Delta Theta Phi
Introduction '''Delta Theta Phi''' ('''''') is a professional law fraternity and a member of the Professional Fraternity Association. Delta Theta Phi is the only one of the two major law fraternities to charter chapters (senates) in the United States at non-American Bar Association-approved law schools. Delta Theta Phi can trace its roots to Delta Phi Delta on September 15, 1900 at the then-named Cleveland Law School, now Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in Ohio. Delta Theta Phi has initiated more than 138,000 members across the country and in several other nations.Delta Theta Phi is the only law fraternity with an authoritatively recognized law review, ''The Adelphia Law Journal''. Membership is the only requirement to submit a note for consideration for publication.
Governance The governing body for the fraternity, called the Supreme Senate, has overseen the operation of the fraternity since 1913.The Supreme Senate was originally composed of seven elected officers until a student was added to the board to assure a more complete student representation. In the 1970s, a second student position was added.
History Delta Theta Phi was established , by the amalgamation or union of three previously existing professional fraternities, viz. : Alpha Kappa Phi, Delta Phi Delta and Theta Lambda Phi.===Consolidating Groups=======Delta Phi Delta==== Delta Phi Delta (law) was founded at the Cleveland Law School of Baldwin University, September 15, 1900, by C. E. Schmick, E. Quigley, F. W. Sinram, J. L. Barrett, W. F. Mackay, J. H. Orgill and Arthur Born. It went national with the establishment of a ''Beta chapter'' (now the ''Harlan-McKusick Senate'') at the University of South Dakota School of Law in 1904.Delta Phi Delta's Magazine was ''The Syllabus'', first published in 1911.Delta Theta Phi now uses that name for the newsletter distributed to elected members of the administrative organization.====Alpha Kappa Phi====Alpha Kappa Phi was founded at the law school of Northwestern University October 6, 1902.Seeking to secure the advantage of an earlier date of origin its founders took the name of an old undergraduate fraternity called Alpha Kappa Phi which originated at Centre College, Ky., in 1858 and established a number of chapters in the South, the last one of which at the University of Mississippi became ''Beta Beta chapter'' of Beta Theta Pi in 1879, becoming extinct a few years later. They also sought to secure some sanction for their conduct by securing permission of the living members of the extinct society to such assumption of their abandoned name. But no expedient of this kind could alter the date of the organization of this fraternity or serve as a basis for a claim to an earlier date than 1902.The fraternity became national in 1904 with the installation of the ''Beta chapter'' at Illinois College of Law (now the Warvelle Senate at DePaul University College of Law).====Theta Lambda Phi====Theta Lambda Phi was founded February 18, 1903, at the law school of Dickinson College by Thomas S. Lanard and Walter P. Bishop. The first chapter was founded as the ''Holmes chapter'' with permission of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. A representative of West Publishing when visiting the law school learned of the formation of the fraternity, and the next issue of ''the Docket'' (published by West) announced the organization of Theta Lambda Phi as a new national law fraternity. Students at the Detroit College of Law, after seeing the article formed the ''Cooley chapter'' to actually make the fraternity national. In November 1903, Theta Lambda Phi started ''The Paper Book'' as its official form of communication. Delta Theta Phi still uses that name for its official publication mailed to all members.===Merger with Sigma Nu Phi===Sigma Nu Phi was founded in 1903 at National University School of Law. In 1916, Sigma Nu Phi started publishing ''The Owl''.Delta Theta Phi merged with Sigma Nu Phi in 1989, taking all of Sigma Nu Phi members into membership and gaining ''The Adelphia Law Journal'', giving Delta Theta Phi its own authoritatively recognized law review.
