Delta Phi (ΔΦ) is a fraternity founded in 1827 at Union College in Schenectady, New York. Along with the Kappa Alpha Society and Sigma Phi Society, Delta Phi was the third and last member of the Union Triad.
Delta Phi and the other fraternities of the Union Triad were established during a time of strong anti-Masonic sentiment in the United States. Because fraternities were secret societies at the time, they also became targets of the anti-Masonic movement. This led Phi Beta Kappa, the original fraternity, to abandon secrecy and become an honor society.
In the early 1830s, Dr. Eliphalet Nott, president of Union College, called for the dissolution of all fraternities. Before this policy could be enacted, John Jay Hyde, a member of Delta Phi, argued the benefits of the fraternity system so convincingly that Nott relented and permitted the organizations to remain in existence. Hyde went on to design the badge still worn by members of Delta Phi, which includes a Maltese Cross, a symbol used by the Knights of Malta.
This connection to the Knights of Malta led Delta Phi to become known as "The St. Elmo Club", a name first used by the Omicron chapter at Yale University, which since has transformed into a senior secret society known as St. Elmo Society. The brothers there used the name of St. Elmo, the patron saint of mariners and the Knights of Malta. Some of Delta Phi's chapter houses are also known as "St. Elmo Hall".
Delta Phi remains a small fraternity with twelve active chapters and few chapters with more than several dozen members. It has resisted expansion in order to create an "intimate, personal experience" for its members. The fraternity's current expansion policy is to reactivate dormant chapters. As a member of the Union triad, Delta Phi is the third oldest fraternity in the United States.
Governance and organization
Owing mostly to its development in the early 19th century, Delta Phi organizes itself federally. Individual alumni chapters still exercise significant power over chapter governance. Those powers that are given in the national organization are vested in the Board of Governors. The board consists of one member appointed from each alumni chapter plus two undergraduate representatives elected at the annual leadership conference the fraternity sponsors. Among the duties given to the board is hiring the Executive Director who oversees day-to-day management of the fraternity.
In addition to the national governing organization of the fraternity, Delta Phi alumni have also established the Saint Elmo Foundation which, among other things, sponsors the annual leadership weekend and provides scholarships to undergraduate members of Delta Phi.
Overall alumni participation among active chapters remains strong, with chapters hosting several social events throughout the year.
Alumni status in Delta Phi also qualifies one to apply for membership in the Saint Elmo Club, a private social club which operates at 3 West 51st Street in the Manhattan borough of New York City.
On or about November 17 of every year, the national organization sponsors the Founder's Day Dinner at the Saint Elmo Club where undergraduates and alumni celebrate the founding of the fraternity.
Benjamin Burroughs, Presbyterian minister from Savannah, Georgia
William Hun Fondey, attorney from Albany, New York
Samuel Lewis Lamberson, Presbyterian minister from Jamaica, New York
Samuel C. Lawrison, United States Navy surgeon from Pensacola, Florida
David Hervey Little, New York Supreme Court Justice from Rochester, New York
John Mason, clergyman from Jamaica, New York
Joseph Griffiths Masten, Mayor of Buffalo from Buffalo, New York
Thomas Clark McLaury, clergyman from Lisbon, New York
William Wilson, President of the College of Cincinnati from Ireland
There are 13 active chapters of Delta Phi.
Beta - Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 1830-2011[*]
Gamma - New York University, New York, New York, 1841
Epsilon - Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1845
Eta - University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1849
Lambda - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, 1864
Nu - Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 1884
Xi - Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, 1885
Pi - Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 1891
Rho - University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, 1908
Phi - Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, 1940
Psi - Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, 2015
Chi - Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, 1950
Omega - University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1968
Omega Alpha - College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1987
[*] An active fraternity that is no longer affiliated with the national organization
There are 14 inactive chapters of Delta Phi, including the Beta Chapter.
Alpha - Union College, Schenectady, New York, 1827–1999
Delta - Columbia University, New York, New York, 1842–2001
Zeta - Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1845–1901
Theta - Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, 1854–1877
Iota - University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1855–1936
Kappa - University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 1855–1861
Mu - Colgate University, Hamilton, New York, 1874–1876
Omicron - Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, 1889–1925
Sigma - Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, 1917–2001
Tau - University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois, 1920-2009
Upsilon - Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, 1926–1965
Psi - Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, 1960–2007
Omega Beta - Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana, 1994–2001
John Jay Hyde - Α
George Low - Λ - NASA administrator and 14th President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Garret A. Hobart - E - Vice President of the United States under McKinley
George C. Ludlow - E - Governor of New Jersey
Paolo Montalbán - E - actor of stage and screen
Maj. Gen. George Henry Sharpe - E - Civil War spymaster
Howard Crosby - Γ - preacher; Chancellor of NYU
Edgar Fawcett (1847–1904) - Δ - novelist and poet
The Harper Brothers - Δ - founders of Harper & Brothers publishing group
John Pierpont Morgan, Jr. - Ζ - financier; founder of JP Morgan Bank and Morgan Stanley
John Jacob Astor IV - Ζ - industrialist and philanthropist
James Roosevelt - Ζ - General, congressman; son of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Halsey Minor - Ρ - co-founder and former CEO of CNET Inc.
Marvin Bush - Ρ - George W. Bush's younger brother
Thomas B. Evans, Jr. - P - US Congressman
Alexander Smith - T - Batman
Stanley Forman Reed - Ρ - Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Charles Scribner - Θ - founder of Charles Scribner's Sons publishing group
Russell Wayne Baker - Ξ - Pulitzer Prize–winning writer; former host of PBS show Masterpiece Theatre
Sullivan Ballou - B - author of famous Civil War love letter at the First Battle of Bull Run
Finn Wentworth N - businessman; COO and owner of New York Yankees; founder of YES Network; philanthropist
George Santayana - Z - Spanish author and philosopher famous for noting that "those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it"
George Will - Σ - Pulitzer Prize-winning conservative newspaper columnist, journalist, and author
George Macready - B - actor
William P. Carey - H - founder of W. P. Carey & Co.; established the Carey Business School at Johns Hopkins University, the Carey School of Law at the University of Maryland School of Law, and the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University
