Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi is one of the largest international all-male college social fraternities, with chapters at universities in Canada and the United States. Sigma Chi was founded in 1855 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio when members split from Delta Kappa Epsilon. Sigma Chi has seven founding members: Benjamin Piatt Runkle, Thomas Cowan Bell, William Lewis Lockwood, Isaac M. Jordan, Daniel William Cooper, Franklin Howard Scobey, and James Parks Caldwell.
The fundamental purpose of this fraternity is to promote the concepts of Friendship, Justice and Learning within its membership.
Founding
The founding of Sigma Chi began as the result of a disagreement over who would be elected Poet in the Erodelphian Literary Society of old Miami University in Ohio. Several members of Miami University's Delta Kappa Epsilon chapter (of which all but one of Sigma Chi's founders were members) were also members of the Erodelphian Literary Society. In the fall of 1854 this society was to pick its Poet, and a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon was nominated for the position. He was supported by five of his brothers, but four others (Caldwell, Jordan, Runkle, and Scobey) felt that he lacked the required poetic talent. These men instead chose to give their support to another man who was not a member of the fraternity. Bell and Cooper were not members of Erodelphian, but their support for the dissenting four was unequivocal. The chapter had twelve members and so was evenly divided. Other differences might have been forgotten, but both sides saw this conflict as a matter of principle and over the next few months there came a distancing of their friendship
The six men soon associated themselves with William Lewis Lockwood, a student from New York who had not joined a fraternity. Lockwood's natural business acumen helped to organize the fraternity in its early years. On June 28, 1855 (Commencement at Old Miami), the Sigma Phi Fraternity was founded.
Much of Sigma Chi's heraldry is inspired by the legendary story of the Emperor Constantine from the Battle of Milvian Bridge against Maxentius. Notably, the White Cross and the motto "In Hoc Signo Vinces" are evidence of the Constantine link. Although many of the symbols of Sigma Chi relate to Christianity, Sigma Chi is not a religious or Christian fraternity
Derby Days
The tradition of Sigma Chi’s Derby Days began in the spring of 1933 at the Alpha Beta chapter at the University of California-Berkely, under the name “Channingway Derby.” Located on Channing Way, the chapter sponsored an event composed of a series of humorous skits. In the spring of 1935, after receiving reports of the Channingway Derby, Beta Sigma chapter at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville made plans for a similar event. But instead of presenting skits, the event was planned around an all-day track and field competition between the pledge classes of the nine fraternities at Tennessee. More than 1,000 people were in attendance on November 1, 1935 to witness the first Derby involving campus sororities. On that day four Sigma Chis from the Delta chapter at the University of Georgia were visiting Knoxville and witnessed the event. The brothers took the idea back to their campus and named their production “Sigma Chi Derby.” During the 1960s, Derby began to take on the philanthropic approach for which it is now known on many campuses. After the Cleo Wallace Center became Sigma Chi’s Fraternity-wide service project in 1967, many chapters began using Derby as a fundraising event for the Center. Although some amount of charitable work had been done through Derby and similar events prior to that time, the Wallace Center project gave a much-needed boost to the concept of doing something for a needy group outside of campus. At the 1992 Leadership Training Workshop, the Children's Miracle Network was introduced as Sigma Chi’s suggested beneficiary of proceeds from chapter community service projects. The network, an alliance of 165 hospitals and health care facilities across the United States and Canada generates funds for the children its associated hospitals serve.