Fraternities and Sororities have a rich legacy and history at Oregon State University.  We've included a timeline of Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) below as well as several links to other resources outlining the history of our diverse community.  Enjoy also browsing our other tabs on this website that detail history related to specific areas of FSL at OSU.

Fraternities and Sororities celebrated 100 years on campus in Spring 2015.  Learn more about this milestone here.

Historical Timeline of Fraternities and Sororities at Oregon State University

Information up to 2015 was compiled by Erika Bellingham, class of 2015

1856: Corvallis Academy opens as the first community school in the area.

1882: Alpha Tau Omega-Alpha Sigma chapter charters at Oregon Agricultural College (the chapter was closed 6 months after initial opening).

1883: Corvallis Academy becomes renamed Oregon State Agricultural College.

1905: Gamma Delta Phi became the first permanent Greek letter social organization on campus in April.

1909: Gamma Sigma Delta: “The Honor Society of Agriculture" chapter established.

1915: Alpha Chi Omega-Chi chapter chartered as the first national sorority at Oregon Agricultural College. Shortly followed by Kappa Sigma and Sigma Alpha Epsilon- Oregon-Alpha national fraternities. The establishment of these chapters created the first Panhellenic and Interfraternity Councils.

1916: Alpha Tau Omega-Alpha Sigma chapter reestablished. Sigma Chi-Beta Pi chapter and Theta Chi-Sigma chapter charters.

1917: Pi Beta Phi chapter established July 23rd, Chi Omega-Eta Alpha chapter chartered October 6th and Kappa Alpha Theta-Beta Epsilon chapter chartered November 10th. Lambda Chi Alpha-Alpha Lambda chapter chartered March 3rd. Panhellenic council established.

1918: Sigma Kappa-Upsilon (the 9th oldest ΣΚ chapter) chartered March 17th, Gamma Phi Beta chapter established April 28th and Delta Delta Delta-Theta Mu chapter chartered December 7th. Phi Delta Theta- Oregon-Beta chapter, Sigma Phi Epsilon- Oregon-Alpha chapter chartered.

1919: Delta Zeta chapter chartered April 25th and Alpha Xi Delta chapter established May 30th.

1920: Alpha Sigma Phi-Psi chapter chartered on May 22.

1921: Alpha Gamma Delta chartered May 23rd. Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI)-Kappa Omicron chapter and Phi Sigma Kappa-Theta Deuteron chapter established.

1922: Delta Upsilon chapter chartered.

1923: Zeta Tau Alpha established April 7th and Beta Theta Pi-Gamma Mu chapter chartered.

1924: Kappa Kappa Gamma-Gamma Mu chapter chartered June 7th. Acacia chartered April 19th. Alpha Gamma Rho-Alpha Beta chapter and Tau Kappa Epsilon-Tau chapter.

1926: Alpha Delta Pi established on February 6th, Alpha Omicron Pi-Alpha Rho chapter established on June 5th, and Kappa Delta-Alpha Kappa chapter established on October 16th. Delta Chi-Theta Delta Nu chapter chartered. 

1927: Interfraternity Council established.

1928: Kappa Delta Rho-Sigma chapter chartered.

1930 - Delta Tau Delta - Delta Lambda chapter chartered.

1931: Chi Phi-Epsilon Delta chapter chartered.

1937: Name of institution formally changed to Oregon State College.

1945: Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.- Beta Psi chapter chartered in Portland, OR orignially including both alumnae and collegiate members. Beta Psi became a collegiate only chapter in 1981 with the establishment of the Portand Alumnae Chapter.

1946: Delta Gamma-Beta Upsilon chapter chartered April 27th.

1947: Alpha Phi-Beta Upsilon chapter chartered May 17th.

1948: Phi Kappa Psi - Oregon-Beta chapter chartered.

1954: OSU alumni and Delta Upsilon Fraternity member Linus Pauling receives his 1st Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In 1964 he became the first person to win 2 Nobel Prizes, one in chemistry and one in peace.

1960s: Beta Theta Phi fraternity hosts “Turtle Derby” philanthropy event. Raising money for the Children’s Farm Home just outside of town. In 1973, they also added rabbits into the race.

1961: Name of institution changed to Oregon State University.

