Alpha Delta Phi

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Alpha Delta Phi
AΔΦ
Alpha Delta Phi Crest.png
Founded October 29, 1832 (1832-10-29) (180 years ago)
Hamilton College
Type Secret, Social, Literary
Scope International
Motto Manus Multæ Cor Unum (Many Hands, One Heart)
Colors Emerald and Pearl
         
Symbol Star, Crescent, Sword, Spear, Escutcheon
Flower The Lily of the Valley
Chapters 29 Chapters, 5 Affiliates (Fraternity), 6 Chapters, 4 Affiliates (Society)
Members 50,000+ collegiate
Headquarters 6126 Lincoln Avenue
Morton Grove, Illinois, United States
Homepage Fraternity, Society

Alpha Delta Phi (ΑΔΦ, also Alpha Delt, A.D. or ADPhi) is an elite international Greek-letter secret and social college fraternity that was founded by Samuel Eells on October 29, 1832 at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. It is composed of two separate entities which operate under the same name: an all-male fraternity and a co-ed society. Both organizations exist amicably, and have an ownership agreement on the name and emblems and other joint intellectual property of the original Greek-letter fraternity Alpha Delta Phi. Its 50,000+ alumni include former Presidents and Senators of the United States, as well as Chief Justices of the Supreme Court. The Fraternity and the Society are both derived from Eells's vision for a "literary society," with each chapter upholding its literary tradition.[1]

Contents

History[edit]

Founding[edit]

When Samuel Eells arrived on campus at Hamilton College he found two existing literary societies, the Phoenix and the Philopeuthian, the latter of which he reluctantly joined. Eells quickly became disenchanted with both societies' unscrupulous recruiting tactics and considered creating his own society which would disavow what he had regarded as jealous and unsavory competition between the existing two. Eells proposed to select members from both the Phoenix and the Philopeuthian and found a new society of limited membership based on "the loftiest of intellectual and moral ideals."[1]

On October 29, 1832, Eells gathered four other members, two from the Phoenix and two from the Philopeuthian, to a meeting in his room, No. 15 Back-Middle, Kirkland Hall. The four other men were Lorenzo Latham, John Curtiss Underwood, Oliver Andrew Morse and Henry Lemuel Storrs. At that meeting, Eells drew up the fraternity's constitution while he and Latham together drew up the fraternity's emblem and symbols. Later in the year other members were added and thus the first chapter of the Alpha Delta Phi was in full operation by the beginning of 1833.[1]

Philosophy[edit]

From its early days, Alpha Delta Phi sought students of a decided literary orientation. In the founder's own words, the literary pursuit of the fraternity must "be built on a more comprehensive scale than other societies, ... providing for every variety of taste and talent and embracing every department of literature and science... It must be national and universal in its adaptations, so as not merely to cultivate a taste for literature or furnish the mind with knowledge, but with a true philosophical spirit looking to the entire man, so as to develop his whole being -- moral, social and intellectual." Today, the literary tradition is continued on the international level in the form of annual literary competitions sponsored by the Samuel Eells Literary and Educational Foundation, which awards cash prizes in each of five categories.[2]

Other History[edit]

Alpha Delta Phi was the first fraternity to establish a chapter west of the Allegheny Mountains when it formed a chapter at Miami University in 1835. This chapter inspired the formation of three national fraternities at Miami in the 19th Century.

Alpha Delta Phi was also a charter member of the North-American Interfraternity Conference (formerly known as the National Interfraternity Conference) (NIC), and a Brother of Alpha Delta Phi, Hamilton W. Mabie (Williams College, class of 1867), was the first President of the NIC.

Chapters[edit]

Main article: List of Alpha Delta Phi chapters
University of Illinois chapter house, listed on the National Register of Historic Places

As of August. 2012, the Fraternity has 27 chapters and 4 affiliates, the oldest chapter existing at Hamilton College and the most recent affiliate at Washington University in St. Louis. In addition, the Fraternity has a regional alumni organization, the Midwest Association of Alpha Delta Phi, which is more than 125 years old. Alpha Delta Phi also has the third oldest continuous chapter in the North America Fraternity System, which is also the second oldest Alpha chapter at Hamilton College.

The Cornell chapter was founded in 1869.

