Delphic Fraternity - History

History

The Delphic Society was founded in 1871 at the Geneseo State Normal School in upstate New York (today SUNY Geneseo.) With affiliations at other schools, the college literary society became known as The Delphic Fraternity. Delphic eventually became a regional fraternity with chapters at Oneonta, Jamaica, Cortland, New Paltz, Plattsburgh, Potsdam, NY and Mansfield, Pennsylvania. Each chapter had its own rich history with the oldest at SUNY Cortland tracing its formation back to the Young Men's Debating Club in 1847.

By the late 1930s, only the Zeta chapter at SUNY 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 University 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. 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. There is only one chapter that is currently active today, the Kappa chapter at the University of Virginia.