Delta Theta Phi

Delta Theta Phi
Delta Theta Phi
ΔΘΦ
Founded	September 15, 1900; 123 years ago; Cleveland Law School
Type	Professional
Affiliation	PFA
Emphasis	Law
Scope	International
Colors	Green and White
Flower	White Carnation, on a background of green leaves
Publication	The Adelphia Law Journal, The Paper Book
Chapters	("senates") 150+
Members	138,000 lifetime
Headquarters	1967 East Maple Street, Suite 319; North Canton, OH 44720; United States
Website	www.deltathetaphi.org

Delta Theta Phi (ΔΘΦ) is a professional law fraternity and a member of the Professional Fraternity Association. Delta Theta Phi is the only one of the two major law fraternities to charter chapters (senates) in the United States at non-American Bar Association-approved law schools. Delta Theta Phi can trace its roots to Delta Phi Delta on September 15, 1900 at the then-named Cleveland Law School, now Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in Ohio.^[1] Delta Theta Phi has initiated more than 138,000 members across the country and in several other nations.

Delta Theta Phi is the only law fraternity with an authoritatively recognized law review, The Adelphia Law Journal. Membership is the only requirement to submit a note for consideration for publication.

Governance

The governing body for the fraternity, called the Supreme Senate, has overseen the operation of the fraternity since 1913. The Supreme Senate was originally composed of seven elected officers until a student was added to the board to assure a more complete student representation. In the 1970s, a second student position was added.

History

Delta Theta Phi was established September 26, 1913, by the amalgamation or union of three previously existing professional fraternities, viz.: Alpha Kappa Phi, Delta Phi Delta and Theta Lambda Phi.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Consolidating Groups

Delta Phi Delta

Delta Phi Delta (law) was founded at the Cleveland Law School of Baldwin University, September 15, 1900, by C. E. Schmick, E. Quigley, F. W. Sinram, J. L. Barrett, W. F. Mackay, J. H. Orgill and Arthur Born. It went national with the establishment of a Beta chapter (now the Harlan-McKusick Senate) at the University of South Dakota School of Law in 1904. Delta Phi Delta's Magazine was The Syllabus, first published in 1911. Delta Theta Phi now uses that name for the newsletter distributed to elected members of the administrative organization.^[5]^[4]

Alpha Kappa Phi

Alpha Kappa Phi was founded at the law school of Northwestern University October 6, 1902. Seeking to secure the advantage of an earlier date of origin its founders took the name of an old undergraduate fraternity called Alpha Kappa Phi which originated at Centre College, Ky., in 1858 and established a number of chapters in the South, the last one of which at the University of Mississippi became Beta Beta chapter of Beta Theta Pi in 1879,^[6] becoming extinct a few years later. They also sought to secure some sanction for their conduct by securing permission of the living members of the extinct society to such assumption of their abandoned name. But no expedient of this kind could alter the date of the organization of this fraternity or serve as a basis for a claim to an earlier date than 1902.

The fraternity became national in 1904 with the installation of the Beta chapter at Illinois College of Law (now the Warvelle Senate at DePaul University College of Law).^[5]^[4]

Theta Lambda Phi

Theta Lambda Phi was founded February 18, 1903, at the law school of Dickinson College by Thomas S. Lanard and Walter P. Bishop. The first chapter was founded as the Holmes chapter with permission of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. A representative of West Publishing when visiting the law school learned of the formation of the fraternity, and the next issue of the Docket (published by West) announced the organization of Theta Lambda Phi as a new national law fraternity. Students at the Detroit College of Law, after seeing the article formed the Cooley chapter to actually make the fraternity national. In November 1903, Theta Lambda Phi started The Paper Book as its official form of communication. Delta Theta Phi still uses that name for its official publication mailed to all members.^[5]^[4]

Sigma Nu Phi

Sigma Nu Phi was founded in 1903 at National University School of Law. In 1916, Sigma Nu Phi started publishing The Owl.

