The Sigma Chi White Rose Ceremony

Please help us share the news of any local Sigma Chi alumnus who has passed by letting our alumni chapter know.

To honor brothers who pass, Sigma Chi has incorporated a "White Rose Ceremony" into our Ritual.

The White Rose Ceremony is the only portion of the Ritual conducted in front of non-members. It provides a brief, but powerful glance at the meaningful words of Sigma Chi to those outside our Order, showing them the emotional importance of the bonds of our brotherhood.

If you are interested in honoring a Sig who has passed with the White Rose Ceremony you can download a copy of the ceremony here: Sigma Chi White Rose Ceremony

The Purpose of the San Diego Sigma Chi Alumni Chapter

The San Diego Alumni Chapter of the Sigma Chi Fraternity exists to:

• To cultivate and maintain the high ideals of friendship, justice and learning.
• To strengthen the name and ideals of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.
• To provide and maintain a vehicle for all area Sigma Chi alumni to share in the bonds of brotherhood.
• To assist the San Diego undergraduate chapters.
• To support both financially and through participation, the programs of the Sigma Chi Fraternity and Foundation.
• To provide a career and employment guidance for both alumni and undergraduates.
• To provide a representative voice of area alumni regarding Fraternity issues.
• To contribute to the betterment of society and our communities by fostering healthy community relations and undertaking meaningful community service activities.

Phi Beta Kappa: The First Fraternity

Preface

All members of social fraternities and sororities learn that the origin of today's organizations is Phi Beta Kappa, now an honorary scholastic fraternity. It was conceived as a social organization in 1776. This fact leads to several questions.

How did Phi Beta Kappa originate? What were the conditions in which an organization such as this could begin? Why did the men who founded Phi Beta Kappa believe its creation was important? Were there fraternities before Phi Beta Kappa? Why do most fraternities and sororities today have Greek-letter designation?

Hopefully, these questions are answered in the following short history of fraternities.

A Brief History of Fraternities

Anything which endures usually has a unique beginning and is the invention of creative and curious minds. College social fraternities, as they exist today, began in 1776, the year America declared its independence as a nation. However, history records the existence of secret societies in ancient times, and from these roots the essence of "fraternity" had its foundation. In the Middle Ages, brotherhoods of men were created to unite those skilled in specific trades. Even though the existence of religious and trade societies is crucial to the establishment of college fraternities in their basic form, the founding of Phi Beta Kappa, the first Greek-letter college fraternity in America, was due to the desire by its members to unify students at the nine colleges in the colonies and to strengthen the intellect of the members. A resident of one colony was as much a "foreigner" to another colonist as a European is to the American today (Hale 99).

Ancient Secret Societies and Trade Unions

Fraternal groups began with the first assembly of men who gathered regularly for any reason at all; historical evidence suggests that religion was the focus of early fraternal gatherings. Ancient Egyptians had secret and mysterious religious cults; the Greeks and Romans formulated secret societies which were primarily religious in nature. Through the centuries many secret societies were formed which had rituals and initiations, primarily for the purpose of camaraderie and "rites of passage" for young men. Most religious societies came to a halt during the third and fourth centuries due to proclamations of Emperor Constantine I, who lifted the ban on Christianity in the Roman Empire, and later, Emperor Theodosius I, who completely banned all secret religious groups (Harris and Level).

During the Middle Ages, several "semisecret friendly societies" were formed by craft unions, whose membership was limited to those skilled in the particular craft. (The best known of these societies is the Freemasons.) Each union had an apprenticeship program designed to attract the most talented of the younger men. Therefore, each union selected its apprentices very carefully. Once chosen, the younger men became part of the brotherhood. Secrets were devised to identify those who were truly skilled and to discourage impostors from being employed. Although these unions restricted their members to those in the trade, in 1717, they began to disseminate to other professions, accepting those men who were notable in their fields. However, these groups had little to do with the establishment of the college fraternity, which was conceived by young college students in an environment of learning and need for social escape.

Williamsburg

Williamsburg, in colonial Virginia, was a quiet town part of the year and a frenzied town the other part; this duality created a unique atmosphere for the college student! Williamsburg---established in 1699 as a replacement for Jamestown, which had deteriorated into an economically poor colony of shopkeepers and tavern-owners---was chosen as the capitol because of its location between the York and James Rivers. The population was close to 1,600, but quadrupled when the courts and assembly were in session.

