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Sigma Nu's past is
a proud and colorful one. Founded by three cadets at the
Virginia Military Institute in a period of civil strife known as
the Reconstruction, Sigma Nu represented a radical departure
from the times. The system of physical abuse and hazing of
underclassmen at VMI led James Frank Hopkins, Greenfield
Quarles, and James McIlvaine Riley to form the "Legion of Honor"
which soon became Sigma Nu Fraternity. So, amidst a backdrop of
turmoil, North America's first "Honor" fraternity was
established.
The Founders
The story of Sigma Nu began during the period
following the Civil War, when a Confederate veteran from
Arkansas enrolled at the Virginia Military Institute in
Lexington Virginia. That cadet was James Frank Hopkins, and it
is to him and two of his classmates that Sigma Nu owes it's
existence. When Hopkins enrolled at VMI, the south was in a
state of turmoil and just beginning to recover from the
devastating military defeat it had suffered. The Virginia
Military Institute was highly recognized for its civil
engineering program, and the South badly needed to repair its
bridges and railroads. At the Institute cadets suffered, not
only because of the ravages of war and a disrupted homelife, but
because of the system of physical harassment imposed on lower
classmen by their fellow students in the upper classes.
Hopkins had experienced military subservience during the war,
and was willing to tolerate a reasonable amount of constraint
intended to induce discipline. However, Hopkins was unwilling to
accept any amount then being allowed at VMI. Not one ounce of
hazing was he willing to suffer and he was doggedly adamant
about eliminating it.
Hopkins soon was joined by two classmates and close friends who
were also equally unhappy with the hazing situation.They were
Greenfield Quarles, from Arkansas, a Kentuckian by birth, and
James McIlvaine Riley from St. Louis, Missouri. These three men
began a movement to completely abolish the hazing system at VMI.
Their efforts climaxed on a moonlit October night in 1868,
presumably following Bible study at the superintendent's home,
when the three met at a limestone outcropping on the edge of the
VMI parade ground. Hopkins, Quarles and Riley clasped hands on
the Bible and gave their solemn pledge to form a brotherhood of
a new society they called the Legion of Honor.
The vows taken by these three Founders bound them together to
oppose hazing at VMI and encouraged the application of the
Principle of Honor in all their relationships. That the founders
should adopt Honor as a guiding principle was a natural move
since a rigid code of Honor was already an established tradition
of the VMI Corps and Cadets. The Honor system at VMI required
each cadet to conform to the duty imposed by his conscience that
each act be governed by a high sense of Honor.
Sigma Nu Announced
Although Sigma Nu Fraternity began in October
1868 as the Legion of Honor, its existence was kept secret until
the founders publicly announced their new society on the first
day of January 1869, the accepted birthdate of Sigma Nu. What a
New Year's celebration it must have been for cadets who could
not go home for the holidays! In those days the Institute did
not close for "breaks" as we know them. It suspended classes
only for the day on such occasions as Christmas and New Year's.
The Fraternity's spiritual birth, however, occurred in 1866, the
year the Founders entered VMI, when Frank Hopkins first rebelled
against hazing at the Institute. Still, the Founders did not
create Sigma Nu with any feeling of animosity toward others;
rather they were prompted by the impulses of sympathy and
affection for all people which underlie abiding peace and
contentment. They had experienced enough hate and destruction
all during and after the War. They wanted to end all abuses, and
they knew it would not come easily. It was never an issue of who
won or lost the War. It was only an issue of winning the peace.
The Legion of Honor society in its first year assumed the
outward aspects of a college Greek-letter organization. The
organizaton kept its original name secret but was recognized
publicly as Sigma Nu Fraternity. It was soon to win the respect
of all.