1964: Alpha Xi Delta chapter is closed.

1970: Zeta Tau Alpha charter is withdrawn after disagreement between National organization and OSU regarding recruiting all students no matter their ethnicity. Pi Kappa Phi-Alpha Zeta chapter and Sigma Pi Omega chapter chartered. 

1972: Phi Sigma Kappa chapter closed.

1976: Sigma Chi fraternity and Delta Delta Delta host a teeter-totter fundraiser, where they raised $3,000 while teeter tottering for a consecutive 120 hours.

1977: Delta Zeta charter is withdrawn.

1978: Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.-Iota Iota chapter chartered. They are the first National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC or Divine Nine) organization at Oregon State.

1979: Alpha Xi Delta chapter is reopened.

1982: Kappa Delta-Alpha Kappa chapter is closed.

1987: Kappa Delta-Alpha Kappa chapter is reopened.

1989: Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity reopened.

1991: Sigma Alpha-Xi (agricultural-based sorority) chapter chartered.

1992: Alpha Omicron Pi and Kappa Delta Rho charters are withdrawn.

1995: Phi Gamma Delta chapter closes.

1996: Alpha Delta Pi charter is withdrawn.

1997: Gamma Phi Beta charter is withdrawn and Phi Gamma Delta Kappa Omicron chapter reopens.

1998: Beta Theta Pi-Gamma Mu closes due to financial hardships.

1999: Omega Delta Phi Fraternity, Inc - Alpha Theta (Latino-founded multicultural fraternity) chapter chartered. They are first multicultural fraternity at Oregon State. Delta Tau Delta - Delta Lambda chapter closed.

2000: Gamma Alpha Omega Sorority Inc.- Kappa (Latina-founded multicultural sorority) chapter chartered. They are the first multicultural sorority at Oregon State. Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. - Sigma Delta chapter chartered.

2004: Alpha Sigma Phi-Psi chapter is closed.

2005: Alpha Xi Delta sorority and Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity chapters closed. Phi Sigma Rho- Sigma chapter (engineering sorority) chartered, Sigma Beta Rho-Alpha Gamma (multicultural fraternity) chapter chartered.

2006: Pi Beta Phi charter is withdrawn. Sigma Delta Omega (local science based sorority) founded and Delta Phi Omega-Nu chapter (South Asian focused multi cultural sorority) chartered.

2010: Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity Inc-Delta Epsilon chapter chartered.

2011: Triangle Fraternity with men in science and engineering focus is established. Kappa Delta Chi-Alpha Psi (Hispanic/Latina multi cultural focused sorority) chapter chartered.

2012: Alpha Sigma Phi-Psi chapter and Kappa Delta Rho-Sigma chapters recharter.

2013: Chi Theta Phi Sorority (local art & design focused organization) chapter founded. Alpha Pi Omega Sorority, Inc. -Kappa chapter(Native American culturally-based sorority) and Alpha Phi Apha Fraternity, Inc. - Rho Beta chapter chartered.

2014: Alpha Omicron Pi-Alpha Rho chapter recharters. The first OSU National Pan-Hellenic Council (Divine Nine) chapter is chartered, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc.-Xi Upsilon chapter.

2015: The community celebrated 100 years of consecutive Greek life. There were 46 Greek Organizations at OSU at this time!

2017: Sigma Nu-Delta Tau chapter and Pi Kappa Alpha-Beta Nu chapter rechartered. Delta Tau Delta - Delta Lambda chapter and FarmHouse Fraternity reestablished.

2018: Alpha Epsilon Pi-Omicron Sigma chapter established and Beta Theta Pi-Gamma Mu reestablished. Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc - Gamma Upsilon Gamma chapter chartered.

2019: FarmHouse Fraternity rechartered.

2020: Spring and Fall Term 2020 were held virtually due to the university's COVID-19 pandemic response. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc - Rho Beta chapter was revitalized in Fall. 

2021: Winter and Spring Term 2021 were held virtually due to the university's COVID-19 pandemic response. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. - Beta Psi chapter reestablished in Spring.

 

Sources

Corvallis Area Alumnae Panhellenic pamphlet, shared at the Annual brunch on February 28th, 2015

http://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/chronology/chron_head.html

Chapter Profiles 

The Greek Centennial