How/Why did your chapter begin?

[KSUViolet06]

The story comes from our "Path from Farmville" history book:

The Alpha Beta chapter of Tri Sigma was originally Tri Beta local sorority (not to be confused with the bio honor society of the same name). We decided to go national, became a colony of Tri Sigma, and were chartered in 1925.

All went well for us until Vietnam and the subsequent politcal protests and such on campus. After the riots and May 4th shootings here, 90% of the chapters here closed, including ours.

We were closed for 20 years. Then in 1989, a local sorority (Pi Delta) was looking to go national, and decided on Tri Sigma (since we had history there). We were recolonized in 1990 and have been going strong ever since.

[TSteven]

Very short version. The Lambda Lambda Chapter of Sigma Chi Fraternity was the first chapter (fraternity or sorority) at The University of Kentucky. Founded in 1893.

For more on the chapter history, please click on the link above, then History then Founding of Lambda Lambda Chapter.

[LaneSig]

My chapter has a founding history that is quite familiar among fraternities. Several guys at Arkansas State University felt that the existing fraternities didn't quite have what they were searching for in brotherhood. So these guys got together to form an interest group and after looking at three fraternities that had expressed interest in ASU, decided on Sigma Chi. It also helped that Sigma Chi had/has a large number of alumns in Jonesboro, Arkansas (home of ASU) and northeast Arkansas area. The alumns really pitched in to support our founders; even helping to get a house when the colony was only 5 months old. We were the 4th fraternity (of 9 groups) to get a house at ASU (this was the mid- 80's). It took 2 years to get chartered as the Theta Chi chapter of Sigma Chi (Jan. 7, 1987).

Sidenote - One of the well established chapters on campus felt very threatened by our founders and colony. The alumns tell us how the other fraternity, the largest on campus, called our members "The Tri-Lambs", after the group in "Revenge of the Nerds". Well, any of you who have seen the movie know that the Tri-Lambs end up living in the house of the jock fraternity. Guess what, when our chapter outgrew the original house and the 'established/largest' fraternity hit the skids and began losing members right and left; whose house did we end up taking over? Just like in the movie. The once largest group is now one of the smallest on campus and they hate us for taking over their house.

[shinerbock]

We wanted to get a keg, but nobody had enough money. So we all pitched in so we could get drunk. Thus, my fraternity was born.