Delta Theta Phi merged with Sigma Nu Phi in 1989, taking all of Sigma Nu Phi members into membership and gaining The Adelphia Law Journal, giving Delta Theta Phi its own authoritatively recognized law review.^[5]^[4]

Chapter List

As of 1920, the following senates (chapters) existed, with fourteen having been established after consolidation.^[2] There are now more than 150 student senates of Delta Theta Phi. Schools in italics are now closed.

Date	Chapter	School	City	State	Source	Reference
1900	Ranney	Cleveland Law School	Cleveland	OH	Alpha of ΔΦΔ	^[7]
1904	Harlan	University of South Dakota	Vermillion	SD	Beta of ΔΦΔ	^[7]
1903	Cooley	Detroit College of Law	East Lansing	MI	Cooley of ΘΛΦ (1903) Delta of ΔΦΔ (1907)	^[7]
1908	Epsilon	University of Arkansas	Fayetteville	AR	Epsilon of ΔΦΔ	^[7]
1910	Ramsey	St. Paul College of Law	St. Paul	MN	Eta of ΔΦΔ	^[7]
1912	Bryan	Creighton University	Omaha	NE	Theta of ΔΦΔ	^[7]
1912	Benton	Washington University in St. Louis	St. Louis	MO	Iota of ΔΦΔ	^[7]
1902	Wigmore	Northwestern University	Chicago	IL	Alpha of ΑΚΦ	^[7]
1904	Warvelle	DePaul University	Chicago	IL	Beta of ΑΚΦ	^[7]
1909	Douglas	University of Illinois-Chicago ^[a]	Chicago	IL	Gamma of ΑΚΦ (1909) Zeta of ΔΦΔ (1912)	^[7]^[a]
1909	Lincoln	University of Chicago	Chicago	IL	Delta of ΑΚΦ	^[7]
1909	Mitchell	University of Minnesota	Minneapolis	MN	Gamma of ΔΦΔ (1905) Zeta of ΑΚΦ (1909)	^[7]
1909	Magruder	Chicago-Kent College of Law	Chicago	IL	Eta of ΑΚΦ	^[7]
1912	Ingalls	Washburn University	Topeka	KS	Theta of ΑΚΦ	^[7]
1912	Christiancy	University of Michigan	Ann Arbor	MI	Iota of ΑΚΦ	^[7]
1903	Holmes	Dickinson College ^[b]	Carlisle	PA	Holmes of ΘΛΦ	^[7]^[b]
1900	Finch	Cornell University	Ithaca	NY	Finch of ΘΛΦ	^[7]
1904	Bleckley	University of Georgia	Athens	GA	Bleckley of ΘΛΦ	^[7]
1904	Freeman	University of Tennessee	Knoxville	TN	Freeman of ΘΛΦ	^[7]
1907	Kent	New York Law School	Tribeca	NY	Kent of ΘΛΦ	^[7]
1907	Day	Case Western Reserve University	Cleveland	OH	Day of ΘΛΦ	^[7]
1907	Lurton	Chattanooga College of Law ^[c]	Chattanooga	TN	Lurton of ΘΛΦ	^[7]^[c]
1908	Burks	Washington & Lee University	Lexington	VA	Burks of ΘΛΦ	^[7]
1910	Marshall	Ohio Northern University	Ada	OH	Marshall of ΘΛΦ	^[7]
1911	Parker	Union College (NY)	Schenectady	NY	Parker of ΘΛΦ	^[7]
1911	Von Moschzisker	University of Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	PA	Von Moschzisker of ΘΛΦ	^[7]
1911	While	Georgetown University	Washington	DC	White of ΘΛΦ	^[7]
1911	Jefferson	University of Richmond School of Law	Richmond	VA	Jefferson of ΘΛΦ	^[7]
1912	Field	University of Southern California	Los Angeles	CA	Field of ΘΛΦ	^[7]
1912	Fuller	Fordham (NY) Law School	Manhattan	NY	Fuller of ΘΛΦ	^[7]
1913	Deady	University of Oregon	Eugene	OR	Deady of ΘΛΦ	^[7]
1913	Chase	Ohio State University	Columbus	OH	Chase of ΘΛΦ	^[7]
1914	Wayne	Atlanta Law School ^[d]	Atlanta	GA	ΔΘΦ	^[7]^[d]
1914	Dwight	Columbia University	New York	NY	ΔΘΦ	^[7]
1915	Webster	Webster College of Law (Chicago)	Chicago	IL	ΔΘΦ	^[7]^[8]
1915	Snyder	U of MO-KC Law School	Kansas City	MO	ΔΘΦ	^[7]
1915	John Adams	Boston University	Boston	MA	ΔΘΦ	^[7]
1915	Howatt	University of Utah	Salt Lake City	UT	ΔΘΦ	^[7]
1915	Pitney	Rutgers Law School (orig. NJ Law School)	Camden & Newark	NJ	ΔΘΦ	^[7]
1916	Hosmer	University of Detroit Mercy	Detroit	MI	ΔΘΦ
1916	Gibson	University of Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	PA	ΔΘΦ
1916	Russell	New York University	New York	NY	ΔΘΦ
1916	Brewer	University of Kansas	Lawrence	KS	ΔΘΦ
1916	Wilson	George Washington University	Washington	DC	ΔΘΦ
1916	Houston	University of Texas	Austin	TX	ΔΘΦ

