History Of Sigma Chi
The Sigma Chi Fraternity and Delta Omicron Chapter share rich history. The Sigma Chi Fraternity has existed for over 160 years. Since then, the Fraternity has grown to be one of the largest Fraternities in the world - with more than 240 chapters internationally and more than 300,000 undergraduate and alumni brothers. Our Chapter was officially chartered in January of 1949, and has seen many changes throughout the years since. There were times when our Chapter was close to disappearing off the UBC campus but through perseverance, dedication and commitment to our brotherhood, the Delta Omicron chapter is stronger than it has ever been, making it one of the premier fraternities, not only on campus, but in Canada.
Sigma Chi Fraternity History
In the fall of 1854, a disagreement arose in the Kappa chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. This chapter consisted of 12 men. Six of them, led by Whitelaw Reid, supported one of the members for Poet in the Erodelphian Literary Society. Four of the other six members, James Parks Caldwell, Isaac M. Jordan, Benjamin Piatt Runkle & Franklin Howard Scobey, refused to vote for the brother because they knew him to lack poetic abilities. They favoured a man for that office who was not a Deke. Thomas Cowan Bell & Daniel William Cooper were not members of Erodelphian, but their relation to the disagreement was unqualified endorsement of the four. Thus, they became six.
The chapter of 12 was evenly divided in a difference of opinion that ordinarily would have been decided one way or the other & immediately forgotten. But both sides considered it a matter of principle, & could not reach a compromise. During the ensuing months, the group disagreed so much that their friendships grew distant.
Delta Omicron History
In 1947, an undergraduate student by the name of Jack Fraser, on behalf of a group of young men, contacted an alumnus member of Sigma Chi's Gamma Rho chapter in Dalhousie. The men hoped to receive some advice in regards to establishing a fraternity at the University of British Columbia. After the Second World War, fraternities enjoyed a boom, and starting a fraternity was the thing to do. Many of the men who showed interest then, understandably, were war veterans. The alumnus member of Gamma Rho was a man by the name of Dr. Bill Scott. Scott, who had graduated Dalhousie with a degree in dentistry, convinced the men in Vancouver that Sigma Chi was the right fraternity for them. He then made them aware of the fact that Sigma Chi was holding a Grand Chapter meeting in August of 1948 in Seattle. If the young men in British Columbia were going to be able to receive a charter as a new chapter of Sigma Chi, the Grand Chapter was the place to get the ball rolling.