Delta Theta Phi

Professional law fraternity

Delta Theta Phi

ΔΘΦ
Founded| September 15, 1900; 123 years ago (1900-09-15)
Cleveland Law School
Type| Professional
Affiliation| PFA
Former Affiliation| PIC
Status| Active
Emphasis| Law
Scope| International
Colors|  Green and  White
Flower| White carnation on a background of green leaves
Publication| The Adelphia Law Journal and The Paper Book
Chapters| 150+
Members| 138,000 lifetime
Headquarters| 1967 East Maple Street, Suite 319
North Canton, Ohio 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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

#### Delta Phi Delta

[edit]

This article is about the professional Law fraternity. For the professional Art fraternity, see 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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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]

### Merger with Sigma Nu Phi

[edit]

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]

## Chapters

[edit]

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. 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.

Chapter  | Date  | Institution  | City  | State  | Source  | Reference

|
|
|
|
|
|

Ranney  | 1900  | Cleveland Law School | Cleveland | OH | Alpha of ΔΦΔ | [7]
Harlan  | 1904  | University of South Dakota | Vermillion | SD | Beta of ΔΦΔ | [7]
Cooley  | 1903  | Detroit College of Law | East Lansing | MI | Cooley of ΘΛΦ (1903)
Delta of ΔΦΔ (1907)  | [7]
Epsilon  | 1908  | University of Arkansas | Fayetteville | AR | Epsilon of ΔΦΔ | [7]
Ramsey  | 1910  | St. Paul College of Law | St. Paul | MN | Eta of ΔΦΔ | [7]
Bryan  | 1912  | Creighton University | Omaha | NE | Theta of ΔΦΔ | [7]
Benton  | 1912  | Washington University in St. Louis | St. Louis | MO | Iota of ΔΦΔ | [7]
Wigmore  | 1902  | Northwestern University | Chicago | IL | Alpha of ΑΚΦ | [7]
Warvelle  | 1904  | DePaul University | Chicago | IL | Beta of ΑΚΦ | [7]
Douglas  | 1909  | University of Illinois-Chicago | Chicago | IL | Gamma of ΑΚΦ (1909)
Zeta of ΔΦΔ (1912)  | [7][a]
Lincoln  | 1909  | University of Chicago | Chicago | IL | Delta of ΑΚΦ | [7]
Mitchell  | 1909  | University of Minnesota | Minneapolis | MN | Gamma of ΔΦΔ (1905)
Zeta of ΑΚΦ (1909)  | [7]
Magruder  | 1909  | Chicago-Kent College of Law | Chicago | IL | Eta of ΑΚΦ | [7]
Ingalls  | 1912  | Washburn University | Topeka | KS | Theta of ΑΚΦ | [7]
Christiancy  | 1912  | University of Michigan | Ann Arbor | MI | Iota of ΑΚΦ | [7]
Holmes  | 1903  | Dickinson College [b] | Carlisle | PA | Holmes of ΘΛΦ | [7][b]
Finch  | 1900  | Cornell University | Ithaca | NY | Finch of ΘΛΦ | [7]
Bleckley  | 1904  | University of Georgia | Athens | GA | Bleckley of ΘΛΦ | [7]
Freeman  | 1904  | University of Tennessee | Knoxville | TN | Freeman of ΘΛΦ | [7]
Kent  | 1907  | New York Law School | Tribeca | NY | Kent of ΘΛΦ | [7]
Day  | 1907  | Case Western Reserve University | Cleveland | OH | Day of ΘΛΦ | [7]
Lurton  | 1907  | Chattanooga College of Law [c] | Chattanooga | TN | Lurton of ΘΛΦ | [7][c]
Burks  | 1908  | Washington & Lee University | Lexington | VA | Burks of ΘΛΦ | [7]
Marshall  | 1910  | Ohio Northern University | Ada | OH | Marshall of ΘΛΦ | [7]
Parker  | 1911  | Union College (NY)  | Schenectady | NY | Parker of ΘΛΦ | [7]
Von Moschzisker  | 1911  | University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia | PA | Von Moschzisker of ΘΛΦ | [7]
While  | 1911  | Georgetown University | Washington | DC | White of ΘΛΦ | [7]
Jefferson  | 1911  | University of Richmond School of Law | Richmond | VA | Jefferson of ΘΛΦ | [7]
Field  | 1912  | University of Southern California | Los Angeles | CA | Field of ΘΛΦ | [7]
Fuller  | 1912  | Fordham (NY) Law School | Manhattan | NY | Fuller of ΘΛΦ | [7]
