Princeton Order Celebration
New York/New Jersey
October 25-27, 2024
Thank you for joining us for this special weekend where we Celebrated the Princeton Order of 1824.
Chi Phi Society - 1824-1825
The first of these older organizations, the Chi Phi Society, which is known in the history of the Fraternity as the Princeton Order of Chi Phi, was established at the College of New Jersey (later renamed Princeton University) on December 24, 1824. It was founded by the Reverend Dr. Robert Baird, then a tutor in the college and later a prominent Presbyterian clergyman. The members included some undergraduates, but the founders were mostly Presbyterian theologians and were prominent faculty members of both the college and the Theological Seminary affiliated with the college. The Society’s chief purpose was to promote the circulation of correct opinions on religion, morals, and education, excluding sectarian theology and party politics. Each member was obligated to publish a monthly article addressing these subjects. In 1825, due to a prevailing anti-secret society atmosphere on campus, the existence of the Society was denied by all involved and most of its records were destroyed. The Society merged with what was later called the Philadelphian Society.
Ancient Order of Chi Phi (re-established) - 1853/54 -1867
Thirty years later, in the winter of 1853-54, John Maclean, Jr., found among the papers of his uncle, John Maclean, then president of the college and a member of the former Chi Phi Society, the old constitution, minute book, and Ritual of the Society. With these as his guide, he united with two other undergraduates, Charles Smith Degraw and Gustavus W. Mayer, in reorganizing the Chi Phi Society along modern lines, referring to themselves as the Ancient Order of Chi Phi. The constitution and a large part of the Ritual of the Society were retained. Due to overt anti-fraternity regulations on campus, Brothers usually met at a distance from Princeton. Eventually, falling prey to mounting hostility from the administration, the Princeton Chapter, containing twelve men, disbanded in 1859, and most of the chapter records were destroyed.
Meanwhile, in the fall of 1854, Princeton Brothers had formed a second chapter, the Lancaster Chapter of the Princeton Order, at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA. Joseph Henry Dubbs was the first initiate. With the demise of the Princeton Chapter, the Lancaster Chapter remained the only chapter to represent the Order, until in April of 1867, members from Lancaster recruited students at Pennsylvania College in Gettysburg, PA, (later renamed Gettysburg College) to form the Gettysburg Chapter. When the Northern Order formed, the Lancaster and Gettysburg Chapters were renamed as the Zeta and Theta Chapters respectively.
We now recognize the Princeton Order by three six-pointed stars, as depicted on the Crest and Altar, and by Secrecy, as referenced in their Initiation Ceremony. Their Badge of membership was identified by a dagger, skull, crossbones, and grapevines, painted in enamel on the Greek letter Χ which was superimposed on the Φ.
Of the three chapters of the Princeton Order the Princeton Chapter initiated 12 men, the Lancaster Chapter 40, and the Gettysburg Chapter four, totaling 56 members.