet.
[edit] Depression and World War II
A scant two months after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 the yearly convention was held in Richmond, Virginia. Despite the financial uncertainties of the time, a traveling secretary was added to the fraternity payroll. During the Great Depression the growth of the fraternity had ground to a halt; college enrollments declined and those who attended college were less likely to afford joining a fraternity. Several chapters became dormant and lost their equity in chapter properties. Among them were Alpha and Gamma; the remaining chapters in New York City.
The only chapter that was founded during the years of the Great Depression was Beta Lambda at Wake Forest. It was also during this time that the Executive Director, A.W. Defenderfer, moved the headquarters of the fraternity to his insurance offices in Washington, DC. Delta Sigma Phi was re-incorporated in Washington, DC in 1929.
Although the fraternity was rebounding by the late 1930's, World War II caused a disruption within the fraternity. Many members had joined in on the war effort leaving the chapters weak. It was during this time that the fraternity's only Canadian chapter at McGill University became dormant, with many of its members joining to Commonwealth forces. By 1944 only twelve of the fraternity's forty-three chapters were active.
[edit] Return to the Founders' Vision
After the war, the GI Bill gave many veterans had the chance to attend college. With an influx of new students, many of the dormant chapters of the fraternity were quickly re-activated. Another consequence of the GI Bill was the establishment of many new public universities. With more institutions that were open to fraternities, Delta Sigma Phi, along with many other Greek organizations, experienced their greatest period of growth in the Post-World War II era.
In the late 1940's college administrators across the country began to refuse expansion to fraternities which restrictive rules on membership. In response to the new rules the fraternity leadership amended the constitution of the national fraternity to remove all references to race or religion. However, the line "That the belief in God is essential to our welfare" the preamble was untouched and remains so to this day.
In a compromise to several southern chapters in the 1949 Convention, the amendments to the constitution were approved while language which barred the initiation of non-white and non-Christians were inserted into the fraternity ritual. Since the ritual was a private document and the constitution was a public one, this compromise appeased those who resisted integration of the fraternity while allowing it to expand to new universities.
The 1950's were a turbulent time for fraternities and sororities in general. While most of the national Greek organizations still had rules restricting membership a few chapters bucked those rules and initiated Jews and African Americans. Some of those chapters were suspended by their national organization while others disaffiliated from their national organizations and "went local." In 1957 the California Legislature threatened to pass Assembly Bill 758 which prohibited state universities and colleges from recognizing any student organization that "restricts its membership on the basis of either race, color, religion or national origin." Two years later the regents of the University of California passed a regulation that required all fraternities and sororities to sign a certificate stating that the organization does not have any discriminatory policies or face the loss of recognition.
The fraternity faced these issues in the 1959 Convention. While the fraternity was interested in maintaining their California chapters, there was opposition to any plan to integrate the entire fraternity. Several southern chapters passed resolutions against and relaxation of racial and religious restrictions and threatened to withdraw from the fraternity. A compromise was again reached where the current rules were not to be changed but exemptions were granted to chapters in danger to losing their recognition due to fraternity policies. The California chapters were immediately given exemptions.
In 1962, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education joined the University of California by requiring the integration of its fraternities and sororities. Exemptions were given to the chapters in Pennsylvania. While exemptions were originally granted to chapters in danger of losing recognition with their universities, the Beta Iota Chapter at Wittenberg University proved otherwise. In order to avoid bad publicity by refusing initiation to an African American who was a All-American athlete in addition to being an outstanding scholar, the fraternity granted the chapter an exemption.
The process of integration was slow and awkward in the fraternity. As a result of numerous compromises the fraternity remained intact on a national level. Civil Rights legislation finished the job that started with the granting of exemptions to certain chapters. Delta Sigma Phi again was universal brotherhood of man, just as the founders had intended.
[edit] Active chapters and colonies
[edit] North Region
- Beta, Columbia University
- Upsilon, Franklin and Marshall College
- Beta Theta, Lehigh University
- Beta Phi, Saint Francis University
- Gamma Pi, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
- Gamma Chi, Drexel University
- Epsilon Zeta, Clarkson University
- Eta Eta, Rochester Institute of Technology
- Eta Psi, Gallaudet University
- Eta Omega, Johnson & Wales University
- Theta Gamma, Stony Brook University
- Theta Theta, University of Hartford
- Theta Lambda, Dickinson College
- Theta Kappa, Oswego State University
- Theta Sigma, LaSalle University
- Theta Tau, Temple University
- Sigma, Thiel College
- Theta Delta Colony, Hofstra University
- Zeta Psi, Brockport State University
- University of Delaware Colony, University of Delaware
[edit] South Region
- Eta, University of Texas at Austin
- Phi, Saint Louis University
- Alpha Alpha, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Alpha Lambda, Millikin University
- Alpha Upsilon, Kansas State University
- Beta Beta, University of Missouri–Columbia
- Gamma Kappa, Western Illinois University
- Alpha Chi, Stetson University
