The Southern Order

from Chi Phi's Member Resource Book

The second of these older organizations, called the Chi Phi Fraternity and now known in our history as the Southern Order of Chi Phi, was founded at the University of North Carolina on August 21, 1858, by Thomas Capehart, Augustus Flythe, John C. Tucker, William H. Green, Fletcher T. Seymour, and James J. Cherry. All students at the university, they organized this club to perpetuate their friendship and named it Chi Phi Fraternity. The idea of expansion was early manifested and so chapters were rapidly organized at Centenary, Davidson, Virginia, Nashville, and Cumberland. However, the War between the States meant the end of all but the parent chapter. With the cessation of hostilities, new chapters sprang up at Hampden-Sydney, University of Georgia, University of Edinburgh, Mercer, Emory, Oglethorpe, Trinity College, Kentucky Military Institute, and St. John's. The extinct chapters at Virginia and Davidson were reorganized. Following the War, the University of North Carolina itself was closed, necessitating the transfer of the "Alpha" Chapter title to the Virginia Chapter. While this organization had a constitution and held conventions, the primary authority rested with the "Alpha" Chapter.