Delta Phi was one of the first three college fraternities in the United States. Founded in 1827 at Union College in Schenectady, New York, it became one of the models for the Greek system across the country.
Lambda chapter was founded in 1864, one of the first two fraternities at R.P.I.
From the beginning, Lambda was a leader on campus. The first two Grand Marshals of the school, the highest undergraduate office, were Delta Phis. Three of our brothers went on to lead the university as President, and sixteen buildings and structures on campus have been named after our brothers. Numeri=us brothers have served as trustees on the Board of the university. Over our more than 150 years, we have prospered and grown and sent hundreds of young men out into the world, armed with the knowledge and experience to help them succeed and contribute to the better good.
Our fraternity badge, worn as a pin by our members and proudly displayed on our Chapter house, is in the form of a Maltese Cross. The cross was worn by the Knights of Malta, a fraternal order formed in the late eleventh century. Designed by one of our early brothers in 1832, our badge symbolizes our beliefs and guiding principles. It is best expressed in the Delta Phi song, In Futurum:
‘Thy Cross shall ever be my guide.
The emblems on its arms engraven,
The Scroll, the Blazing Lamp on high,
The Clasped Hands and Stars of Heaven,
Shall keep me true to Delta Phi.’
Throughout our website, you can find more about our history. You’ll find stories about famous brothers, our traditions and our beliefs.
OLD/Original Chapter History
Lambda Chapter’s origins begin with a group called the Vieta Society, originally formed at RPI circa 1865 as a group of like-minded friends. Little reliable documentation remains from the days of the Vieta Society, except that they apparently had organized into a social group looking to align themselves with a larger organization sharing like-minded values.
The system of “Greek System” of fraternities as we know it today was in its infancy at this time.
To this day, the brothers of RPI’s Lambda chapter continue to espouse the virtues of these principles. Delta Phi has continually ranked {something good I hope} on RPI’s academic rankings since {some long ago period}. Brothers are proud to hold each other to the highest standards of excellence.
Delta Phi is a non-hazing fraternity. We do not believe that hazing can represent good Morality or Friendship. (It’s probably not very Literary either.)
In 1825 at nearby Union College, the first modern, Greek-style fraternity, Kappa Alpha Society, was founded. Two years later in 1827, Sigma Phi was inaugurated, and finally, Delta Phi later that same year. These three groups represent the Union Triad, and serve as the blueprint for all future Greek-style fraternities to come.
By 1830, Greek life was under attack by Union College’s long-running president, Eliphalet Nott, who feared that the potentially untoward nature of Fraternity membership may represent a threat to higher education.
Nott officially dissolved all fraternities and banned membership in the organizations. While Kappa Alpha Society and Sigma Phi complied (potentially as a pretense, insteading “going underground” but maintaining their activity), the Delta Phi did not.
Sophomore brother John Jay Hyde instead sought a meeting with Mr. Nott and instead took up the cause of Delta Phi and the other two organizations.
A brief note: The import of what would happen at the meeting should be put in context. In his day, Eliphalet Nott was to “Higher Education” what J.P. Morgan would be to “Finance” at the turn of the 20th century or what Bill Gates would be to “Computers” a century after that.
When an audience was eventually granted, Mr. Hyde argued the case for fraternities so convincingly that the great and irascible Dr. Nott was persuaded to make an “about face” and allow the fraternities – “secret” or not – to continue.
Eliphalet Nott’s own son would eventually join the Delta Phi in his own time.
Delta Phi continued to grow modestly, although it remained a small organization by design. There have only ever been 26 chapters of Delta Phi.
Like most fraternities, Delta Phi changed somewhat over the course of the 1900s. While first, gutted by a dearth of undergraduates during the war years, membership rebounded post-war with the introduction of the G.I. Bill.
Returning veterans from the war, however, brought with them a surge of hazing and antagonistic policies to membership practices. Greek organizations across America inherited a surfeit of “boot camp” influenced ritualistic and aggressive style initiations.
In many fraternities, these practices grew and were continued and expanded upon by future membership who, with no military context, still desired to uphold – and then push the boundaries of – the trials introduced by their forebears.
By the 1980s, public opinion of Greek life as a system tended to vacillate between a perception of antiquated, stuffy relics of a bygone era and a glorified, hedonistic mix of hedonism and excess, as exemplified by Animal House.
In the early 1990s, many Lambda brothers believed the organization was losing its way. Several years of neglect toward the values that defined it left the fraternity saddled with both a failing membership and a physically failing fraternity house that could not meet the needs of the brothers.
In 1996, the sad decision was made to divest the Fraternity of its long-ailing house on 8 Sherry Road and, instead, focus on the brothers themselves and their dedication to the 3 pillars of the organization.
After moving out of 8 Sherry Road, from this point forward, Delta Phi Lambda resided within a block of dedicated apartments within RPI’s RAHPs apartments on Colvin Circle.
Membership shrunk dramatically at first, but then grew slowly but steadily through the 2000s and 2010s. During this time, Lambda chapter regularly topped RPI’s Greek academic rankings, representing a renewed attention to the academics and values that is the cornerstone of membership in the organization.
During this time, Lambda Chapter’s dedicated alumni organization – especially through the tireless work of long-term chapter advisor, Roger Mike (Λ ‘70) – began to take a more active involvement in mentorship and expectation-setting for the undergraduates.
Finally, after 20 years of scrupulously seeking, vetting, and eventually rejecting several options for a new home, the Lambda chapter alumni and membership identified a new location that could meet its exacting standards: 311 Congress St.
311 Congress St., previously the St. Francis Academy, was identified as the first potentially suitable spot that could meet the needs of a growing membership while satisfying the brothers’ requirements for housing, academics, and community. The work needed to modernize and bring the facility up-to-speed, however, was estimated to cost more than a million dollars, and would require a large fundraising act to secure the significant capital investment required.
The alumni organization employed Pennington & Company, a professional fundraising company, who – after some initial research into our brotherhood and based upon their experience, advised that the membership might expect to raise $600,000 – $800,000, insufficient for meeting the needs of the project.
Faced with the choice between lowering our goals or giving up the project, the alumni engaged in several rounds of discussion before deciding to go ahead, as-planned, with banking on a higher-than-expected turnout.
“You don’t know our brothers,” Mr. Mike summarized.
In the end, after about 2 years of fundraising, the Delta Phi Lambda Alumni Organization raised a total of $1,700,000 in cash and commitments.
The building was purchased on October 12, 2017, and an architecture firm was retained to plan and engineer the build-out. The new house was fully occupied by January 2020. It was fully renovated to facilitate all the needs of an academically-focused, socially-conscious, group of undergrads.
In its modern iteration, the Delta Phi brothers have been recommitted to the foundations upon which the organization was established, 200 years ago. The membership has contended with issues large and small over the years and has only developed more cohesive and venerable with age.