The Capitol Building and the College of William and Mary were at either ends of the mile-long main street, the Duke of Gloucester Street, with other structures sprinkled along the main thoroughfare. A student walking from William & Mary at one end would pass Blair House, Washington's home, then Bruton Parish Church, "the center of religious life in Virginia." Chancellor George Wythe's home, used as Washington's headquarters during the battle of Yorktown," faced the Palace Green where the lavish Governor's Palace was located---the center of the official life of the new commonwealth" (Vanderbilt 5-19). Down the street was the Court House where many of the law students argued cases in moot courts. There were several coffeehouses and taverns where visitors could lodge during busy times.

Two blocks further down the main street stood the Raleigh Tavern, the place which was not only the "center of the unofficial social life of the capital [sic.]" but also the place where crucial government business took place. "In time of crisis [The Raleigh Tavern] displaced the Capitol for the political gatherings of the Colony." Near the Raleigh Tavern was the Capitol Building. "The students at William and Mary did not merely study textbooks and listen to lectures. They observed statesmanship in action and history in the making" (Hume 16-17). Therefore, it is not surprising that many of the members of Phi Beta Kappa became involved in government and the shaping of the country.

The College of William & Mary

The purpose of the College of William & Mary was expressed by its royal namesakes to be "a place of Universal Study, a perpetual College of Divinity, Philosophy, Languages, and the good arts and sciences" ("Old William and Mary," 172-176), a truly progressive idea in education at the time.

"The educational methods of the College were as revolutionary as the political environment of the capital [sic.]." The college, under the leadership of Thomas Jefferson, was truly innovative. Upon completion of Grammar school at the age of fifteen, after being tested in Greek and Latin by the officials of the College, a male student was admitted to the Philosophy School, in which debating took place (Vanderbilt 11-12). This aspect of education became an essential part of Phi Beta Kappa's makeup.

Six prominent educators lectured to between sixty to seventy students. Lecturing was introduced at William & Mary in 1758; it was the first college to use this method of teaching. "The professors at William & Mary in the Revolutionary period were not only great scholars; they were great men, interested not merely in teaching but in life itself. They were not merely in touch with the problems of their day; they were busily engaged in trying to solve them. This their students knew, and they rated their professors accordingly" (Vanderbilt 13).

Student Life

The "typical" student at William & Mary was younger than his 20th-century counterpart and much better prepared. Not all of the students at William & Mary came from the gentry or wealthy families; about one-fourth were on scholarships. All students had to manage their money wisely due to strained economic conditions. Students lived at the college or in nearby homes. Since professors were not allowed to marry and had to live at the college, there was constant interchange between teacher and pupil. The education received in the classroom was enhanced by daily contact in town and at nearby taverns and general gathering places. Although the education received may have been on a more sophisticated level than today, the teenagers who attended college still had fun!

Favorite diversions from academic endeavors included horse-racing, cockfighting, gambling, and billiards, but these extracurricular activities became so distracting that the faculty finally threatened students with suspension if they participated; the edict stated that no student, regardless of age, could keep a horse, bet on a horse race, wager or play at billiards, keep or fight cocks, or gamble at cards under penalty of suspension. However, there is no record of any student being suspended or punished for infractions of these laws, so most of the students undoubtedly enjoyed these pleasures ("Old William and Mary," 174). When school was not in session, the students enjoyed the lifestyle of plantation life. "They enjoyed the best of urban and rural society."

Since Williamsburg had become the state capitol in 1699, politics became a constant focus of attention, and the many students who dined at the well-known Raleigh Tavern were frequently in the midst of diplomats and politicians. This exposure did not mean that the young men who attended William & Mary were unusually gifted in intellect or ambition, but they were of a select body of men who were exposed to the meshing of politics and education causing them to become eager in these fields. Many of the college's graduates became involved in government and the designing of America. The same is true for the members of Phi Beta Kappa.

The excitement of independence of the colonies, the progressive educational environment of Williamsburg and the College of William & Mary, and the ingenuity of the men who conceived Phi Beta Kappa are the primary factors for the society's founding, its continued strength, and its later influence for future college fraternities.

Revolutionary times are difficult for all people, but perhaps more for the young. We have all witnessed the reaction of college students to critical events which take place in our country, whether the issues concern humanitarian problems or war. We also know that it is the young who are called upon to defend their country and its principles; this naturally leads to a necessary bonding of different men with one purpose.

