9 different fraternities lay claim to being largest
 

The number of chapters in a fraternity will vary widely. Some groups have chosen to remain a more modest size while others have sought much greater numbers. Reviewing the histories of fraternities, many have had very aggressive periods of growth followed by years of consolidation and little expansion, as policies and leadership changed. While numbers are by no means an indication of the quality or character of an organization, the claim of being largest is a fact usually well publicized by a fraternity. Nine different groups could claim that title at some time during the past nearly two hundred years that our fraternity system has existed.

Alpha Delta Phi was the first fraternity to expand rapidly to additional institutions. Within five years of its founding it had already chartered eight chapters and, in 1837, was the largest of the seven existing fraternities. Its arch-rival, Psi Upsilon, also aggressively planted chapters and, from 1843 until 1851, it was largest. Alpha Delta Phi reclaimed the lead for one year but was surpassed by Delta Kappa Epsilon in 1852 with 15 chapters.

Beta Theta Pi was the first fraternity founded outside the northeast and it had an aggresive expansion policy from its very beginning. By 1873 its 32 chapters ended Delta Kappa Epsilon's twenty year rein as the largest fraternity. Beta Theta Pi's major rival, Phi Delta Theta, was also establishing chapters at a fast pace. In 1882, with 43 chapters, it became the largest and held that distinction until 1905.

Kappa Sigma and Sigma Alpha Epsilon were founded in the south, but both quickly expanded into all areas of the country. Kappa Sigma reached 73 chapters by 1905 and, for more than a decade, held the title as largest. Its rival, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, took the lead in 1917 with 84 chapters. Kappa Sigma regained the title in 1925 and reached a peak of 109 chapters. The Great Depression caused the loss of many fratenrity chapters and in 1934 Sigma Alpha Epsilon once again became the largest and remained so until after World War II.

Lambda Chi Alpha is one of the younger fraternities but, in 1939, absorbed Theta Kappa Nu and brought its chapter numbers to one of the largest. With a very aggresive expansion policy following World War II it became the largest fraternity in 1946 with 115 chapters. Shortly thereafter, Tau Kappa Epsilon undertook an expansion program more extensive than had ever been conducted by any fraternity, adding a dozen or more chapters each year. Its 158 chapters in 1959 took over the lead as largest. Reaching a peak in excess of 300 during the early 1970s, Tau Kappa Epsilon has maintained the title as largest fraternity in number of chapters since that time.

Very interesting -- I love your threads, oldu!!!

I always heard TKE = "Tau Kappa Everywhere"

P.S. You going to do a largest sorority thread?!? ;)

Largest sorority
 

...where angels fear to tread.

Thats strange cause now the DKEs are at less than fifty chapters now. Though they have produced a powerhouse list of alumni that not many fraternities can rival. But even today, several different fraternities claim to be the largest, biggest in a variety of different ways.

And Alpha Delta has 27 active chapters. Why? We, like All most of the first wave fraternities-the Union Triad, Psi U, DKE etc., were (are) snobs:) AD will not expand to a school unless US News puts it in the top 50 of National Universities and Public Universities, or the top 30 National Liberasl Arts Colleges. Makes my job (Expansion Director) a little tougher but does give me a good sales point!

I've known about our record as largest fraternity, but your mention has motivated me to get T-Shirts made. ( I had a friend who had UChicago "Big-10 Conference Football Champions----back in 1933, I think;)

It was always strange to me the the Union Triad being the first main group of Social Fraternities now usually have the least chapters and the advent of the Miami Triad continues to grow.


True, that the 1939 merger of LXA and TKN was and still is the largest merger ever undertaken and was almost a perfect fit between TKN mostly on smaller Colleges and LXA at larger colleges. But there werre some with both organizations on them. Some did merge and some split off to join other fraternities. Some schools (a few) did not allow the merger of the two.

Maybe the idea of snobbery is true but more like wanting to be elite in their own right.

Some will want to join each of those organizations for just that reason.


OLDU, thank you very much for the bits of information that you put before us!

tallgreekalum, you do have a formidable task ahead of you!

As far as DKE goes, they have a national reputation as a "Bad Boy" fraternity, lots of drinking, hazing, legal action against schools who they believe are anti greek, operating an underground chapter at Amherst where they are not allowed and being very full of themselves in addition to having our idiot president as a member. No wonder they are one of the oldest but smallest fraternities.

I'm confused.

If a fraternity is "the largest" that means it's the largest. How can 9 different fraternities be "the largest" ... unless they have the same number of chapters? :confused:

Count them up:) At different times, nine different fraternities could claim being the largest, in terms of chapters.

Thanks, Tom, but I've been doing for 4 years now and we just chartered four chapters this year: Northeastern, Duke. Brandeis, and Penn State. Not bad for us, considering we have chartered four chapters in one year since 1836!!

And then don't forget the criteria of "current largest undergraduate membership" in which SigEp is currently the "largest". It's just interesting to see how people define what the largest fraternity is nationwide. Frankly, I have to agree, largest does not necessarily the strongest or closest-knit, but it's just something I guess we all want to claim because it sounds...formidable?

FWIW, when I was a pledge, we were taught to know the top ten sororities & fraternities. Since numbers can flucuate widely with each Recruitment, it just makes all claims more... unified?

