Delphic Fraternity

The History of the Delphic Fraternity

Founded in 1871 | Re-Established in 1987 | Dates Back to 1847

The Delphic Fraternity was founded on October 13, 1871; the original formation being the Delphic Society at the Geneseo Normal School, today SUNY Geneseo. During the early 1900s, Delphic became a regional fraternity with seven chapters in New York and one in Pennsylvania.

By the late 1930s, only the Zeta chapter at New Paltz remained officially active. Later in the 1950s the New Paltz chapter was briefly part of the national organization of Sigma Tau Gamma. In 1962, the Delphic Fraternity at New Paltz was incorporated. By 1987, the Delphic Fraternity at New Paltz was re-established as Delphic of Gamma Sigma Tau, becoming the first truly multicultural fraternity founded on the East Coast of the USA.

Since 1987, the Delphic Fraternity has grown to three undergraduate chapters, two alumni chapters, and two professional graduate chapters representing New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, DC. 

Although founded in 1871, the Delphic Fraternity has historical ties to several college literary societies. The Delphic Society at Geneseo (which later became the Delphic Fraternity) was based upon the Delphic Society at the University of Rochester which was founded on November, 2, 1850 and existed until December 1866. 

The Epsilon Chapter of the Delphic Fraternity at the Cortland Normal School (today SUNY Cortland) traces its local origin to the Young Men's Debating Club founded in 1847. 

The Delphic Fraternity was originally founded in 1871 but its history dates back to 1847 making it one of the oldest existing social fraternities in the United States. If we used 1847 as an organizational founding date, the fraternity would be the 16th oldest in the US, according to Wikipedia's list of social fraternities.