Alpha Delta Gamma - History

History

Alpha Delta Gamma was founded at the Lake Shore campus of Loyola University Chicago on October 10, 1924 by four students: Francis Patrick Canary, John Joseph Dwyer, William S. Hallisey and James Collins O'Brien, Jr. According to the Alpha Delta Gamma National Web Site, "In effect, they wanted a fraternity founded upon Christian ideals of true manhood, sound learning, and the unity of fraternal brotherhood. These ideals were decreed the purpose of Alpha Delta Gamma when it first came into being. And so the foundation was set, Alpha Delta Gamma was on its way to becoming a city walled!"

In 1926, members of the local organization Delta Theta at St. Louis University in Saint Louis, Missouri contacted the Alpha Chapter at Loyola University Chicago, requesting permission to affiliate with the then existing fraternity. Their request was granted and, on October 26, 1927, Alpha Delta Gamma officially charted its Beta Chapter, becoming a national fraternity. The fraternity continued expanding to other Catholic colleges and universities and adopted the descriptive "National Catholic-College Fraternity." This was eventually changed to "National Catholic Social Fraternity" when the organization began expansion to non-Catholic colleges and universities.

Alpha Delta Gamma has remained a small national fraternity, with a total of twenty-nine collegiate chapters, twelve of which are active. Most chapters are located at Catholic universities, but there are no religious requirements for membership.