The History of Chi Phi Fraternity

For someone greatly interested in the history of fraternities and sororities, the Chi Phi Fraternity's story really stands out. The organization, as it exists today, is a combination of three older organizations that officially united in 1874.

The first of the three groups is the Chi Phi Society, known in the history of the fraternity as the Princeton Order of Chi Phi. It was established at the College of New Jersey, later Princeton University, on December 24, 1824. This society ceased to be active in 1825. Thirty years later, in the winter of 1853-54, the old constitution and ritual of the Chi Phi Society of 1824 were discovered. The material was used to re-establish the Princeton chapter and form a second chapter of the Chi Phi Society at Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania in 1854. The Princeton chapter became inactive in 1869. 

The second group is the Chi Phi Fraternity now known in the organization's history as the Southern Order of Chi Phi. It was founded at the University of North Carolina on August 21, 1858. 

The third group is the Secret Order of Chi Phi, which is now known in the history of the fraternity as the Hobart Order of Chi Phi. It was formed at Hobart College in New York on November 14, 1860.

Five years later, the Secret Order of Chi Phi at Hobart learned of the existence of the Chi Phi Society at Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania and on May 29,1867, the two societies formally united.

In early winter of 1865-66, the Hobart alumni in New York learned of the existence of the Chi Phi Fraternity in the South. Negotiations for the union were initiated but languished through the years until the union was finally accomplished during a meeting in Washington, D.C. on March 27, 1874. 

While the Chi Phi Fraternity of today was actually founded in 1854, the members of the organization place great emphasis on the 1824 date because of many aspects that were carried over from the original records discovered in 1854. 

In honor of the 1824 initial founding date, happy anniversary to all members of the Chi Phi Fraternity!