Delta Phi (ΔΦ) is a fraternity founded in 1827 at Union College in Schenectady, New York. Founded as part of the Union Triad, along with the Kappa Alpha Society and Sigma Phi Society, Delta Phi was the third and last member of the Triad. The organization has never disbanded, making it the oldest continuously running social fraternity.
Delta Phi and the other fraternities of the Union Triad were established during a time of strong anti-Masonic sen...
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Delta Phi (ΔΦ) is a fraternity founded in 1827 at Union College in Schenectady, New York. Founded as part of the Union Triad, along with the Kappa Alpha Society and Sigma Phi Society, Delta Phi was the third and last member of the Triad. The organization has never disbanded, making it the oldest continuously running social fraternity.
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...
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