18551776 Club
Seven men walk out of Delta Kappa Epsilon and found a fraternity of their own in Oxford, Ohio
The break traces back to a vote over a poet's chair; the new society, Sigma Phi, holds its first meeting this afternoon at Miami University.
The argument started over a poet. In the spring of 1855, five members of Miami University's Delta Kappa Epsilon chapter backed a non-fraternity member for the poet's chair in the Erodelphian Literary Society — against their own DKE brother — and a reconciliation dinner in February ended with two men arriving to punish the dissenters. By June 28, 1855, all seven had broken away and formed Sigma Phi, later renamed Sigma Chi, in Oxford, Ohio. The fraternity they built that afternoon now counts over 350,000 initiated members across 244 active undergraduate chapters in the United States and Canada…
