Phi Delta Kappa (fraternity)

History

It was founded in 1874 at Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania when a chapter of Iota Alpha Kappa resolved to continue after Iota Alpha Kappa's dissolution. Chapters were founded at Western University in 1876, Thiel College in 1876, Lafayette College in 1876, and the University of Louisiana in 1878. By 1880, all of the chapters except for Washington & Jefferson College had become extinct. That chapter sought to survive by joining another fraternity. In 1881, the Washington & Jefferson College chapter joined Phi Gamma Delta, taking the designation of Alpha chapter, a designation that had belonged to the founding chapter of Phi Gamma at Jefferson College.