Our Founding

There are two versions of the story about the founding of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. The first, resulting from an agreement in late 1912 between Warren Cole in Boston and Albert Cross in Philadelphia, holds that on November 2, 1909, Warren A. Cole, Percival C. Morse, and Clyde K. Nichols met at 22 Joy St., Boston, and swore allegiance to the new fraternity. The meeting had been called, by whom it is not recorded, for the purpose of considering the reorganization of the Cosmopolitan Law Club, a society of law students of Boston University, of which Cole was a member, into the Greek letter society.

 

The first three members were all close friends before Cole’s withdrawal from the law club, for all had been members of Alpha Mu Chi, a preparatory school fraternity. Cole was also a member of the legal fraternity, Gamma Eta Gamma, and the Grange or Patrons of Husbandry, a society of agriculturalists. The laws and rites of these societies are thought to have had a strong influence on Cole as he formulated the first regulations and Initiation Ritual of Lambda Chi Alpha.

 

The name Lambda Chi Alpha is thought to have been used from the beginning. The Greek letter name was not used in the Alpha Zeta minutes until April 27, 1910, however, and, as far as is known, this was the first time it was recorded.

 

The second version of our founding results from interviews with Cole and other early members in later years, and further investigation. When Cole entered Boston University in the fall of 1909, his first residence lay too far from the law school on Beacon Hill, so he and a varied group of youngsters rented a room at Pemberton Square, which they used for study between classes or work. This loosely-held group became known as the Tombs or Cosmopolitan Club, but did not lead directly to the formation of Lambda Chi Alpha.

 

Before the end of 1909, Cole moved to 22 Joy St., where he shared an apartment with James C. McDonald and Charles W. Proctor, both of whom later joined the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Cole, however, was determined to start his own fraternity, and by the spring of 1911 had settled on the name Lambda Pi. In the fall of 1911, he moved to 35 Hancock St., rooming with Ralph S. Miles and Harold W. Bridge. On November 15, 1911, the Lambda Pi constitution, largely derived from Gamma Eta Gamma’s, was signed by Cole, Miles, Bridge, and Morse – the four founders.

 

Over the next month, wonderful, yet mysterious, events of great significance occurred with the appearance of our first badge, along with the change of name from Lambda Pi to Lambda Chi Alpha. A new fraternity, at once national in scope, was born. Each of the four founders bought a badge. They issued themselves a charter for Alpha Zeta, back-dating it to November 15, 1911.

 

From this point on, Lambda Chi Alpha progressed at an incredibly rapid rate. Cole soon wrote the original Initiation Ritual, and within one year chapters at the Massachusetts Agricultural College (University of Massachusetts-Amherst), the University of Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania State University were installed. Titles of national officers, such as Supreme Eminent Archon, were most likely borrowed from Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and the overall design of our first coat of arms, known as the Gamma Plate, may have beeninspired by the seal of McDonald’s prep school, the Worcester Academy.

 

 

Gamma-Gamma Zeta has initiated over 1400 men into our bond. 

 

We will be celebrating our 90th Anniversary as chapter this year, the same year as our Centennial Celebration for our General Fraternity.

 

Lambda Chi Alpha has always been one of the premier fraternal organizations at the University of Cincinnati.

 

 

-----------------------------

 

 

The History of Gamma Gamma Zeta

 On October 15, 1917, the local fraternity Sigma Phi Alpha was founded on the University of Cincinnati. Two of the prime movers in the founding of this fraternity were Charlie Parker and Chase Davies. The first meetings of this local were held at Parker’s home. Sigma Phi Alpha was a local fraternity from 1917 o 1919. In 1919, the men of Sigma Phi Alpha decided to become members of a national fraternity. At the time, most of the men favored affiliation with Phi Gamma Delta, which was at that time an old and well established national fraternity. One of the members, James Cunningham, however strongly favored Lambda Chi Alpha. He became interested in Lambda Chi Alpha through on e of his professors, Doctor J.M. Thrasher, a professor of physiology from Cornell. Cunningham carried on a strong campaign for Lambda Chi and finally the men of Sigma Phi Alpha took his point of view. At this time they also changed the date of their founding to October 15, 1916, to make their fraternity seem older to the men of the national fraternity. It’s this date which appears on their chapter today.

When it was decided to try to join Lambda Chi, the men of sigma Phi Alpha needed a house to show Warren A. Cole, the Grand High Alpha at the time. Therefore, they rented a three story house on Albien Place in Mount Auburn. After inspecting the local fraternity the Grand High Zeta voted to accept Sigma Phi Alpha as the fifteenth Zeta of Lambda Chi Alpha. The chapter was installed by men from the National Headquarters at the home of William Margraf. After the informal ritual service, the new brothers of Lambda Chi alpha held a banquet at the Sinton Hotel. Partially because of the use of his home for the ceremonies, William Margraf became Gamma Gamma 1

In 1920, another house was rented at the corner of Highland and Melish avenues, next door to the saloon that is still there. The chapter had no cook, but this was remedied by the culinary artistry of Doctor Ed Grumme, One of the chapter recent initiates. A short while later, a regular cook was obtained and more men moved into the house. A year later, in 1921, Gamma Gamma Zeta bought a house at 3444 Brookline Avenue for $14,000.00. To pay for the house, the men obtained a loan of $10,000.00 and formed the Gamma Gamma Reality Corporation, for profit. This company sold stock to make up the remaining $4,000.00. At this time, only Beta Theta Pi and sigma Chi had better homes.

For the next six years the chapter was extremely strong, but had financial management issues during the Depression. The war came next and greatly diminished the strength of the chapter. It was during this time that the University of Cincinnati found it necessary to take over the fraternity houses of the campus for use as barrack in conjunction with its military training program. Another house was temporarily rented on Howell Avenue until the war had ended. The income from this house and the rent that the University paid for the Brookline house were the only things that kept Lambda Chi solvent.

At the end of the war, the fraternity’s most serious problems arose. The men returning from the Army were too old and had changed too much to be able to get along with the new men of the fraternity. As a result, the chapter was split into two parties which constantly disagreed with each other. Only excellent administration saved the chapter and in time most of the problems disappeared. Bob Van Hoof, High Alpha, at the time, was responsible for starting the building fund which eventually helped to pay for the house at 332 Probasco Street that was purchased in 1953.