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Theta Xi Fraternity (ΘΞ) is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) on April 29, 1864. Of all the social fraternities today, Theta Xi was the only one founded during the Civil War. Its Grand Lodge is headquartered in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Since its inception, Theta Xi has grown to include more than 60,000 initiated members. Currently, there are approximately 50 active chapters. == History == Theta Xi was founded on April 29, 1864 at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York as an engineering fraternity. Its founders were Peter Henry Fox, Ralph Gooding Packard, Christopher Champlin Waite, George Bradford Brainerd, Samuel Buel, Jr., Henry Harrison Farnum, Thomas Cole Raymond, and Nathaniel Henry Starbuck. All of the original founders were members of a local fraternity called Sigma Delta, established in 1859 to rival Theta Delta Chi, which was then a secret society at RPI. Debates were common and encouraged at Sigma Delta meetings. However, on the evening of October 30, 1863, George Brainerd tendered his resignation to the society. This resignation was unanimously declined, but ultimately created a rift. Soon after, talks began circulating of affiliating with a larger organization such as Sigma Phi. However, when Sigma Phi declined to issue a charter, this only increased tensions.〔(''The Quest of Theta Xi'' )〕 On March 12, 1864, voting took place for members of a new organization, and on April 1, a committee consisting of Waite, Buel, Brainerd, and Packard began preparing a new constitution. By April 6, Buel presented monograms for two new names, Theta Xi and Theta Psi. Theta Xi was chosen because of local fraternity called Theta Psi at Yale.〔(''The Quest of Theta Xi'' )〕 Within its first forty years, six chapters were established at Yale, Stevens Institute of Technology, MIT, Columbia University, Cornell University, and Lehigh University. It was not until 1905 that a westward expansion occurred with a chapter at Purdue. The first west coast chapter came in 1910 at UC Berkeley, and in April 1921, the first southern chapter was founded at LSU.〔(''The Quest of Theta Xi'' )〕 In 1962, talks began of folding Kappa Sigma Kappa, a smaller, struggling fraternity into Theta Xi. The merger was completed on August 20, 1962. As a direct result, several of Theta Xi’s traditions were altered. The coat-of-arms' fleur-de-lis was changed to have crescent moons in tradition with Kappa Sigma Kappa and the “pledge” pins were also changed to incorporate Kappa Sigma Kappa’s traditions diagonal white band. The fraternity flower was change from the white carnation to the blue iris. Finally, the membership manual was changed from The Theta Xi Pledge Manual to The Quest for Theta Xi. In 1964, as a commemoration for the fraternity’s centennial, a new Memorial Headquarters was formally dedicated in St. Louis. This served as the official home of the Grand Lodge until 2001.〔(''The Quest of Theta Xi'' )〕 Beginning in 1999, Theta Xi began offering Leadership academies to its active brothers. That year, the first President’s Academy was held to train new chapter presidents, funded by the Theta Xi Foundation. In 2006, this was expanded to include Rising Stars Academy, which aims to make first-year initiates more active in the fraternity.〔(''The Quest of Theta Xi'' )〕 In 2014, Theta Xi celebrated its sesquicentennial. In honor of this occasion, the National Convention was held in Troy, New York to commemorate the founding of Theta Xi.〔(''Θ Ξ - 150 Years'' )〕 William S. Mason, considered to be one of the greatest benefactors and supporters of Theta Xi, was the main supporter of the fraternity's adoption of Benjamin Franklin as its patron saint. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Theta Xi」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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