Sigma Phi Delta History

Sigma Phi Delta: Engineers Build a Fraternity, 1928-2002 Jonathan S. Coit Graduate Assistant, Greek Housing History Project June 3, 2002 Information courtesy of University of Illinois Archives and the Society for the Preservation of Greek Housing This history was produced as part of the Society for the Preservation of Greek Housing’s Greek Housing History Project. The Society was founded in 1988, with the goal of preserving the physical buildings that embody the history of the nation’s largest Greek system, and educating the public about the historical significance of fraternities and sororities on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus. Dues paid by member fraternity and sorority chapters and donations from Chapter Alumni fund the Society’s work. In keeping with their mission, the Society began the Greek Housing History Project in May 2000 in conjunction with the University of Illinois Archives. The GHHP aims for nothing less than producing a complete historical record of fraternities and sororities on the University of Illinois campus, by employing a graduate assistant to research and write histories of campus chapters. Making the work possible are the extensive collections of the University of Illinois Archives, especially its Student Life and Culture Archival Program. Supported by an endowment from the Stewart S. Howe Foundation, the heart of the SLC Archives is the Stewart S. Howe collection, the world’s largest collection of material related to fraternities and sororities. 2002 The Society for the Preservation of Greek Housing and the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. All rights reserved. Sigma Phi Delta in the Fraternity Boom: 1924-1928 Sigma Phi Delta was constituted as a national fraternity near the end of a major fraternity boom. Alpha Chapter was founded at the University of Southern California April 11, 1924. Fraternities expanded dramatically in the 1920s, as can be seen in the growth of chapters at the University of Illinois. At the conclusion of the 1918-19 school year 41 men’s fraternities paid for pages in the campus yearbook, the Illio . By 1930, the pre-Depression height of the system, the Illio featured pages from 87 men’s fraternities, including 39 that dated their chapter from 1920 or later. At this writing no history of the national was at hand, but one suspects that the boom period is at least partially responsible for the creation of the group. Sigma Phi Delta merged a traditional honorary society with a social fraternity, and the tensions created in this union played a key role in its history. All SPD chapters have had to materially encourage and provide for academic achievement while keeping up a busy schedule of social activities and interfraternity events. Most social fraternities have as their foundational basis friendship, rather than professional development; SPD’s motto is “Pro bono professionis,” or “For the good of the profession.” These tensions go beyond activities, and into the fraternity’s structure. A social fraternity finds itself compelled not solely by social factors to induct new members, but also by financial considerations. Chapter houses, which are a central manifestation of the tradition fraternities embody, do not pay for themselves. New members must be recruited in significant numbers to maintain the house. However, a professional fraternity has few financial obligations and thus fewer material obstacles to rigorously limited membership. These countervailing tendencies within Sigma Phi Delta actually made it difficult to form an Alpha chapter. Alpha of Sigma Phi Delta was the 2 third attempt to form a social fraternity for engineers at USC. The previous two groups quickly dropped the engineers-only membership restriction and became standard social fraternities. All this suggests that in the unique context of the 1920s fraternity boom, achieving the tricky marriage of social and professional fraternity seemed possible. 1 Delta Chapter, 1928-1936 Alpha connections were directly responsible for the creation of Sigma Phi Delta’s chapter at the University of Illinois. Alpha alumus J. K. Milligan, and Albert A. Wells, brother of Alpha charter member Addison E. Wells, began circulating a petition to form a chapter in the fall of 1927. Delta Chapter of Sigma Phi Delta was installed at the University of Illinois January 25, 1928. Fourteen students became charter members of the chapter: Albert A. Wells, Randall D. Smith, George E. Atkinson, Donald M. Brown, R. Lindsay Pickett, Charles O. Smith, William C. Cassidy, Richard T. Larsen, Frank Kockis, Joseph J. Power, Oliver Place, William T. Thornborrow, Donald R. Groff, and Harry R. Garing. The Inman Hotel hosted the gathering. Field Representative Dunston conducted the installation and initiation, and he and College of Engineering Dean H. H. Jordan and Professor Carroll C. Wiley gave speeches welcoming the group to campus. The ceremony also saw the first of many discussions the chapter’s house situation. Delta members concluded, rather late, that since only nine of the fourteen charter members 1 Illio 1920; Illio 1930; Anson, Jack, and Robert F. Marchesani, Jr., eds., Baird’s Manual of American College Fraternities , 20 th ed., 1991, p. V 56-57. Andy Hill has notified me that he has a copy of a national history, and I hope to add to this account based on it soon. Obviously this is not to argue that social fraternities are compelled by some external logic to be less selective than professional fraternities in membership, especially when the ability and desire of social fraternities to be selective is so manifest in their history. 