The Dartmouth College chapter was the inspiration for National Lampoon's Animal House.[3]

For Yale University's campus, Alpha Delta Phi ranked first among all of the university's fraternities. It was brothers of Alpha Delta Phi that were mostly tapped to join the university's top-ranked senior society Skull and Bones. Issues with the number of Alpha Delta Phi's tapped for Skull and Bones also led to the creation of Yale's second society Scroll and Key.[4]

One of the chapters is located on the campus of University of British Columbia. This chapter is the oldest Greek letter organization on the campus; it was founded in 1926. Currently this chapter has 60+ active brothers and has been a serious competitor in campus athletics, with victories in Storm the Wall, Longboat, and The Great Trek.[5]

Notable Alumni[edit]

Main article: List of Alpha Delta Phi members
Samuel Eells
Portrait of Samuel Eells

Notable alumni of the Alpha Delta Phi include, among others:

Popular Culture[edit]

In Season 1, Episode 9 of the television show Mad Men the character Harry Crane is asked by fellow advertising executive Pete Campbell whether he was in a fraternity and answers "Alpha Delta Phi. Also known as cutups." Pete appears to have been in a different fraternity, likely at Dartmouth College. In Season 3, Episode 3, Paul Kinsey is seen using Harry's paddle to play cricket.

(Source: The Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity, archived from the original on 12 May 2008, retrieved 2008-05-28 )

National Lampoon's Animal House was co-written by Chris Miller and Doug Kenney. Miller based his writings on his own fraternity experiences with Alpha Delta Phi's Dartmouth Chapter. Miller was considered National Lampoon's fraternity life expert and even the movie's main character Larry Kroger shared Miller's own pledge name, i.e. Pinto. The characters of Larry Kroger and Mandy Pepperidge appear to have originated with Kenney.

Songs of the Alpha Delta Phi[edit]

Since its founding, the Alpha Delta Phi has adopted several fraternity songs written by members of its chapters. The songs can be downloaded from the fraternity's website or a songbook obtained from the fraternity's office.

The 1896 songbook is available via Google books.

The Society[edit]

The Fraternity is a retronym used now to distinguish the all-male Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity from the co-ed Alpha Delta Phi Society. In general parlance, the Fraternity refers to itself simply as the "Alpha Delta Phi"; the Society uses either the "Alpha Delta Phi Society" or "The Society".

Co-Ed Agreement of 1992[edit]

The Brunonian (Brown University) chapter first initiated women into its local membership in November, 1973 and this was followed by a proposal at the 1974 national convention to either allow individual chapters to admit women or to do so fraternity-wide. This debate was often contentious with most chapters opposed, some members lobbying for full admission of women but a larger number wanting to ban women altogether or grant them some form of associate membership. In 1992 an Agreement was made that allowed five chapters to withdraw from the fraternity (the Brunonian, Columbia, Middletown, Stanford and Bowdoin) and to allow those chapters wishing be coeducational to create the Alpha Delta Phi Society separate from the existing Fraternity.

Under the terms of this agreement, the Fraternity and the Society are completely separate and independent legal entities with separate governing bodies, and are not separate or parallel divisions of the same organization. The two groups are both licensees who use the name and intellectual property. The Society espouses "home rule," letting each chapter decide whether or not to co-educate. To date, all of its chapters are coeducational. There are limitations on both organizations as to where they can have chapters, and there are limitations on the use of the name Alpha Delta Phi by the Society.

Chapters[edit]

Main article: List of Alpha Delta Phi Society chapters

As of 2010 the Society has six undergraduate chapters, two undergraduate affiliates, and seven alumni chapters.

The Society was founded in 1992 by four chapters: Brunonian (at Brown University), Columbia (at Columbia University), Middletown (at Wesleyan University), and Stanford (at Stanford University). The Bowdoin Chapter, which had been required to withdraw from the Fraternity by the administration of Bowdoin College, joined the Society a year later. In 1994, the Society's first new chapter was formed at Middlebury College, becoming Alpha Delta Phi's first chapter to have a coeducational status from its inception.

Bowdoin College later abolished its fraternity system, and in 2000, the Bowdoin Chapter became alumni-only. However, the Bowdoin Chapter remains active and still inducts new members who are not current Bowdoin students. In 2005, Middlebury's undergraduate chapter chose to disassociate itself from the national society, and it became alumni-only as well. In 2010, the Granite Chapter at the University of New Hampshire was granted its charter and became the next chapter of the Society; the Binghamton Chapter at Binghamton University followed suit in 2013. The Society also has two active affiliate chapters at the University of Pennsylvania and SUNY Plattsburgh.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c http://www.alphadeltaphi.org/AboutUs/Chapters/tabid/59/agentType/View/ChapterID/16/Default.aspx
  2. ^ http://www.alphadeltaphi.org/
  3. ^ Miller, Chris. The Real Animal House: The saga of the fraternity that inspired the movie. Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown, 2007.
  4. ^ http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/NWO/Tombs_and_Taps.htm
  5. ^ Fraternity, Alpha Delta Phi. "www.alphadelt.ca". Retrieved 13 February 2012. 

External links[edit]
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