It was not a single spectacular event that brought about the creation of
Delta Sigma Pi over 100 years ago, but the association of five students at
New York University who, coincidentally, used a common path to their homes
following classes. These five men were motivated by the same forces that
have caused others to organize fraternities, namely, common goals and the
desire to pursue these goals together.
Plans were made by these five men in the Spring and Summer of 1907 to form
a social club composed of students in the School of Commerce, Accounts and
Finance of New York University, which at that time conducted classes in
the evening. Regular sessions of this nucleus were held at one of the ice
cream parlors in Central Park, which concession was operated by the
father of one of the five men. When Fall came, the time set for the
formal launching of this club, one of the five members accepted the pledge
of a Greek letter organization at New York University and dropped from the
group. This incident changed the thinking of the remaining four and the
existing plans for a club were abandoned in favor of a Greek letter
fraternity. Thus Delta Sigma Pi was created on November 7, by Alexander
Frank Makay, Alfred Moysello, Henry Albert Tienken and Harold Valentine
Jacobs.
There was never any doubt about the purpose of this new fraternity, but it
was not until 1914, and nationalization began, that the following specific
statement of the purpose of the Fraternity was published for all to see:
Delta Sigma Pi is a professional fraternity organized to foster the study
of business in universities; to encourage scholarship, social activity and
the association of students for their mutual advancement by research and
practice; to promote closer affiliation between the commercial world and
students of commerce, and to further a higher standard of commercial
ethics and culture and the civic and commercial welfare of the
community.
It took almost two years of struggling for this new organization to
establish itself and to become officially recognized at New York
University. For the next five years it thrived as a local fraternity to a
point where it was quite ready for national scope when Beta Chapter was
installed in the evening division of Northwestern University in 1914, and
Gamma Chapter at Boston University in 1916. Philip J. Warner of Alpha
Chapter, later Grand President, was chairman of the committee that led
this nationalization move. Further growth was thwarted until 1920, when
H.G. Wright entered the national picture as Grand President. During his
four years in office, 29 new chapters were installed and the Fraternity
took on a truly national appearance. The next step was the creation of a
Central Office in 1924 with the same H.G. Wright, then serving as Grand
Secretary-Treasurer, in charge of it on a part time basis. Publications
and forms were standardized, jewelry designed and other services of a
national nature performed. The huge success of this program prompted the
Fraternity to employ H.G. Wright as Grand Secretary-Treasurer on a full
time basis and authorized him to lease space in a Chicago office building
for the purpose of establishing a permanent Central Office for the
fraternity. And so, the Central Office of Delta Sigma Pi moved into a
suite of rooms at 222 West Adams Street in Chicago, Illinois, at which
location it remained for 30 years, 29 of which were under the direction of
H.G. Wright.
Delta Sigma Pi grew steadily from 1920 until World War II, when the
campuses were drained of potential members. The active chapter roll fell
from 50 down to 11 and these were active in name only. The conclusion of
the war brought about the expansion of the Central Office staff and the
rebuilding of the fraternity. By 1950, only four years after the War,
Delta Sigma Pi had bounced back to 60 active chapters and all of its
pre-war program was restored.
As early as 1953, it became apparent that the present facilities of the
Central Office would soon be outgrown with the continued expansion of the
Fraternity. Accordingly, plans were made for the construction of a
building near some college campus to house the Central Office and
adequately provide for the future. Appropriately, it was decided to
dedicate this building to H.G. Wright, who had already announced his plans
to retire in 1955. The project was placed in the hands of J.D. Thomson,
who had served as Assistant Grand Secretary-Treasurer since 1946 and who
was slated to succeed H.G. Wright. In 1955, the plans for a colonial
building adjacent to the Miami University Campus in Oxford, Ohio, had been
completed and construction begun. One year later, the Central Office of
Delta Sigma Pi was moved from its original Chicago home to this new
structure at 330 South Campus Avenue in Oxford, where it is today.
In the 15 years following completion of the headquarters building, the
Fraternity nearly doubled in the number of collegiate chapters and
membership. To keep pace with this continued growth the original building
was expanded to nearly double its size in 1970.
Delta Sigma Pi continues to expand each year, not only in the number of
chapters and members, but also in its scope of activities and influence in
the world of business.