3 could move in to a house for Spring semester, they would attempt to find a house for fall semester 1928 instead. 2 The house question dominated the chapter’s first months. Surprisingly, the first option the new chapter considered was purchase. However, after members questioned “the chapter’s making such a hazardous step without finances on hand,” much less a group of supportive alumni, they opted to look for a rental property. They found their house relatively quickly, but sealing the deal took some time. At their second chapter meeting, February 23, 1928, the chapter approvingly mentioned the house at 407 E. Daniel, Champaign, then occupied by Alpha Kappa Lambda. However, Delta could not accede to the demands of the owner, a Mrs. Bailey. After the lease was signed, she proposed that the chapter either consent to rent her furniture as well as the house, or agree to have at least 25 men in the house, enabling higher rent. The chapter attempted to find alternatives, and as late as May 3 was still against assuming the AKL house lease. Members at that meeting voted down a proposal to drop consideration of the Delta Chi house and keep the AKL house lease. However, by May 24 the chapter had decided on the AKL house, and at that evening’s meeting noted the purchase of new beds for the home. The chapter’s last meeting of their first semester illustrated some interesting choices. Although the chapter had not yet moved into its own house and cut their teeth on financial planning, members went debt to purchase furniture. They also relied in part on the financial resources of the founders. The president, Richard T. Larsen ’29, agreed to donate $100 to the furniture purchase, and other members offered $5 apiece. Members carried a motion to pay back these loans “sometime during the next school year as credit 2 “A History of Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity,” typescript in possession of author, n. d., p. 15. Minutes 1/25/28, Minute Book 1928-1931, box 2, Sigma Phi Delta records, Record Series 41/71/76, Student Life 4 on their house-bill.” Given that the entire bill amounted to $750, or nearly an entire year’s rent on their house, this represented a sizeable debt. Perhaps in this also Sigma Phi Delta mirrored not only the exuberance of the national economic boom but also the huge boom in fraternities. 3 Delta members applied themselves to a variety of activities. Constants in this early period were typical ones. The chapter held at least one house dance every semester, including a memorable “Depression Dance” February 1932 featuring a simple setup: the chapter’s Victrola with a jerry-rigged loudspeaker, and “plain programs.” The chapters’ rush smokers, held every November, were another constant. The members were less consistent with other established Greek activities. Delta only participated once in the Interscholastic Stunt Show (in 1929), and the Homecoming stunt show (putting on a “Hobo Parade” in 1930). They also show only one year in which homecoming decorations were considered. Delta’s lone event held with another fraternity was an exchange dinner with Alpha Rho Chi in November 1932, in which three visiting engineers brought three quarts of beer. 4 Most likely this was a result of two factors. The chapter remained small, and as I discuss below had relatively shaky finances. But also, as a professional society, members had to provide time and energy for those activities as well. Symposiums on issues of interest to engineers were also staple features of Delta’s early years, although the chapter’s minutes did not record their topics. But of more interest were the new events sponsored by the Engineering Department. Delta participated in the “Engineering Show” and Culture Archives, University of Illinois. Hereafter referred to as Sigma Phi Delta records. 3 Minutes 2/7/28, 2/23/28, 3/2/28, 5/3/28, 5/24/28, 6/3/28, 1928-31 Minute book, box 1, Sigma Phi Delta records. 5 scheduled for fall semester 1930, and the “Engineer’s Dance” in the spring of 1931, events which were forerunners of the Engineering Open House that Sigma Phi Delta would play a major role in after World War II.

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