Delphic Fraternity
Encyclopedia
The Delphic Fraternity, Inc., also known as Delphic of Gamma Sigma Tau, is a historic multicultural fraternity
Fraternity
A fraternity is a brotherhood, though the term usually connotes a distinct or formal organization. An organization referred to as a fraternity may be a:*Secret society*Chivalric order*Benefit society*Friendly society*Social club*Trade union...
and one of the founding members of the National Multicultural Greek Council
National Multicultural Greek Council
The National Multicultural Greek Council is an umbrella council for ten Multicultural Greek Letter Organizations established in 1998. The purpose of NMGC is to provide a forum that allows for the free exchange of ideas, programs, and services between its constituent fraternities and sororities;...
.
History
The Delphic Society was founded in 1871 at the GeneseoGeneseo, New York
Geneseo is the name of a town and its village in Livingston County in the Finger Lakes region of New York, USA, outside of Rochester, New York. The town's population is approximately 9,600, of which about 7,600 live in the village...
State Normal School
Normal school
A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...
in upstate New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. With affiliations at other schools, the college literary society became known as The Delphic Fraternity. Delphic eventually became a regional fraternity
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
with chapters at Oneonta
Oneonta, New York
Oneonta is a city in southern Otsego County, New York, USA. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, had a population of 13,901. Its nickname is "City of the Hills." While the word "oneonta" is of undetermined origin, it is popularly believed to mean "place of open rocks" in the Iroquois language...
, Jamaica
Jamaica, Queens
Jamaica is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York, United States. It was settled under Dutch rule in 1656 in New Netherland as Rustdorp. Under British rule, the Village of Jamaica became the center of the "Town of Jamaica"...
, Cortland
Cortland, New York
Cortland is a city in Cortland County, New York, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 18,740. It is the county seat of Cortland County.The City of Cortland, near the west border of the county, is surrounded by the Town of Cortlandville....
, New Paltz, Plattsburgh, Potsdam
Potsdam (village), New York
Potsdam is a village located in the Town of Potsdam in St. Lawrence County, New York, USA. The population was 9,425 at the 2000 census.The Village of Potsdam is in the eastern part of the town and is northeast of Canton, the county seat....
, NY and Mansfield
Mansfield, Pennsylvania
Mansfield is a borough located in southern Tioga County, Pennsylvania, United States, in the Tioga River valley. It is situated at the intersection of U.S. Route 6 and U.S...
, Pennsylvania. By the late 1930s, only the Zeta chapter at New Paltz remained officially active. In the early 1950s the chapter became briefly associated with a larger national fraternity.
In 1962 the organization became a legal not-for-profit membership entity by incorporating as The Delphic Fraternity of New Paltz, Inc. In 1987 the fraternity was re-established as Delphic of Gamma Sigma Tau. In 2003 the Theta chapter at Binghamton was founded, becoming the first Delphic chapter established in the 21st century. In 2009 the first Delphic chapter outside of the northeast region was chartered at the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
. The Kappa Chapter of Delphic is also the first multicultural fraternity to be established at UVA.
Today the autonomous organization is incorporated as The Delphic Fraternity, Inc. and does business as Delphic of Gamma Sigma Tau Fraternity.
Diversity
The organization has incorporated multicultural themes into its membership process and actively recruits members of diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Since the 1960s Delphic brothers have culturally been of African, AsiaAsia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n, Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, Eurasia
Eurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
n, European
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
, and Middle Eastern descent.
Mission
The mission of the organization is to continue the legacy of the historic Delphic Fraternity and promote the awareness of the power of cultural and ethnic diversity through Gamma Sigma Tau.Philosophy
The fraternity is named for the ancient Greek city of DelphiDelphi
Delphi is both an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis.In Greek mythology, Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, the most important oracle in the classical Greek world, and a major site for the worship of the god...
, the site of the renowned Delphic Oracle of the god Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
. Its temple was inscribed with the maxim "Gnothi Seauton" ("Know thyself
Know thyself
The Ancient Greek aphorism "Know thyself", Greek: ', English phonetics pronunciation: , was inscribed in the pronaos of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi according to the Greek periegetic writer Pausanias .The maxim, or aphorism, "Know Thyself" has had a variety of meanings attributed to it in...
.")
Chapters
Active- Kappa - University of VirginiaUniversity of VirginiaThe University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
Alumni
- Zeta - SUNY New Paltz
- Theta - Binghamton UniversityBinghamton UniversityBinghamton University, also formally called State University of New York at Binghamton, , is a public research university in the State of New York. The University is one of the four university centers in the State University of New York system...
Dormant
- Alpha - SUNY Geneseo
- Beta - SUNY Oneonta
- Gamma - Jamaica, NY
- Delta - Mansfield University
- Epsilon - SUNY Cortland
- Eta - SUNY Plattsburgh
- Baconian - SUNY Potsdam
Notable Alumni
- Alfred HarcourtAlfred HarcourtAlfred Harcourt was an American Publisher, Compiler and Founder of Harcourt, Brace & Howe in 1919....
- American publisher. - William George Butler - accomplished musician and composer.
- Henry Albert Dickinson - former New York State Assembly Member.
- Heinz Ahlmeyer, Jr. - a collegiate sports award, a U.S. Post Office, and a college scholarship are named after this Marine who was killed during the Vietnam WarVietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. - George Strait - a planetarium at Mansfield University is named after this popular professor.
- Harold G. StraitHarold G. StraitHarold G. Strait was a prominent resident of Mansfield, Pennsylvania. He was the son of George and Anna Strait....
- a highway is named after this prominent resident of Mansfield, Pennsylvania.