- Gamma Xi, University of North Texas
- Gamma Psi, Morningside College
- Delta Pi, Stephen F. Austin State University
- Delta Psi, Eastern Illinois University
- Epsilon Lambda, Northwest Missouri State University
- Epsilon Omega, Illinois State University
- Zeta Zeta, Texas Tech University
- Zeta Pi, University of Louisiana at Monroe
- Zeta Upsilon, Eureka College
- Eta Phi, Southern Illinois University
- Theta Upsilon, Texas A & M University
- Theta Phi, University of Texas at San Antonio
- Delta Gamma Colony, University of Kansas
- Delta Epsilon Colony, University of Missouri–Rolla
[edit] South East Region
- Kappa, Auburn University
- Rho, North Carolina State University
- Alpha Delta,University of North Carolina
- Alpha Epsilon, Duke University
- Alpha Gamma, Georgia Institute of Technology
- Alpha Mu, University of Virginia
- Alpha Nu, Oglethorpe University
- Alpha Sigma, University of Maryland, College Park
- Alpha Chi, Stetson University
- Beta Mu, Transylvania University
- Delta Zeta, High Point University
- Delta Omicron, Western Carolina University
- Epsilon Phi, East Carolina University
- Zeta Chi, University of Alabama, Birmingham
- Eta Xi, Towson State University
- Eta Rho, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
- Theta Epsilon, Wingate University
- Theta Mu, University of Kentucky
- Theta Chi, University of Georgia
- Kappa Delta, Virginia Tech
- Shorter College Colony, Shorter College
- Georgia Southern Colony, Georgia Southern University
[edit] Great Lakes Region
- Tau, Hillsdale College
- Alpha Alpha,University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,[1]
- Alpha Eta, Alumni, Ohio Northern University
- Alpha Pi, Michigan State University
- Alpha Tau, Albion College
- Beta Iota, Wittenberg University
- Beta Pi, Michigan Technological University
- Beta Tau, Western Michigan University
- Gamma Tau, Eastern Michigan University
- Delta Delta, Purdue University
- Delta Omega, Cleveland State University
- Epsilon Beta, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
- Epsilon Delta, University of Wisconsin-Platteville
- Epsilon Iota, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
- Epsilon Tau, Grand Valley State University
- Zeta Lambda, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
- Zeta Xi, St. Cloud State University
- Zeta Tau, Lake Superior State University
- Eta Alpha, Milwaukee School of Engineering
- Eta Kappa, University of Michigan, Dearborn
- Eta Upsilon, Indiana State University
- Eta Omicron, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
- Theta Omicron, Shawnee State University
- Bowling Green Colony, Bowling Green State University
[edit] West Region
- Beta Gamma, University of California, Los Angeles
- Beta Nu, California State University- Fresno
- Beta Omega, University of Arizona
- Beta Psi, Arizona State University
- Gamma Alpha, San Diego State University
- Gamma Delta, Washington State University
- Gamma Iota, University of Idaho
- Gamma Sigma, University of California, Davis
- Gamma Upsilon, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
- Delta Lambda, Utah State University
- Epsilon Pi, Woodbury University
- Epsilon Rho, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
- Epsilon Sigma, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
- Zeta Omicron, California State University, East Bay
- Zeta Sigma, University of California, San Diego
- Eta Beta, California State University, San Bernardino
- Eta Chi, New Mexico State University
- Theta Nu, Idaho State University
- Theta Rho, University of Oregon
- Beta Epsilon Colony, Oregon State University
- Johnson & Wales-Denver Colony, Johnson & Wales University-Denver Campus
[edit] Famous alumni
- Clair Bee, Waynesburg '23, member, Basketball Hall of Fame
- Mike Bellotti, UC Davis '70, Head Football Coach, University of Oregon
- Rev. Lawrence Biondi, Loyola '74, President, St. Louis University
- Jim Bouton, Western Michigan '59, Former Major League Pitcher and author of Ball Four
- Albert P. Brewer, Alabama '48, Former Governor, State of Alabama
- Frank T. Carey, Hillsdale, Former Chairman and CEO, IBM
- Robert Carothers, Edinboro of PA '62, President, University of Rhode Island
- Ralph E. Cindrich, Pittsburgh '68, Former NFL Football Player, Houston Oilers
- Robert Cook, Kansas State University '83', Senior Vice-President, Wells Fargo Bank
- Herb "Fritz" Crisler, Former Head Football Coach and Athletic Director, University of Michigan
- James J. Davis, Pittsburgh '23, Former Secretary of Labor of the United States
- Michael K. Deaver, San Jose State '59, Former Assistant White House Chief of Staff, Reagan Administration
- Thomas Harkin, Iowa State '60 , United States Senator, State of Iowa
- Mike Hayden, Kansas State University '64, Former Governor of Kansas.
- Giti Khalsa, Ohio State '89, Drummer, Seven Mary Three
- John E. McLaughlin, Wittenberg '61, Former Deputy (and later Interim) Director of Central Intelligence
- Mike Shanahan, Eastern Illinois '71, Head Coach, Denver Broncos
- Joe Tiller, Montana State '63, Head Football Coach, Purdue University
- William Todd Tiahrt, SD School of Mines '70, Member, United States House of Representatives, State of Kansas
- Mike Turner Ohio Northern '79, Member, United States House of Representatives, State of Ohio
- Charles R. Walgreen, III, Michigan '55, Former President and CEO, Walgreen's
- Gilbert P. Williamson, San Jose State '58, Former President and CEO, NCR Corporation
- Eric Angle, Waynesburg College '91, former WWE wrestler, brother of current WWE wresler Kurt Angle.
[edit] Chapter nick names
- Delta Sigs at Epsilon Omega chapter of Illinois State University go by the nickname "Squids"
- Delta Sigs at Sigma chapter of Thiel College go by the nickname "Sig Pigs"
- Delta Sigs at chapters in the state of Michigan go by the nickname "Delt Sigs"
- Delta Sigs at Beta Mu chapter of Transylvania University go by "Sigs"
- Delta Sigs at Alpha Chi chapter of Stetson University are called the "Digs"
- Delta Sigs at Theta Delta Colony of Hofstra University are called "DSP"
- Delta Sigs at Alpha Gamma chapter of Georgia Tech go by the nickname "Delta Sigs"
[edit] References
- Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity (2005). History. Retrieved August 19, 2005.
- Sanford, Charles (1995). Bonds of Brotherhood; The History of Delta Sigma Phi. Heritage Publishers, Inc.. ISBN 0-929690-27-3.