Chapters As of 1920, the following senates (chapters) existed, with fourteen having been established after consolidation. There are now more than 150 student senates of Delta Theta Phi. Schools in ''italics'' are now closed. Delta Theta Phi has chartered a number of additional chapters since 1920.The national website does not list its chapters, so until a current reference is established this list does not include those new chapters nor those gained through the national merger in 1989 with Sigma Nu Phi. Chapter Date Institution City State Source Reference Ranney  1900  Cleveland Law School Cleveland OH  '''Alpha''' of     Harlan  1904  University of South Dakota Vermillion  SD  '''Beta''' of     Cooley  1903  Detroit College of Law  East Lansing  MI  '''Cooley''' of  (1903)'''Delta''' of  (1907)    Epsilon  1908  University of Arkansas  Fayetteville  AR  '''Epsilon''' of     Ramsey  1910  St. Paul College of Law  St. Paul  MN  '''Eta''' of     Bryan  1912  Creighton University  Omaha  NE  '''Theta''' of     Benton  1912  Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis  MO  '''Iota''' of     Wigmore  1902  Northwestern University  Chicago  IL  '''Alpha''' of     Warvelle  1904  DePaul University  Chicago  IL '''Beta''' of     Douglas  1909  University of Illinois-Chicago  Chicago  IL  '''Gamma''' of  (1909)'''Zeta''' of  (1912)   Lincoln  1909  University of Chicago  Chicago  IL  '''Delta''' of     Mitchell  1909  University of Minnesota Minneapolis  MN  '''Gamma''' of  (1905)'''Zeta''' of  (1909)    Magruder  1909  Chicago-Kent College of Law Chicago  IL  '''Eta''' of     Ingalls  1912  Washburn University Topeka  KS  '''Theta''' of     Christiancy  1912  University of Michigan  Ann Arbor  MI  '''Iota''' of     Holmes  1903  ''Dickinson College''  Carlisle  PA  '''Holmes''' of    Finch  1900  Cornell University  Ithaca  NY  '''Finch''' of     Bleckley  1904  University of Georgia Athens  GA  '''Bleckley''' of     Freeman  1904  University of Tennessee  Knoxville  TN  '''Freeman''' of     Kent  1907  New York Law School  Tribeca  NY  '''Kent''' of     Day  1907  Case Western Reserve University  Cleveland  OH  '''Day''' of     Lurton  1907  ''Chattanooga College of Law''  Chattanooga  TN  '''Lurton''' of    Burks  1908  Washington & Lee University  Lexington  VA  '''Burks''' of     Marshall  1910  Ohio Northern University  Ada  OH  '''Marshall''' of     Parker  1911  Union College (NY)  Schenectady  NY  '''Parker''' of     Von Moschzisker  1911  University of Pennsylvania  Philadelphia  PA  '''Von Moschzisker''' of     While  1911  Georgetown University  Washington  DC  '''White''' of     Jefferson  1911  University of Richmond School of Law  Richmond  VA  '''Jefferson''' of     Field  1912  University of Southern California  Los Angeles  CA  '''Field''' of     Fuller  1912  Fordham (NY) Law School  Manhattan  NY  '''Fuller''' of     Deady  1913  University of Oregon  Eugene  OR  '''Deady''' of     Chase  1913  Ohio State University  Columbus  OH  '''Chase''' of     Wayne  1914  ''Atlanta Law School''  Atlanta  GA      Dwight  1914  Columbia University  New York  NY      Webster  1915  ''Webster College of Law (Chicago)''  Chicago  IL      Snyder  1915  U of MO-KC Law School  Kansas City  MO      John Adams  1915  Boston University  Boston  MA      Howatt  1915  University of Utah  Salt Lake City  UT      Pitney  1915  Rutgers Law School (orig. NJ Law School)  Camden & Newark  NJ      Hosmer  1916  University of Detroit Mercy  Detroit  MI     Gibson  1916  University of Pittsburgh  Pittsburgh  PA     Russell  1916  New York University  New York  NY     Brewer  1916  University of Kansas  Lawrence  KS     Woodrow Wilson  1916  George Washington University  Washington  DC     Sam Houston  1916  University of Texas  Austin  TX    William McKinley  1919 John Marshall School of Law, Cleveland (Merged with Ranney)  Robert E. Lee 1919 University of Virginia, Department of Law Chester Cicero Cole 1921 Drake University Law School George H. Williams 1921 Northwestern College of Law Franz C. Eschweiler 1921 Marquette University Law school John Forrest Dillon 1921 College of Law of the State University of IowaHowell E. Jackson 1921 University of Memphis Law School Bliss 1921 School of Law of Missouri University
Notable members Notable initiates of Delta Theta Phi Law Fraternity include four U.S. Presidents (Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Calvin Coolidge, and Lyndon B. Johnson), Robert Menzies, an Australian Prime Minister, nine Chief or Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, including among them Edward Douglass White Jr., Charles Evans Hughes, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Harry Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O’Connor, and William K. Suter, Alfred Lawrence, 1st Baron Trevethin, a Lord Chief Justice of England, 33 current or former U.S. Senators and 77 current or former U.S. Representatives and at least one state representative (Illinois) David Ivar Swanson.
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