The Founding of Phi Beta Kappa

On Thursday evening, December 5, 1776, five young undergraduates had dinner in the Apollo Room at the Raleigh Tavern. They were members of the well-respected and very competitive Latin-named literary societies at William & Mary. On this night, these men decided to form a secret organization, one which would be different from the ones which "had lost all reputation for letters, and [were] noted only for the dissipation & conviviality of [their] members," such as the notorious Flat Hat Club which existed briefly at William & Mary about 25 years before. Phi Beta Kappa "was purely of domestic manufacture, without any connexion whatever with anything European, either English or German." Therefore, John Heath, the instigator of Phi Beta Kappa suggested the development of a fraternity which would have honorable intentions, "and in conformity with his own reputation formed and adopted the Greek phrase indicated by the initials" PBK (Hastings 83-85).

The principles of Phi Beta Kappa were "Fraternity, Morality, and Literature." A badge was designed in the shape of a square; a secret handshake was devised; a secret ritual, including an obligation, was written; a motto---"Philosophy is the guide of life"---was patterned after the name of the fraternity: Phi Beta Kappa. The men decided to use Greek letters for their society because Latin was already used in the names of existing literary societies and because Heath, who later became a Congressman from Virginia (U.S. Government Printing Office), "was the best Greek scholar in college." They recruited new members from students at the college. "They declared the society was formed for congeniality and to promote good fellowship, with "friendship as its basis and benevolence and literature as its pillars.'"

Although the concept of Phi Beta Kappa was not unique, it developed uniqueness because it became "highly selective, it was secret, and [later] it initiated a pattern of sister branches within and without the state." At first the only secrets were the mysterious letters used on the badge. (Hastings 4-5. Hastings believes that the "S" and "P" on the badge, which meant Societas Philosophiae, Philosophical Society, was the original name of the Society and that the name Phi Beta Kappa came from the motto "Philosophy the Guide of Life." The heading on the original list of members states: "A List of the members, who have been initiated into the S.P. alias Phi Beta Kappa Society." Hastings 54.) In May, 1777, two new signs were devised: "a salutation of the clasp of the hands, together with an immediate stroke across the mouth with the back of the same hand, and a return with the hand used by the saluted"; these new gestures were for the purposes of distinguishing Phi Beta Kappa members "in any foreign country or place" (Hastings 59).

Gaining Stability

At the first meeting on Sunday, January 5, 1777, four men were selected to join and they, along with the founders, were the first to obligate themselves to preserve the secrets of the fraternity.

"I, [name], do swear on the holy Evangelists of Almighty God, or otherwise as calling the Supreme Being to attest this my oath, declaring that I will, with all my possible efforts, endeavor to prove true, just, and deeply attached to this our growing fraternity; in keeping, holding, and preserving all secrets that pertain to my duty, and for the promotion and advancement of its internal welfare."

Soon after, twenty-seven governing laws were presented "as proper and most conductive to the advantage of our growing fraternity" (Smith 53-81). All concerns were expressed in these laws: dues and fines, meeting times, qualifications for new members, officers and their duties, conduct and restrictions, punishments for violations, purposes of the society, content and format of declamations, and amendments. During the five years of its existence on the campus of William & Mary, the fraternity would have to add only three additional laws, the most important one dealing with chartering new chapters. It is interesting to note that the first governing law indicates the men's strong belief in God, but acknowledges different beliefs. The rest of the governing laws are specific in nature. Later, the student members decided to admit tutors and faculty members. They also took on a philanthropic endeavor.

Phi Beta Kappa was not formed merely as a social fraternity; it was based primarily on philosophical ideas. At each meeting the debated issue was the focal point. Phi Beta Kappa "was intended to form a philosophical club, whose purpose should go far beyond the narrow range of the college studies of those days, and should include not only the wide range of what was then called 'philosophy', but the consideration, at the same time, of political questions. These, too, were discussed, not in the abstract, but in their bearing on the events of the day" (Hale 99).

Recruiting New Members

Initially, when a new member was voted in, he was given full membership status, but it was quickly discovered that sometimes an individual would not fulfill his obligations or he would do something which embarrassed the entire group. Therefore, a probationary period for prospective members was instituted.

