 The Tabard at Dartmouth College was founded in 1857 as a local fraternity for students in the Chandler Scientific School named Phi Zeta Mu . In 1893 , as the Chandler School was absorbed by Dartmouth , the house sought to associate itself with a national fraternity and was granted a charter as the Eta Eta chapter of Sigma Chi national fraternity . In April 1960 , the Dartmouth chapter of Sigma Chi became the third fraternity on campus to dissociate from its national organization , following the 1954 Undergraduate Council referendum requiring fraternities to amend its national charters to end discrimination against minorities or go " local " . [ 92 ] The fraternity officially chose to use the name The Tabard , but retained use of the Greek letters <unk> for its local corporation use to include all living and deceased members of both the chapter 's national affiliation and the new local independent organization . The new name was inspired by The Tabard , a fictitious London inn described in the General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer . The Tabard was one of five Greek organizations at Dartmouth to become coeducational and admit women pledges when the college began admitting women students in 1972 . The organization unofficially uses the Greek letters Sigma Epsilon Chi ( <unk> ) , having inserted an " E " between the Sigma and Chi on a wrought iron railing above the front door of their residence . Prominent alumni of the Tabard include : its first president Stephen W. Bosworth , class of 1961 - U.S. Ambassador to South Korea , the Philippines , and Tunisia , as well as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College ; Gordon Campbell , class of 1970 - the 34th Premier of British Columbia ; and Aisha Tyler , class of 1992 - an American actress , comedian , and author . 