Delta Theta Phi has chartered a number of additional chapters since 1920. The national website does not list its chapters, so until a current reference is established this list does not include those new chapters nor those gained through the national merger in 1989 with Sigma Nu Phi.

Notes

^ ^a ^b John Marshall Law School (Chicago) merged with the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2019, becoming the UIC John Marshall Law School.
^ ^a ^b Dickinson's Law school merged with Penn State University in 2000.
^ ^a ^b This school closed in 1942.
^ ^a ^b This school closed in 1994.

Notable members

Notable initiates of Delta Theta Phi Law Fraternity include four U.S. Presidents (Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Calvin Coolidge, and Lyndon B. Johnson), Robert Menzies, an Australian Prime Minister, nine Chief or Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, including among them Edward Douglass White, Jr., Charles Evans Hughes, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Harry Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O’Connor, and William K. Suter, Alfred Lawrence, 1st Baron Trevethin, a Lord Chief Justice of England, 33 current or former U.S. Senators and 77 current or former U.S. Representatives and at least one state representative (Illinois) David Ivar Swanson.

References

^ Professional Fraternities by Professional Interfraternity Conference - 1950
^ ^a ^b Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities. G. Banta Company. 1920. p. 678.
^ Anson, Jack L.; Marchenasi, Robert F., eds. (1991) [1879]. Baird's Manual of American Fraternities (20th ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Baird's Manual Foundation, Inc. p. V-18–20. ISBN 978-0963715906.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e York, Kenneth H. (1952). "Legal Fraternities" (PDF). Michigan Law Review. 50 (7). The Michigan Law Review Association: 1047–56. doi:10.2307/1284939. JSTOR 1284939. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Delta Theta Phi - About Us - History
^ Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities. G. Banta Company. 1905. p. 431.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah ^ai ^aj ^ak ^al ^am As listed in Baird's Manual, vol 8 (1915), p.539, accessed 29 Oct 2021.
^ Webster was eventually consolidated with Kent College of Law, sometime after 1921.

[UIC-8] John Marshall Law School (Chicago) merged with the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2019, becoming the UIC John Marshall Law School.

[Dickinson-9] Dickinson's Law school merged with Penn State University in 2000.

[Chattanooga-10] This school closed in 1942.

[ALS-11] This school closed in 1994.

[PIC50-1] Professional Fraternities by Professional Interfraternity Conference - 1950

[Bairds1920-2] Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities. G. Banta Company. 1920. p. 678.

[Baird's_20th-3] Anson, Jack L.; Marchenasi, Robert F., eds. (1991) [1879]. Baird's Manual of American Fraternities (20th ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Baird's Manual Foundation, Inc. p. V-18–20. ISBN 978-0963715906.