Many of the fifty men who became members of the Alpha chapter of Phi Beta Kappa over a four-year period became noted in law and politics; most fought and some died in the Revolutionary War; many participated in the Continental Congress which ratified our Constitution. The most famous of these fifty was John Marshall, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, but others were equally prominent as congressmen and senators.

Expansion

The founders decided to form chapters at other colleges in 1778. Four chapters were added in 1779, and were, at first, given names that corresponded with the order of the Greek alphabet---Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta---which started the tradition of most fraternities which identify their chapters this way. In 1780, a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa was established at Yale, and in 1781, when William & Mary was closed because its buildings were used by British, French, and American troops in the war, another chapter appeared at Harvard. If these two chapters had not been created, Phi Beta Kappa may have died out, but these chapters remained strong. Yale members renamed their chapter Alpha of Connecticut, which started the alternative practice of naming chapters that some fraternities use today (Sigma Phi Epsilon and Alpha Tau Omega are examples). Expansion stopped for several years, but in 1817, a chapter was installed at Union College in Schenectady, New York, which eventually led to the founding of more fraternities structured similarly to Phi Beta Kappa. (Today Phi Beta Kappa is an honorary fraternity.)

The Union Triad

At Union College, three fraternities were created in the mid-1820's. In 1825, Kappa Alpha Society (considered the oldest college fraternity as they now exist) and in 1827, Sigma Phi and Delta Phi were founded, and the Union Triad was born. These fraternities primarily competed in literary and philosophical debates with each other; the campus winner would then represent its college in competition with other colleges. It was quite a prestigious honor to be declared the best; consequently the best debaters on campus were attracted to these fraternities. These fraternities soon became an important asset to the colleges and each established chapters at other schools.

Although the Union Triad fraternities did not spread as widely as ones which came later, they firmly established the college social fraternity as it is now. In the 1830's five new fraternities were founded at four Northern colleges and one in the South. Because of the successful growth of these fraternities, several others followed. For example, in 1844, Delta Kappa Epsilon (Dekes) was founded at Yale and quickly installed chapters at several colleges, one of them being Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

The Miami Triad

In 1855, the Miami Triad was completed with the founding of Sigma Chi. The Triad, composed also of Phi Delta Theta and Beta Theta Pi, greatly influenced the fraternity "system" because of their advancements and influence. For example, between 1846 and 1850 at the University of Michigan, where fraternities were called a "giant evil," Beta Theta Pi resolved the hostility of the faculty by initiating professors (Ferguson 39). Soon, because of the prestige of the men who joined the Miami Triad fraternities and the fraternities' involvement with the colleges, positive feelings about fraternities prevailed.

Fraternities Become Integral Part of College Life

During the last half of the 19th century, Greek-letter societies were considered "valuable adjuncts of student life and, instead of opposing them, most institutions decided that they might be put to work helping run the school, keeping recalcitrant students in line, acting as convenient units of discipline in college life" (Ferguson 40). Many felt that fraternities were important in character development and many prominent men acknowledged that their fraternity involvement helped them achieve success. John Addison Porter, private secretary to President McKinley, stated: "The most prominent characteristic of American undergraduate social life" is the college fraternity (Stevens 328). Thomas Marshall, Vice-President under Wilson, stated that "the influences which had been the greatest in his life were his faith in God and his college fraternity" (Ferguson 35).

Today there are over four million initiaties of the 56 recognized college fraternities and nearly 5,000 chapters. Sigma Chi ranks second in total initiates and fourth in number of undergraduate chapters.

Works Cited

• Ferguson, Charles W. Fifty Million Brothers. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., 1937.
• Hale, Edward E., "A Fossil from the Tertiary," The Atlantic Monthly. Vol. XLIV, July, 1879, 99.
• Harris, William H. and Judith S. Level, eds. The New Columbia Encyclopedia. New York, Columbia University Press, 1975.)
• Hastings, William T. Phi Beta Kappa as a Secret Society. Washington, D.C.: United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa, 1965, 83-85.
• Hume, Ivor Noel. 1775: Another Part of the Field. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1966, 16-17.
• "Old William and Mary," The Southern Literary Messenger. Vol. XXVIII, March, 1859 (1965), 172-176.
• Smith, Thomas [the first Clerk of Phi Beta Kappa], "The Records of the Alpha of Virginia, 1776-1781" in William T. Hastings, Phi Beta Kappa as a Secret Society, published by the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa, 1965, 53-81.
• Stevens, Albert C. The Cyclopedia of Fraternities. New York: E. B. Treat and Co., 1907.
• U.S. Government Printing Office. Biographical Directory of the American Congress: 1774-1971. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1971.
• Vanderbilt, Arthur T., "An Example to Emulate," The South Atlantic Quarterly, Vol. LII, No. 1, Jan. 1953.

