Delta Chi History

 

 

      Since at least 1929, Delta Chi has recognized the following eleven men as the Founders of The Delta Chi Fraternity: Albert Sullard Barnes, Myron McKee Crandall, John Milton Gorham,Peter Schermerhorn Johnson, Edward Richard O’Malley, Owen Lincoln Potter, Alphonse Derwin Stillman, Thomas A. J. Sullivan, Monroe Marsh Sweetland, Thomas David Watkins and Frederick Moore Whitney.

        This list has not always been the accepted one. Even those on the list had differing opinions as to who deserved such recognition. To more fully understand the confusion, let us go back to the school year of 1889-90 and “set the stage” for the inception of the second law fraternity at Cornell.

 

        The school year of 1889-90 began with conversations of starting a new law fraternity, but, as school work increased, the idea was put off until the spring semester. Two incidents have been credited with providing the impetus for renewed interest in the founding of what was to become Delta Chi. One was the election of a Phi Delta Phi as the Law School Editor of the Cornell Daily Sun (the student newspaper) and the second was the election of the law school junior class president. In the case of the class presidency, Alphonse Derwin Stillman had done some campaigning for a student named Irving G. Hubbard and was unaware of any effort being made in anyone else’s behalf.

 

        When the voting results were in, Charles Frenkel, a Phi Delta Phi, was declared the winner. That caused Stillman to start “asking around.” It appears that what he found was a law school which was dominated by one small, closely knit group — Phi Delta Phi.

        The question of who first conceived the idea of a new fraternity will probably never be answered. According to Frederick Moore Whitney there were probably two or three groups working on the idea that spring.

 

        Monroe Marsh Sweetland (who was also a member of Delta Tau Delta from Cornell) claimed the idea was his alone; Myron McKee Crandall claimed the fraternity was started in his and Frank Edward Thomas’ apartment at 126 E. Seneca Street; Stillman remembered being approached by “one of the boys” after the class election but couldn’t remember who.

 

        In any case, there were meetings held in Crandall’s apartment as well as in Sweetland’s law office on Wilgus Street. It is not clear how these two groups came together, or even in which month, though there seems to have been some individuals who had attended both groups. Crandall did remember approaching Sweetland about the concept of the new fraternity and how excited he was, and how he had joined right in. Sweetland said he always had considered the founding of Delta Chi to date back to when he had unfolded the whole idea to Crandall.

        While the class officer elections and the Law School Editorship incidents may have provided the initial incentives for organization, it soon became clear that those involved were looking for much more. Realizing a common desire for fellowship and intellectual association, they sought to enrich their college experiences by creating among themselves a common bond; a bond that would materially assist each in the acquisition of a sound education; a bond that would provide each enduring value. As with any important commitment, there must be time for contemplation and planning.

 

        Over the summer, many of the details of the organization were worked out by Crandall, who had stayed in Ithaca until after school opened. There was additional work accomplished by Sweetland, John Milton Gorham and Stillman.

 

        In regards to the adoption of the constitution, Albert Sullard Barnes wrote the following in his 1907 Quarterly article:

 

“As I recall it, after refreshing my recollection from the original minutes now in my possession, on the evening of October 13, 1890, six students in the Law School, brothers John M. Gorham, Thomas J. Sullivan, F. K. Stephens, A.D. Stillman and the writer, together with Myron Crandall and O. L. Potter, graduate students, and Monroe Sweetland, a former student in the Law School, met in a brother’s room and adopted the constitution and by-laws, and organized the Delta Chi Fraternity.”