The new Fraternity needed an identifying
symbol, and the Founder Hopkins designed a Badge for the members
to wear on their uniforms. That Badge was patterned after the
White Cross of the French Legion of Honor, which was worn on the
uniform of a favorite professor of Hopkins. The Badge was first
introduced in the spring of 1869. Keeping with the Founders'
decree, the Badge has remained unchanged ever since, except in
size and the raised center. Even today, the collegiate
Commander's Badge, and the Badge of the Grand Officers remain
identical to Hopkins' original Badge. When the first slate of
Officers was chosen, Riley, the most popular, was elected
Commander and Hopkins the Lieutenant Commander. Typically,
Hopkins, the epitome of humbleness, was delighted that "Mac"
Riley was chosen leader. It gave Hopkins "the doer," thinker,
planner, along with Quarles who had similar talent, more of an
opportunity to concentrate on solidifying ol' Alpha before he
graduated in 1870. By the 1869 commencement, the group had grown
to fifty-one members.
Sigma Nu Expands
Expansion began for Sigma Nu in 1870 after the graduation of
the Founders, when the mother chapter at VMI, then known as
Chapter I, approved the establishment of a chapter at the
University of Virginia. Later, a permanent numbering system
established a Greek-letter designation for chapters. Thus,
Chapter I became Alpha and the University of Virginia
chapter became Beta.
Sigma Nu established a chapter at North Georgia Agricultural
College in 1881. One of the men instrumental in the
chartering of the North Georgia chapter was John Alexander
Howard. He was blessed with rare intellect and considerable
talent for writing. That talent led him naturally to
newspaper work. Howard read widely and in his reading
discovered Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities.
He read that book until he was familiar with all national
fraternities. His study of other fraternities prompted him
to examine shortcomings of his own fledgling Fraternity. At
this time Sigma Nu was still using the Roman numeral
designation for chapters. Howard felt that the Fraternity
should adopt a Greek-letter designation according to the
founding date of the chapter. Thus, his own chapter at North
Georgia became Kappa. Howard's main contribution was the
founding of The Delta for the magazine's title to symbolize
the geographic relationship of the three existing chapters
of the Fraternity at that time, Alpha, Lambda and Kappa. The
first edition of The Delta was published in April 1883 and
contained sixteen pages.
First National Convention
The year following the publication of The Delta witnessed
another important milestone for Sigma Nu. That event was the
First National Convention, which met at the Maxwell House
Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, July 9-10, 1884. The person
responsible for the First National Convention was Isaac P.
Robinson (Lambda, Washington and Lee). Robinson felt that a
meeting of alumni and collegiate representatives was
imperative because of a need to update the constitution,
revise procedures and coordinate efforts. The Sigma Nu
convention later became known as Grand Chapter. It is held
every two years and serves as the legislative body of the
General Fraternity.
Another event in 1884 which had a major impact upon the
Fraternity was the establishment of Nu Chapter at the
University of Kansas. During the first fifteen years of its
existence, Sigma Nu was primarily a southern fraternity, and
the decision to establish Nu Chapter was to be the first
step in a radical expansion program. Nu chapter was to be
the first step for Sigma Nu. Eugene L. Alford of Lambda was
instrumental in the founding of Nu Chapter.
Two charter initiates of Nu who became very influential in
Sigma Nu in later years were Perlee Rawson Bennett and Grant
Woodbury Harrington. Bennett served the Fraternity as Grand
Recorder for many years and in 1890 was elected Regent. He
presided over the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Tenth Grand
Chapters. Harrington became editor of The Delta and Grand
Recorder. For eight years (1886-1894) he had almost total
responsibility for the administration of the Fraternity.
Other early members of Nu Chapter were the Sears brothers,
William H. Sears, Clarence H. Sears and Walter James Sears,
who also became influential in Sigma Nu affairs. Their
brother, Lorin Beecher Sears, attended Ohio State University
where no chapter of Sigma Nu existed at the time. Walter was
so interested in having Lorin initiated into the Fraternity
that he entered Ohio State University, founded Beta Nu and
became its first initiate; Lorin became its second. Walter
Sears devoted much of his lifetime to Sigma Nu, but his name
will be remembered best for his beautiful prose work, "The
Creed of Sigma Nu."