(Completed on Aug. 15, 1995; updated 5/6/96; checked 9/1/98) by Bill Fleming

One, and the main, aim and object of Sigma Chi has been, and is, to develop and train broad-minded men who can recognize the wholeness of things and who are not bound down to a contracted, eight by ten notion of exclusiveness. There is an absolute necessity for such men.
-Founder Benjamin P. Runkle

About Sigma Chi?

What is Sigma Chi?

Sigma Chi is a brotherhood with roots in the collegiate experience that engenders a lifelong commitment to strive to achieve true friendship, equal justice and the fulfillment of learning as part of our overall responsibilities to the broader communities in which we live.

We achieve these ideals through the practice of character qualities embodied in our Ritual, and continuously reaffirm our purpose through the observance of Sigma Chi’s Governing Laws and through adherence to the decisions of our legislative assemblies, which empower and direct our leadership.

In addition to its 240 undergraduate chapters and 128 alumni chapters, Sigma Chi is comprised of four operational entities: the Sigma Chi Fraternity, the Sigma Chi Foundation, the Risk Management Foundation and Constantine Capital Inc.

Fundamental Purpose of Sigma Chi

The fundamental purpose of the Sigma Chi Fraternity is the cultivation, maintenance and accomplishment of the ideals of friendship, justice and learning within our membership.

Sigma Chi Fraternity best serves its purpose by developing, implementing and monitoring programs that foster leadership, build character and promote positive relationship skills which, in turn, enable our members to become productive and caring participants in their families, colleges and communities.

Core Values, Vision and Mission

Sigma Chi’s core values are friendship, justice and learning. Our vision is to become the preeminent collegiate leadership development organization—aligned, focused and living our core values. Our mission is to develop values-based leaders committed to the betterment of character, campus and community.

The Founders of the Sigma Chi Fraternity

The seven young men who founded Sigma Chi were not ordinary men. They were men of vision, men of courage, men of action. They envisioned something new in fraternities.

Prior to Sigma Chi's birth, fraternities were based on the proposition that friendships are best formed by men of like minds, talents, and personalities. Our founders, however, believed that true brotherhood could prosper only when men of unlike minds, talents, and personalities banded themselves together under a common set of ideals. It was on this precept that Sigma Chi was begun.

Knowledge of the exemplary lives led by these men is a requisite to gaining an understanding of their ideals and the tremendous contribution they made to our Fraternity.

"the qualities of learning”

Thomas Cowan Bell was born near Dayton, Ohio, and was 23 years old at the time of Sigma Chi's founding. His rooming place at Oxford with his aunt, Mrs. Lizzie Davis, became informally known as “the first chapter home of Sigma Chi.” All of the members of Alpha chapter either moved into the house or into the immediate neighborhood and all ate at her well-furnished table.

Bell is best remembered for his exemplification of the qualities of learning and friendship. He instilled an atmosphere of friendship in the Fraternity and had, according to Runkle, “an expression on his face that made one instinctively reach for his hand. He was one of the kindly and lovable sort, and came into the Sigma Chi movement naturally. He was good hearted, believed in securing the good things of life and immediately dividing the same with his companions. He was as full of enthusiasm as a crusader. Naturally he was a leader and teacher of men. He was ambitious, but in no way disposed to push his aspirations at the expense of his fellows. He and Cooper, in thought and sympathy and in the deep foundations of their being, were much the same sort of men, though in outward expression of the inward character they differed widely.”

Graduating in 1857, he started on his life's work of teaching. At the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, he enlisted in the Union Army, where he won a commission and received high commendation at the Battle of Murfreesboro. He rose to lieutenant colonel, although he preferred to be called “Major Bell.”

Following the war, he returned to a career in education. He served as superintendent of schools in Nobles County, Minn.; county recorder of deeds and editor/publisher of a local newspaper; and as principal and president of several preparatory and collegiate institutions in the western United States.

