The Chi Phi Fraternity
In early winter of 1865-66, the Hobart alumni in New York learned of the existence of the Chi Phi Fraternity in the South through John R. D. Shepard, a member of the Alpha Chapter at North Carolina. Negotiations for union were initiated but languished until the northern Chi Phis placed chapters at Wofford and Washington and Lee in 1871-72. Particularly through the energy of the member of the latter chapter, negotiations were renewed, and the union was finally accomplished during a meeting in Washington, D.C. on March 27, 1874. The new organization took the name Chi Phi Fraternity from the Southern Order, while the fabric of organization and ritual were taken from the Northern Order.