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While the traditional socialfraternity is a well-established mainstay across theUnited States at institutions of higher learning, alternatives – in the form of social fraternities that requiredoctrinal and behavioral conformity to theChristian faith – developed in the early 20th century. They continue to grow in size and popularity.
Christian fraternities were established in the early part of the 20th century; the three largest wereBeta Sigma Psi,Alpha Gamma Omega, andSigma Theta Epsilon, which are still active.
Beta Sigma Psi, the oldest Christian fraternity, was founded as a national fraternity for Lutheran students in 1925 at theUniversity of Illinois, home to the largestGreek system in the United States. The fraternity had its origins in the concerns of Rev. Frederick William Gustav Stiegemeyer, the son of a Lutheran pastor, who had been entrusted with the spiritual care of Lutheran students at the university. In the fall of 1919, he organized the Lutheran Illini League with a nucleus of ten students. At that time they intended to meet once or twice a week for religious instruction and discussion on contemporary issues. In the fall of 1920, now with twenty members, the Lutheran Illini League rented a house. In early 1921, it reorganized as the Concordia Club. By 1923, the group regularly participated in campus activities; so much so that they began being referred to as the "Concordia Fraternity." On April 17, 1925, incorporation papers were filed for Beta Sigma Psi National Lutheran Fraternity inSpringfield, Illinois. By 1970,Beta Sigma Psi had grown to eighteen chapters. The fraternity had ten active chapters as of 2016.
Alpha Gamma Omega was established in 1927 atUCLA. The fraternity suffered a decline in chapters and membership before experiencing extensive national growth starting in 1987. As of 2020, it had sixteen active chapters.
Sigma Theta Epsilon is the result of the merger of Methodist-affiliated fraternities in 1941:Phi Tau Theta, founded in 1925, and Sigma Epsilon Theta, founded in 1936 atIndiana University. The merged fraternity was initially called Delta Sigma Theta, but the name was changed to Sigma Theta Epsilon in 1949 when a national sororityDelta Sigma Theta that was already using the name threatened legal action.
By the late 1950s,Sigma Theta Epsilon had grown to over twenty chapters. However, its numbers began to decline at the end of the 1960s. The fraternity became non-denominational in 1968. Down to only three chapters by the 1980s, Sigma Theta Epsilon began chartering new chapters again in 1988. The fraternity had twelve active chapters during the 2000s, but as of 2016 had only three active chapters. It ceased operations in 2022.
At the same time that the historic Christian fraternities were beginning to rebound from their declining numbers, other groups of Christian fraternities developed, with the rise of theEvangelical Christian movement in the later 20th century. Fifty-five chapters of Christian Greek letter organizations trace their roots to the Texas Movement.Beta Upsilon Chi (BYX) began in 1985 on the campus of theUniversity of Texas at Austin as a local Christian fraternity and expanded when students at neighboringTexas schools convinced the founders ofBYX to open new chapters. As of 2017, it is the largest Christian fraternity in theUnited States.
Beta Upsilon Chi, directly led to the founding of four other Christian Greek letter organizations. The second largest Christian fraternity in the United States,Alpha Nu Omega, was founded three years later. It was followed byGamma Phi Delta in 1988, whileKappa Upsilon Chi was founded in 1993 on the campus ofTexas Tech University. Kappa Upsilon Chi was founded by four men who led Christian college ministries, some of whom graduated and entered into the ministry. The Alpha class contained some members formerly ofPhi Gamma Delta social fraternity at Texas Tech. The fraternity sought to be a social alternative for Christian men. While it originally had no intentions of expanding, the fraternity grew rapidly.Omega Kappa Psi was established in 1995.
Alpha Nu Omega, Incorporated was founded in 1988 on the campus ofMorgan State University. Its organizational purpose is to "present a Christian alternative to the students and or faculty on college/university campuses, to minister to the needs of the whole person (spirit, soul, and body), and to promote an attitude of academic excellence among its members." Alpha Nu Omega is established as far north as New York, as far south as Florida, and as far west as Ohio. While most chapters are located at historically African-American colleges and universities, the organization does not consider itself an African-American Christian organization and welcomes all ethnicities. The organization exists as one organization but operates as two distinct entities: a fraternity and a sorority. The two are bound by one constitution. As of 2016, sixteen chapters were active.
Alpha Omega Collegiate Ministries was founded in 1994 by Donyll Lewis on the campus ofWestern Michigan University inKalamazoo, Michigan. The vision of Alpha Omega is based onRevelation 1:8 and the question, "Why join a man-made fraternity when the body of Christ is the largest fraternity in the world?" It is co-ed and multicultural. The fraternity is based inMichigan. It has chapters as far north asFerris State University inBig Rapids,Michigan and as far south as theUniversity of Toledo,Bowling Green State University in Toledo-Bowling Green, Ohio.[1]
Some non-religious national social fraternities allow individual chapters to brand themselves with unique ideals conforming to the specific interests of the local members. Instances have arisen in which a singular chapter of an IFC-affiliated social fraternity brands itself a Christian chapter and initiates members based on national membership standards as well as religious beliefs. One of the oldest such chapters is theBeta Alpha chapter ofTheta Xi fraternity at Georgia Tech which marked itself Christian in 1974.[39] The chapter operates as a full social fraternity and member of IFC while pursuing Biblical masculinity and Christian brotherhood. TheBeta Alpha chapter is currently the only Christian chapter of a secular fraternity. It expanded this model to a second chapter at Georgia Southern University; however, that chapter has since reverted to a non-religious chapter.[40]
Alpha Iota Omega and theUniversity of North Carolina clashed over the university's anti-discrimination policy. The fraternity refused to agree to the policy, which banned religious discrimination. As a result, Alpha Iota Omega was not officially recognized by the university for the 2003–2004 academic year. The fraternity sought assistance from theFoundation for Individual Rights in Education, a civil liberties group, and theAlliance Defense Fund, an American legal alliance defending religious liberties. A lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina on August 25, 2004, citing the incident in the fall of 2003 when UNC administrator Jonathan Curtis refused to extend the benefits of official recognition to AIO. The group received temporary reinstatement in the spring of 2005.[4][5][6]
In late 2006, thePi chapter ofBeta Upsilon Chi at theUniversity of Georgia was not registered as a student organization by university officials "because the group requires its members and officers to share the group's Christian beliefs."[41] After months of negotiation between university officials, student officers of the local chapter and officials at the fraternity's national headquarters in Texas, attorneys with theChristian Legal Society andAlliance Defense Fund filed a civil rights suit on December 6, 2006, infederal court against the university on behalf of Beta Upsilon Chi.[42] On December 7, 2006, theAtlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the University would remove the religion clause from its anti-discrimination policy.
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