He entered the Chapter Eternal in 1919, the day after attending a Sigma Chi Initiation at Alpha Beta Chapter at the University of California-Berkeley. He is buried in the Presidio in San Francisco, where in 1933 the Fraternity dedicated the final Founders' memorial monument to him.

“true to principle”

James Parks Caldwell, born in Monroe, Ohio, was just 14 years old when he helped launch Sigma Chi. By the time he was 13, his progress through academic courses, including Latin and advanced math, caused the principal of the local academy to remark that the boy had covered everything that could be offered there, and he entered Miami University apparently with advanced credits.

Caldwell is best remembered for his spirit of youth and for bringing an element of creative genius. According to Runkle, “Jimmie Caldwell was born with a wonderful brain and a strangely sensitive and delicate organization. He was from his childhood one of the most lovable of God's creations. Strong men who have become hardened to tender feeling and sympathetic sentiment, remember and love him. Somehow, he seemed closely akin to all of us. I roomed and cared for him for more than a year. Our holidays were spent in the fields and along the streams, one of us carrying a gun, or fishing rod, but Caldwell his copy of Poe or his Shakespeare. His contributions, essays, poems, plays and stories read in the literary hall, in the chapter meetings and on Saturdays before the whole corps of students, were the most remarkable productions that I ever heard. Few of us escaped the pointed witticisms that flowed from his pen, or ever lost the nicknames that he gave us in his dramas. He never seemed to study as other boys. What he knew appeared to be his intuitively. He wrote Latin and Greek poetry, and he was more widely versed in literature, and more accurate in his knowledge, than any other student in the college. He left the university with the respect and the wholehearted affection of every soul from president to janitor.”

He graduated Miami University soon after his sixteenth birthday. Following college he practiced law in Ohio, and began a career as an educator in Mississippi. He enlisted in the Confederate army, and during the Civil War, he was captured and taken prisoner. He rejected an offer of freedom on condition that he renounce allegiance to the Confederacy, even though it came from a northern soldier who loved him as a brother.

Following the war, he returned to Mississippi and was admitted to the bar. He remained a bachelor and traveled frequently, writing as a journalist and practicing law. His death came in 1912, at Biloxi, where in his room were found the latest issues of The Sigma Chi Quarterly. He is buried in Biloxi Cemetery.

“ruler of the spirit”

Daniel William Cooper, born near Frederickstown, Ohio, was 25 years old at the time of the founding of Sigma Chi. He is credited with contributing much to the moral and spiritual foundations of the Fraternity. The confidence of his fellow Founders led to his election as the first Consul of Alpha Chapter.

Of him, Runkle recalled, “To him more than to any other man is due the birth and early growth of the kindly and generous spirit of Sigma Chi. It is hard to account for his dominant spirit, and his influence in that little band. He was a man of God, honest, upright and pure. In his intercourse with the rest of us he was gentle and considerate. He never reproved; he never lectured. By common consent he was the head of the chapter, and no one thought of displacing him. His quarters were the resort of each one of us when in trouble, and there we found sympathy and convincing, unselfish advice. Different from every one of us, he walked among us honored, loved, looked up to with perfect confidence. He taught us that the badge was not to be looked upon as common. Many an hour did I pass in his room, and every minute was a benediction. Brother Cooper, in those days, though rich in spirit was poor in worldly goods, and his life and work contain a priceless lesson for those of us who think that the end of life is the attainment of material riches and worldly power.”

Following graduation, Cooper attended seminary and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. He held several pastorships in Ohio and engaged in special missionary service. In retirement, he lived for some years in the South, returning to Ohio where he spent his last years with his son, James G. Cooper, Ohio Wesleyan 1902.

He was the last of the seven Founders to pass into the Chapter Eternal, doing so in 1920 at age 91. He is buried at Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh.

Cooper wore his original Sigma Phi badge until his death; it is now on display at the Sigma Chi Headquarters Museum. The original badge is pinned on the newly installed Grand Consul at each Grand Chapter, and the Grand Consul is then given a replica to wear during his term.

“energetic & faithful to every task”

Isaac M. Jordan, born on a farm in central Pennsylvania, was 20 years old at the time of Sigma Chi's founding. When he was a boy, he moved with his family to Ohio and became friends with Benjamin Piatt Runkle.

