Lambda Chi Alpha was founded at Boston University on November 2, 1909. Most Greek-letter organizations celebrate Founders Day on the date of the founding. Lambda Chi’s official Founders Day is March 22, according to the Fraternity’s website, “but celebrations typically occur at any time during the spring semester.”
On November 2, 1909, according to the Lambda Chi website:
Warren A. Cole (Boston 1912) founded Alpha Zeta of Lambda Chi Alpha at Boston University. As an incoming law student at the university, it was Cole’s dream to start a college fraternity from the very beginning. After graduating with a Bachelor of Law degree, Cole set out to build Lambda Chi Alpha into an international fraternity and served as the first Grand High Alpha, or chairman, until December 1919. He also served as the administrative secretary and editor of the Purple, Green, and Gold magazine.
Lambda Chi’s Historian Mike Raymond wrote a terrific article in the fraternity’s March 2011 Cross & Crescent. It is entitled “Why We Have Two Founders Days.” The second date, March 22, was originally called “Lambda Chi Alpha Day.” March 22, 1913 was the date of “the first assembly with representatives from more than one chapter, it was also the place where sweeping changes were made in the fundamental nature of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity.”
During World War I, 2,500 Lambda Chis, more than 82% of the fraternity’s membership, were in war service. In another Cross & Crescent article about the history of the magazine, Raymond wrote about the September 1918. It was:
made up entirely of a directory of Lambda Chis then serving in the military. The directory is organized by chapter, zeta number, name, military rank, and mailing address of each serviceman. This comprehensive listing was arranged by R.R. Rowe (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). The list includes 168 officers serving in the Army and Navy, 96 non-commissioned officers, and 763 enlisted men. A total of 1,027 brothers were in uniform in 1918 — an impressive number from a very young fraternal organization.
Thirty-seven Lambda Chi were killed during service in World War I.
University of New Hampshire Lambda Chi Alpha chapter in 1919-1920. (Courtesy of UNH Archives)
The October 11, 1939, acquisition of the 24 chapters of Theta Kappa Nu by Lambda Chi Alpha made it the largest fraternity merger at that time. Theta Kappa Nu had itself been created when 11 established local fraternities joined together on June 9, 1924. Theta Kappa Nu’s expansion was quick and the pattern of acquiring established locals continued; by the time of the merger, more than 50 Theta Kappa Nu chapters had been established and the fraternity had almost 6,000 members. The Great Depression caused collegiate membership to decline in both organizations (as well as in most fraternities and sororities). The merger documents were signed at Howard College (now Samford University) in Birmingham, Alabama.