I'm glad that you included the part about largest does not mean the strongest because with a couple of fraternities that I hear are currently making this claim (I won't say who because I'm sure it will offend some of you on here) they tend to bid anyone that walks into their house. This trend for these organizations seems to be pretty common across the country.

I will try to clear this up with the information I know regarding some fraternities.

SAE (Sigma Alpha Epsilon) currently has initiated more men throughout history than any other social fraternity

SPE (Sigma Phi Epsilon) currently has the largest number of undergraduate initiates.

TKE (Tau Kappa Epsilon) has the largest number of chapters.

PKA (Pi Kappa Alpha) has the largest average chapter size.

Wow, that must be a record!:)

You are doing outstanding Colleges as you should!

Keep up the great work, I always love to see Greek expansion.

Can you provide numbers on all of these, specifically what is Pike's number? (Ave chapter size)?

Largest to me could mean:


most active chapters
most active initiates
most members alive
most members initiated (throughout history)
most chapters
most alumni (alive)
most initiates per year
largest average chapter size
etc etc etc.


there might be a few more that people go by but cant think of em..

In my opinion it's all marketing. Depending on how the people recruit and advertise their organization then there are multiple definitions that people can claim to be the "largest".

GC Death Match 2011.

OldU vs. HawaiiTKE. All we need in here now is Dnall.

SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY!

It's on. What's the argument so I can take the other side?

Alright, you can knock it off with the reasonable length, witty posts or I might have to start liking you...or at least be less hostile towards you. You've already ruined my streak of never finishing reading a whole post of yours. What's next? LOLCats and RaceWar with DrPhil?

Being the biggest is nice, but I would love to see stats on things like "fewest closed chapters" or "most chapters with complete advisory boards". I'd like to see everyone focused on sustainable growth.

most consistent?

Since ATO is the model for all fraternities and sororities, I'm sure you'll figure out some angle on being the largest.

Using the list of chapters from the recruitment threads you can figure it out.
Top 3 NPC sororities with the most original chapters open (excludes recharters) is:

1. Kappa Kappa Gamma - 81%
2. Chi Omega - 75%
3. Delta Gamma - 72%

Top 3 NPC sororities with the most open chapters (includes recharters) is:

1. Kappa Kappa Gamma - 87%
2. Delta Gamma - 78%
3. Chi Omega - 77%

Wow, thanks for the number crunching, that's actually very interesting info!

Did you factor in (or rather out) the chapters of groups that were at schools that either ceased to be completely, or got rid of their Greek systems or national groups?

Sometimes chapters close for reasons that are absolutely beyond a GLO's control.

Technically, there'd be a separate category for chapters shuttered in order to join the NPC, too. Even so, I imagine this is fairly accurate.

KKG does not surprise me. Their expansions seem to be very strategic and carefully planned out. Not saying other groups aren't, but Kappa seems to be very conservative with expansion. The chapter at Loyola received a ton of assistance from the national organization when they colonized (or rather picked up the old KBG group) back in '07 or so. The chapter still receives quite a bit of support and has been incredibly successful.

No I did not take that into account as I don't know which campuses those were. I figure since this probably did not happen too often. If a school closed it would affect all the GLOs on that campus, not just one. Also excluding those few chapters would not change the percentage very much.

Not sure how accurate this is, but I like the company we keep!

I don't recall the name of the thread, but once we were asked to name the NPC group we respected most, other than our own. I believe I chose Kappa Kappa Gamma!

It is more than you think, and only affects the GLOs there. I can tell you that many of KKG's closed chapters are at institutions that ceased to recognize Greek Life, or the institution ceased to exist. Many KKG/KAT closures happened before other sororities were even founded.

Why is it that 99% of your posts come off as completely arrogant?

If you happened to know which campuses this happened at I will update the numbers. I took the information from the recruitment threads and it does not state why the chapter closed, only that it closed.

It's arrogant that I respect Kappa? Okay.

99% of my 5,000+ posts. Really?

I think the point is that there's no perfect metric. Nor would it necessarily skew one way or the other, but it's a lot more difficult to filter through those posts for schools that banned Greek Life (and determining whether those chapters closed prior to the banning or at the banning) than it is to run a strict %. If you want to, go ahead.

Because she is, as far as anyone can tell.
--
And yes, 99% of your 5,000+ posts are arrogant is hyperbolically accurate, but still accurate.

I knew once those stats were posted you'd be in here crowing.

Listen, Kappa is great. So is Chi O, and Delta Gamma. As are the other 24 NPC sororities. As are countless sororities from other councils or no council. The issue isn't that you like Kappa, it's that you're arrogant, and it seeps out of many of your posts like puss from a wound.

Would you have "liked the company" you keep had it been Zeta Tau Alpha? What about Gamma Phi Beta? What about Alpha Delta Pi? What about Alpha Omicron Pi? What about Sigma Delta Tau? What does it mean to "like the company?"

I remember seeing you complain about how people are mean or dismissive toward your posts. This is why.

But that thread only includes schools where recruitment happens now, right? So it doesn't include any schools that banned Greek life (resulting in closed chapters) or chapters that closed at schools where Greek life was later banned before 2000 or so, right?

*cue 13-year-old k_s*

This thread does include those schools, I guess I can assume when a school such as
has all the chapters close at the same time that they were banned.