Jordan is best remembered for his strong will and determined purpose. Of him, Runkle recalled, “Isaac M. Jordan-playmate of my boyhood, schoolmate, friend for long and strenuous years of manhood, and always the incarnation of high resolves, boundless energy, lofty ambitions, gifted with untiring perseverance and ability that made success a certainty; he has left an example of what a strong will and determined purpose can accomplish. If ever there was a 'self-made' man who had a high right to be proud of the making, that was Brother Jordan. Nothing was too lofty for his aspirations, nothing to his vigorous mind, impossible. He showed no signs of faltering. He did everything with the same tremendous energy.”

In a speech he gave in 1884, he delineated the valued criteria for pledging, which is now known as the Jordan Standard. Following graduation from Miami, he studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practiced law in Dayton and Cincinnati. He was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1882, easily winning as a Democrat in a strong Republican district.

Jordan aided in the organization of the Cincinnati alumni chapter in 1881, was involved with the planning of the 14th and 15th Grand Chapters in 1882 and 1884 and served as the Orator of the latter. His accidental death in 1890 was deeply mourned throughout southwestern Ohio. Leaving his law offices in downtown Cincinnati, he paused at the elevator entrance and turned to greet a friend. Unnoticed by him, the elevator ascended to the floor above, the door still partly open. With a quick movement, and still facing his friend, he stepped into the open elevator shaft and fell to his death.

The tragedy created a shock throughout the city. All courts adjourned and public businesses were stilled. The newspapers of the day devoted entire pages, with prominent headlines and drawings, to the dreadful occurrence. Jordan is buried in Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati.

“honest & trustworthy through life”

William Lewis Lockwood, the only one of the seven Founders who was not a member of DKE, was born in New York City and was 18 years old at the time of the founding of Sigma Chi. He is best remembered as the businessman or organizer of the group and for bringing the element of cultural refinement. His organizational skills were largely responsible for the survival of the young Fraternity.

Of him, Runkle recalled: “He was different from each of the others. The difference was hereditary and was sharpened by environment. He was cultured and had been partly educated in the East. He was a slender, fair-haired youth with polished manners, and was always dressed in the best of taste. When he first came to Miami, wondrous tales were told of his wardrobe, of his splendid dressing gowns and the outfit of his quarters.

He was refined in his tastes. He knew something about art and had some understanding of the fitness of things genteel. We welcomed him into our circle. He could bring to our ambitious little band some things, mental and spiritual, that were sorely needed. He came to us, brought us all he had, and divided even his wardrobe, which seemed to be unlimited. Lockwood knew, instinctively, the value and power of money. He was treasurer and managed the business of the Fraternity. He furnished the business spirit to the little band, and without it we must utterly have failed. He shared our love while living, and tender memories follow him to the brighter world.”

After graduating in 1858, Lockwood returned to New York, studied law and was admitted to the bar. At the outbreak of the Civil War he recruited a company of volunteers, which he later led. He greatly distinguished himself in battle, but was seriously wounded and never fully recovered. He returned to Usquepaugh, R.I., with his wife and son, Frank (named for Frank Scobey). Unable to practice law because of his poor health, he bought the local woolen mills and formed the firm of Lockwood, Alpin and Company.

Although the business was a great success, his health failed constantly. In 1867, he became the first of the Founders to enter the Chapter Eternal, and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y.

“courageous in spirit and idealism”

Benjamin Piatt Runkle, born in West Liberty, Ohio, was 18 years old at the time of the founding of Sigma Chi. It was Runkle who pulled off his DKE badge and threw it on the table in the important February 1855 dinner meeting, putting into forceful words the thoughts of Bell, Caldwell, Cooper, Jordan and Scobey. It was this type and quality of spirit that he instilled in Sigma Chi throughout his life.

Runkle joined with Lockwood in designing the White Cross. They had decided to come up with something different from the shield and diamond type common at the time. In later years, Runkle explained, “Its selection grew from an admiration of its meaning.” He was inspired with the story of the Emperor Constantine and his vision on the night before the battle for Rome. He believed Constantine was a heroic character, and he convinced the other Founders to pattern Sigma Chi symbolism after the vision of Constantine. Runkle's spirit and idealism in college once led to his temporary suspension from the university for fighting in chapel with a member of Beta Theta Pi who had publicly sneered at his badge.

