Theta Delta Chi

Theta Delta Chi (ΘΔΧ) is a social fraternity that was founded in 1847 at Union College, New York, United States. While nicknames differ from institution to institution, the most common nicknames for the fraternity are TDX, TDC, Thete, Theta Delt, and Thumpers. Theta Delta Chi brothers refer to their local organizations as charges rather than using the common fraternity nomenclature of chapters.

History

Origins and growth

Theta Delta Chi, the eleventh oldest of the college fraternities, was founded in 1847 at Union College in

• William G. Akin
• Abel Beach
• Theodore B. Brown
• Andrew H. Green
• William Hyslop
• Samuel F. Wile.^[1]

In the first Minute book of the Alpha charge, taken in 1848, the names Jesse D. Fonda and Theodore J. Fonda were listed alongside the other six founders. The Fonda brothers seemed to be under the impression that they were founders and the existence of this record led to the mistaken belief that Theta Delta Chi was founded in 1848. On July 14, 1914, Andrew Green wrote a letter clarifying that the fraternity was founded in 1847, and that the Fonda brothers, upon the realization that they were not founding members, lost interest and disassociated from the society. Despite this, many early fraternity records incorrectly show 1848 as the founding year. In 1849, Green and Akin along with Francis Martindale (the first initiate), organized the Beta charge (later renamed Beta Proteron) at Ballston Law School.^[2] However, two years later the school itself moved and the new Charge was disbanded and the members put on Alpha's rolls.

During the 1850s Theta Delta Chi spread rapidly, adding Charges at

Theta Delta Chi became an International Fraternity with charterings at McGill (1901) and Toronto (1912).^[2]

The

The institutions of the Fraternity slowly took shape during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In 1867 anti-fraternity sentiment at Union led to the disbanding of the Alpha. As the Mother Charge, Alpha had exercised governing power over the Fraternity, but her demise, although temporary, brought about the creation of the Grand Lodge by action of the eight surviving Charges at the Convention of 1868.[2] The Grand Lodge, originally three, then five, and now seven officers (of whom two are undergraduates), remains the elected governing body of the Fraternity to this day (Alpha was rechartered in 1923, although executive power has remained with the Grand Lodge).^[4]

The annual Convention has evolved into a major international assembling of Theta Delts at which all Charges are represented by undergraduate and graduate delegates and at which the major business of the Fraternity is transacted.

The 1881 Convention required that the President of the Grand Lodge visit every Charge once a year; Central Fraternity Office staff now performs these duties.^[5] In 1869, the first issue of The Shield was produced, qualifying it as the oldest fraternity magazine. Although it lapsed after one issue, The Shield was revived in 1884 and has been published continually since then.^[6]

The Central Fraternity Office, or CFO, evolved over many decades from a virtually one-man job, filled by a Grand Lodge member, and housed in the now defunct Theta Delta Chi Club in New York City, to a professional staff consisting of an Executive Director, a Director of Development, a Director of Charge Operations, a Director of Expansion, a Director of Charge Development, a Systems Administrator and one or more undergraduate interns, referred to as Member Service Coordinators.^[5] The office currently operates from 214 Lewis Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts.

The financial health of Theta Delta Chi was ensured through the establishment of two entities, the Founders' Corporation in 1910 and the Educational Foundation in 1944.

Modern expansion

Between 1951 and 1970 the Fraternity added Charges at

Yet the active Charge roll call remains in flux, as the fraternity has lost several Charges, young and old, since 2001; losing Omicron Triton at URI (2001), Nu Deuteron at Lehigh (2004), Delta Triton at Northeastern (2005), Eta Triton at Nova Southeastern (2005), Mu Deuteron at Amherst (2006), and Rho Triton at VCU (2009).[9] While these losses are disheartening, the Grand Lodge and Central Fraternity Office have worked progressively for the betterment of the fraternity, and Theta Delta Chi enters the future with the most stable foundation it has had in nearly a decade.

Following the chartering of the Theta Triton Charge at Binghamton University in 2007,^[10] the fraternity chartered four Charges in 2008; reviving the Epsilon Triton Charge at Arizona State University [1] and the Rho Proteron Charge at the University of South Carolina, while chartering the Tau Triton Charge at Marist College and the Lambda Triton Charge at Rutgers University^[9] who were also winners of the Victory Cup naming them the best overall charge. In March 2009, the Gamma Deuteron Charge at the University of Michigan returned to the active roles of the fraternity. In February 2010 Psi Deuteron at UCLA was rechartered, as well as at Hobart College [Xi]. In 2011, the Upsilon Triton charge at Indiana University was established. In 2016, the Psi Tetraton Charge was established at the University of Arizona. In 2018 the Rho Triton Charge at Virginia Commonwealth University was rechartered. In 2022, the Omicron Triton Charge was rechartered. Most recently, the Epsilon Charge has been rechartered in 2024, putting the present roll standing at 29 Charges.

Charges and Colonies

Controversies

2017

• The charge at Rutgers University held an unauthorized party in December 2017 while subject to a cease and desist order from the University. A freshman student, Kenneth Patterson, attended the party and was later killed by an Amtrak train after stumbling onto the tracks while highly intoxicated. Patterson's family sued Rutgers University and Theta Delta Chi for wrongful death in December 2019.^[11]

2021

• As of December 20, 2021,
  UC Berkeley has removed the recognition of the Delta Deuteron charge in response to hazing allegations.^[12]

See also

• List of social fraternities and sororities

Notes

References

External links

• Theta Delta Chi - Official site
• Baird's Manual 1879
• Map of Theta Delta Chi Charges and Colonies