Tau Delta Phi (), whose members are commonly known as Tau Delts, is a national social fraternity founded on , in New York City. Since its inception, dozens of chapters have been founded and thousands of men initiated into its membership. Today, Tau Delta Phi fraternity operates five active chapters and colonies located primarily in the northeastern United States. History Founding The predecessor to Tau Delta Phi was called Phi Sigma Beta, a high school fraternity founded on . First established as a local fraternity, Phi Sigma Beta started at the Community Center of the Greenwich section of New York as a fraternity for Jewish men who were otherwise barred from fraternity life at that time. The founders had attended DeWitt Clinton High School. The group maintained itself as a single unit until , when it became necessary to split in into two divisions, eventually three. Matriculating to several colleges, Alex Siegel, Milt Goodfriend and Max Coyne entered the City College of New York, becoming the Alpha class, initiating themselves under the new name of Tau Delta Phi on . That same year, Gus Schieb and Leo Epstein created the Beta class at the New York School of Dentistry. Maxime Klaye, Samuel Klaye, Ben Gray and Mac Goldman created the Gamma class at New York University's School of Commerce. These "classes" became the first chapters as the founders moved into the collegiate phase of their lives. Founders Soon to follow were a string of new chapters formed, beginning with Delta chapter at Columbia University in . While the initial focus was on the New York metropolitan area, by interest from men outside of the area sparked the move to become a national organization, with the establishment of Epsilon chapter at Boston University. The decade saw a steady increase in membership. The "Pyramid" grew and expansion took its course from a regional to a national level. By the fraternity had grown to nineteen chapters. In , Tau Delta Phi absorbed several chapters from Omicron Alpha Tau, a smaller Jewish fraternity with similar ideals, also active primarily in the Northeast. These included chapters at Rutgers, NYU, and Cornell. Recent history The fraternity notes several "firsts": While formed to provide a fraternal experience for Jewish men, Tau Delta Phi became the first NIC fraternity to integrate by welcoming all races, creeds, ethnicities, and religions (), and was the first to open membership to