Southern Order Celebration
Atlanta, Georgia
January 10-12, 2025
Join us on this special weekend as we celebrate the legendary Southern Order of 1858.
Saturday, January 11
We are hosting a sit down dinner that will include a cocktail hour at the Piedmont Driving Club in Atlanta, Georgia. There will be a history presentation, archival display, commemorative program, and remarks by the Grand Alpha and Educational Trust Chairman. Each guest will receive a special gift as well as a limited edition Bicentennial lapel pin.
Leadership Programs
The events of this weekend are being hosted in conjunction with our premier Leadership Programming. We will be joined this weekend by our Fraternity’s youngest and most ambiguous leaders as they participate in the Alphas and Thetas Academy as well as 3 Star Academy. Opportunities to attend various portions of the program and engage with these leaders will be available. Stay tuned for an itinerary and registration
Southern Order - 1858-1874
Chi Phi Fraternity
The second of these older organizations called themselves “the Chi Phi” and was referred to by its members as a club. It is now known in our history as the Southern Order of Chi Phi. It was founded at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on August 21, 1858, by Thomas Capehart and five other undergraduates: Augustus Flythe, John C. Tucker, William H. Green, Fletcher T. Seymour, and James J. Cherry. UNC Chapel Hill was called the Alpha Chapter. While the Southern Order had a constitution and held conventions, the primary authority rested within the Alpha Chapter. The word “fraternity” in reference to this Order first appeared in their constitution.
They emphasized culture, in particular literary exercises, and promoted friendship and valued honorable behavior. The presiding officer was called the “Grand Seignior,” meaning elder or master, and other officers included the “Curator Umbrae,” or guardian of the shade; the “Curator Noctis,” or guardian of the night; and the historian, called the Agent of Correspondence. The symbols of the Order were the crossed swords, clasped hands, the star, the skull and cross bones, and the shield.
Unlike the Princeton Order, the Southern Order flourished and quickly expanded, organizing chapters at Centenary, Davidson, Virginia, Nashville Military Institute, and Cumberland. However, the American Civil War (1861-65) put all expansion on hiatus as all but the Alpha Chapter at UNC became inactive. Soon after the war, new chapters sprang up at Hampden-Sydney, Georgia, Edinburgh (Scotland), Mercer, Emory, Oglethorpe, Trinity, the Kentucky Military Institute, and St. John’s. Previously inactive chapters at Virginia and Davidson were reactivated as well. When the University of North Carolina closed in 1868 due to financial troubles, it became necessary to transfer the Alpha Chapter title to the new Grand Chapter of the Order at Virginia (formerly the Delta Chapter).
A unique result of these times was the establishment of the Theta Chapter of Chi Phi at Edinburgh University, in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1867. After the American Civil War, since many Southern colleges and universities were effectively destroyed, many affluent students went abroad to complete their studies. The Chi Phi Fraternity granted one such group of men enrolled at Edinburgh—two of whom were already Chi Phi Brothers—a charter in 1867. Though active for a few years, Edinburgh’s Theta Chapter added no new members due to a lack of interest. The charter for Theta Chapter was withdrawn in 1870 when the last of the Brothers completed their studies at Edinburgh. This was the first known chapter of an American college fraternity established in Europe.
The Southern Order is symbolized by crossed swords, as depicted on the current Crest, and by Honor, as is referenced in their Initiation ceremony. Their Badge of membership was identified by jewels, most typically pearls and sapphires, on the Greek letter Χ, superimposed on a Φ with clasped hands on the lower and crossed swords on the upper end of the center bar of the Phi, and one star each on the right and left arc of the Phi. Their badge guard with a plain shield.
The early records of many of the Southern chapters were lost and the present rolls are not complete but from the information available, the membership of the Southern Order at the time of the union was as follows: Alpha, North Carolina-80; Beta, Centenary-19; Gamma, Davidson-34; Delta, Virginia-86; Epsilon, Nashville-6; Zeta, Cumberland-5; Eta, Georgia-87; Theta, Edinburgh-13; Iota, Mercer-42; Kappa, Emory-54; Lambda, Oglethorpe-12; Mu, Trinity-41; Nu, Kentucky Military Institute-18; Omicron, St. John’s-9. In total there were 505 members.