Deady  | 1913  | University of Oregon | Eugene | OR | Deady of ΘΛΦ | [7]
Chase  | 1913  | Ohio State University | Columbus | OH | Chase of ΘΛΦ | [7]
Wayne  | 1914  | Atlanta Law School [d] | Atlanta | GA | ΔΘΦ | [7][d]
Dwight  | 1914  | Columbia University | New York | NY | ΔΘΦ | [7]
Webster  | 1915  | Webster College of Law (Chicago) | Chicago | IL | ΔΘΦ | [7][8]
Snyder  | 1915  | U of MO-KC Law School | Kansas City | MO | ΔΘΦ | [7]
John Adams  | 1915  | Boston University | Boston | MA | ΔΘΦ | [7]
Howatt  | 1915  | University of Utah | Salt Lake City | UT | ΔΘΦ | [7]
Pitney  | 1915  | Rutgers Law School (orig. NJ Law School)  | Camden & Newark | NJ | ΔΘΦ | [7]
Hosmer  | 1916  | University of Detroit Mercy | Detroit | MI | ΔΘΦ |
Gibson  | 1916  | University of Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh | PA | ΔΘΦ |
Russell  | 1916  | New York University | New York | NY | ΔΘΦ |
Brewer  | 1916  | University of Kansas | Lawrence | KS | ΔΘΦ |
Woodrow Wilson  | 1916  | George Washington University | Washington | DC | ΔΘΦ |
Sam Houston  | 1916  | University of Texas | Austin | TX | ΔΘΦ |
William McKinley  | 1919  | John Marshall School of Law, Cleveland (Merged with Ranney)  |  |  |  |
Robert E. Lee  | 1919  | University of Virginia, Department of Law  |  |  |
Chester Cicero Cole  | 1921  | Drake University Law School |  |  |
George H. Williams  | 1921  | Northwestern College of Law  |  |  |
Franz C. Eschweiler  | 1921  | Marquette University Law school  |  |  |
John Forrest Dillon  | 1921  | College of Law of the State University of Iowa  |  |  |
Howell E. Jackson  | 1921  | University of Memphis Law School  |  |  |
Bliss  | 1921  | School of Law of Missouri University  |  |  |

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

## Notable members

[edit]

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

[edit]

1. ^ Professional Fraternities by Professional Interfraternity Conference - 1950
2. ^ a b Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities. G. Banta Company. 1920. p. 678.
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.
4. ^ 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.
5. ^ a b c d Delta Theta Phi - About Us - History
6. ^ Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities. G. Banta Company. 1905. p. 431.
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.
8. ^ Webster was eventually consolidated with Kent College of Law, sometime after 1921.

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Former and formerly active members of
the Professional Fraternity Association
or its predecessors:
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or Professional Interfraternity Conference|

* Alpha Delta Theta
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* Epsilon Eta Phi
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* Theta Sigma Upsilon
* Theta Sigma Phi
* Iota Sigma Pi
* Kappa Alpha Pi
* Kappa Beta Pi
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* 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
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North American Interfraternity Conference|

* Alpha Gamma Rho
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Active independent professional fraternities|

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* Alpha Eta Rho
* Alpha Iota
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* Delta Sigma Theta
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* 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
* Queens' Guard

Inactive independent professional fraternities|

* Aleph Yodh He
* Alpha Epsilon Iota
* Alpha Tau Sigma
* Chi Zeta Chi
* Delta Omicron Alpha
* Pi Delta Nu

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