He had the most noteworthy military career of any of the Founders. At the outbreak of the Civil War he volunteered with a militia company and was a colonel by the end of the war. He was seriously wounded in the battle of Shiloh and left for dead on the battlefield, leading his former DKE rival Whitelaw Reid to pen a glowing tribute to Runkle in a dispatch to his newspaper. The reports of Runkle's battlefield death turned out to be erroneous, and Runkle actually outlived Reid.

After a long military career, where he was eventually promoted to major general, Runkle was ordained as an Episcopal priest. He was the only one of the Founders to become Grand Consul, serving as the Seventh Grand Consul from 1895-1897.

He spent the last years of his life in Ohio, where he died on the Fraternity's 61st birthday in 1916. He is buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery, Va., where in 1923 Sigma Chi erected the first of the Founders' memorial monuments at his grave.

“courteous & loyal in his friendship”

Franklin Howard Scobey was born in Hamilton, Ohio, and was 18 at the time of Sigma Chi's founding. He, along with Runkle, was a leader of the rebellion in DKE. He was the prime proponent in the Fraternity of what has come to be known as the “Spirit of Sigma Chi,” which articulates that friendship among members of different temperaments, talents and convictions is superior to friendship among those who are all similar.

Scobey is best remembered for the unending enthusiasm and encouragement that he brought to the Founders group. Of him, Runkle recalled: “Of all of those that I have ever been closely associated with he was the brightest, the most cheerful, the sunniest. The sunshine is the most powerful agent of nature. The world is dead without it. But this brother was never gloomy; no clouds seemed to shadow his life; he was the same to all at all times. The element of selfishness was as far from his nature as light from darkness. He cared nothing for money, and yet he was the closest friend and companion of Lockwood, the only one of the Founders who exhibited much trace of the commercial instinct. Without Frank Scobey I do not believe that Sigma Chi would have succeeded and expanded and endured. We had our disappointments, our months of gloom, times when it seemed that we had no chance of success. Everyone was against us. But Frank Scobey was never discouraged. Always looking on the more cheerful side, his very smile and cheerful words of encouragement gave us new heart. Scobey did well whatever he undertook to do; stood high with the professors and was popular even with our enemies.”

He studied law and was admitted to the bar after graduation. Never physically strong, he suffered from increasing deafness, but during and after the Civil War he engaged in newspaper editorial work in Hamilton. He entered the Chapter Eternal in 1888 and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in his hometown.

Life Loyal Membership

Introduction

Life Loyal Sigs are a brotherhood of alumni, young and old who continue to reap the benefits of Sigma Chi membership long after their college years. They include thousands of successful men in many professions, with such notables as David Letterman, Bill Marriott and Mike Ditka. Life Loyal Sigs exemplify the prosperity, achievement, idealism and deep sense of personal responsibility that we all wish for ourselves and our families. A Life Loyal Membership is the best way for members to take part in the enduring spirit and heritage of Sigma Chi.

Becoming a Life Loyal Sig Keeps You in Touch:

Reach an exclusive network of members and stay connected with brothers for life.

• Receive a lifetime subscription to The Magazine of Sigma Chi, which chronicles the lives and achievements of more than 200,000 living members.
• Get exclusive communications from the Grand Consul.
• Be recognized for your membership in The Magazine of Sigma Chi.
• Distinguish your status as a Life Loyal Sig at international Fraternity events.

Sigma Chi Mementos Come with Membership

The iconic lapel pin, wallet card and deluxe certificate that distinguish your involvement and association with this special group.

Saves You Money

One-time membership fee will cover International Alumni Program annual dues for life (Permanent exemption can represent a savings of more than $2,000).

Advances the Mission of the Fraternity

Membership funds international organization activities and support services to undergraduate and alumni chapter programs.

Assists with educating new members on the ideals, objectives, signs and heraldry of Sigma Chi.

Helps provide values-based leadership training to cultivate an appreciation of and commitment to the core values of friendship, justice and learning.

Contributes to the production of recruitment materials and recruiter programs.

Funds Alumni Communications

The Magazine of Sigma Chi, published four times per year, contains news and features to recognize, inform, educate and entertain members.

Communications from the international organization and insider commentary from the current Grand Consul of Sigma Chi.

Helps Fund Alumni Recognition and Achievement Programs

The Significant Sig Award, which recognizes those alumni members whose achievements in their fields of endeavor have brought honor and prestige to the name of Sigma Chi.

The Order of Constantine, which recognizes members who have performed outstanding and exemplary service to the Fraternity in a manner the Founders would have commended.