[York-4] York, Kenneth H. (1952). "Legal Fraternities" (PDF). Michigan Law Review. 50 (7). The Michigan Law Review Association: 1047–56. doi:10.2307/1284939. JSTOR 1284939. Retrieved 27 October 2021.

[AboutUs-5] Delta Theta Phi - About Us - History

[6] Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities. G. Banta Company. 1905. p. 431.

[Baird's1915-7] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah ^ai ^aj ^ak ^al ^am As listed in Baird's Manual, vol 8 (1915), p.539, accessed 29 Oct 2021.

[12] Webster was eventually consolidated with Kent College of Law, sometime after 1921.

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v t e Professional fraternities and sororities organizations and members
Currently active members of the Professional Fraternity Association	Alpha Zeta Alpha Kappa Psi Alpha Rho Chi Alpha Phi Omega Alpha Chi Sigma Alpha Omega Epsilon Delta Chi Xi Delta Epsilon Mu Delta Theta Phi Delta Kappa Alpha Delta Omicron Delta Sigma Pi Delta Sigma Chi Epsilon Nu Tau Theta Tau Kappa Epsilon Kappa Epsilon Psi Kappa Eta Kappa Kappa Kappa Psi Kappa Lambda Chi Kappa Psi Lambda Kappa Sigma Mu Beta Phi Mu Phi Epsilon Pi Sigma Epsilon Rho Pi Phi Sigma Alpha Sigma Alpha Iota Tau Beta Sigma Phi Alpha Delta Phi Beta Phi Gamma Nu Phi Delta Epsilon Phi Delta Chi Phi Sigma Pi Phi Chi Theta
Former and formerly active members of the Professional Fraternity Association or its predecessors: Professional Panhellenic Association or Professional Interfraternity Conference	Alpha Delta Theta Alpha Delta Sigma Alpha Kappa Kappa Alpha Sigma Alpha Alpha Tau Delta Alpha Omega Beta Alpha Psi Gamma Eta Gamma Gamma Iota Sigma Delta Epsilon Iota Delta Sigma Delta Delta Psi Kappa Epsilon Eta Phi Zeta Phi Eta Theta Kappa Psi Theta Sigma Upsilon Theta Sigma Phi Iota Sigma Pi Kappa Alpha Pi Kappa Beta Pi Kappa Delta Epsilon Kappa Phi Kappa Nu Sigma Nu Xi Psi Phi Omicron Delta Kappa Omicron Nu Pi Lambda Theta Sigma Delta Chi Sigma Nu Phi Sigma Sigma Sigma Sigma Phi Delta (now social) Phi Beta Gamma Phi Beta Pi Phi Delta Delta Phi Delta Gamma Phi Delta Kappa Phi Delta Pi Phi Delta Phi (now honor society) Phi Epsilon Kappa Phi Lambda Kappa Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (now social) Phi Rho Sigma Phi Upsilon Omicron Phi Chi Chi Beta Phi Psi Omega Omega Tau Sigma Omega Upsilon Phi Pershing Rifles Scabbard and Blade Scarab
North American Interfraternity Conference	Alpha Gamma Rho Alpha Gamma Sigma
Active independent professional fraternities	Alpha Gamma Kappa Alpha Zeta Omega Alpha Eta Rho Alpha Iota Alpha Psi Gamma Epsilon Tau Delta Sigma Theta Delta Theta Sigma Delta Kappa Gamma Delta Kappa Phi Delta Phi Epsilon Kappa Gamma Psi Kappa Pi Nu Beta Epsilon Phi Delta Kappa (sorority) Phi Sigma Gamma Phi Psi Chi Delta Mu Chi Eta Phi Block and Bridle
Inactive independent professional fraternities	Aleph Yodh He Alpha Epsilon Iota Alpha Tau Sigma Chi Zeta Chi Delta Omicron Alpha Pi Delta Nu