The Move West
Leland Stanford University opened in
1891. Among its first students was Carl Lane Clemans, who
had founded Chi Chapter at Cornell Chapter at Cornell
College in Iowa. C lemens was determined to open a chapter
on the West Coast, and he recruited enough men to charter
Beta Chi Chapter at Stanford in November 1891. Beta Chi's
fame soon spread to Berkeley, and Clemans went there to help
organize Beta Psi in February 1892. Sigma Nu opened the
Northwest to Greek letter organizations when Gamma Chi was
chartered at the University of Washington in 1895, earning
the Fraternity kudos throughout the Greek community for its
"Northwest conquest." For almost four years Sigma Nu was the
only college fraternity in the Northwest, having been the
first to establish a chapter not only in the State of
Washington, but also Montana and Oregon. Beta Iota at Mount
Union was chartered by Walter James Sears in 1892. Three
years later Beta Iota initiated Albert Hughes Wilson, to
whom Sigma Nu owes a great debt. "Bert" Wilson served as
Regent, but his most noteworthy achievement was in
expansion. Wilson established more chapters than any other
member of the Fraternity, thirty-two in all, and he is
generally credited with helping develop Sigma Nu into a
geographically representative organization. Brother Wilson
was the exemplar of interfraternity spirit as well, being
chiefly responsible for the founding of Alpha Sigma Phi
men's fraternity. As an aside, it should be noted that
Brother Wilson C. Morris (Beta Iota, Mt. Union) is given
credit by Sigma Tau Gamma men's fraternity as being the
driving force behind its founding while the collegiate
Brothers of Delta Theta Chapter, Lombard (Knox) College
assisted greatly with the founding of Alpha Xi Delta women's
fraternity.
Headquarters Established
Having active chapters in each section of the country, Sigma
Nu was now in every sense a national fraternity. Expansion
proceeded at an orderly rate, and by 1915 there was a need
for a centrally located administrative offices with
full-time officers.Heretofore, the various Sigma Nu officers
maintained their files and records at their own homes or
places of business. Fire hadonce destroyed many of the
Fraternity's records, and there was a lack of coordination
in general. Following the Denver GrandChapter in 1915, the
High Council approved the establishment of the central
administrative system first proposed by Regent Francis V.
Keesling (Beta Chi, Stanford). The plan, adapted by Walter
J. Sears, converted the High Council onto a board of
directors elected by the Grand Chapter; all executive and
administrative duties previously exercised by members of the
High Council and committees were lodged in a single official
- the General Secretary (now Executive Director) - appointed
by the High Council and subordinate to its direction.
Indianapolis was selected as the location of the
Fraternity's headquarters, and on November 1, 1915 the
General Offices were opened there temporarily in the Lemcke
Annex before moving into the main building. Bixby Willis
(Lambda, Washington and Lee), a past Grand Treasurer of
Sigma Nu, was employed as the first General Secretary. In
1926 the central office was moved to the Illinois Building
in Indianapolis. Indianapolis served as the Fraternity's
headquarters for forty-two years, during which time
fifty-five new chapters were added to the roster of the
Legion of Honor.
Founders Join Chapter Eternal
Founder James Riley, who had served ten years (1869-79) as
the Fraternity's first Regent, entered the Chapter Eternal
on May 6, 1911, in St. Louis, Missouri. Members of the
Fraternity carried his remains to a burial plot purchased in
Bellefontaine Cemetery by the St. Louis Alumni Chapter in
fraternal affection for the Founder. The life of James Frank
Hopkins ended on December 15, 1913, and he was laid to rest
in the village cemetery at Mablevale, Arkansas, beside his
sweetheart from cadet days and devoted wife, a native
Lexingtonian, Jennie Barclay Hopkins. In 1920 an impressive
memorial was dedicated at the gravesite. Greenfield Quarles,
the only Founder still living, offered a tribute to Alpha 1:
The love of our Brother for his fellow man was only excelled
by his love of God. His example has instilled into the
hearts of us all the principles which guide us now, and
these principles will go down in future generations for all
time. His life has been an inspiration to all youth. All
that was mortal of Brother Hopkins lies buried here; but his
immortal spirit will live forever.
Six months later, the last of the three Founders was taken
from the living contact with the Fraternity. Judge
Greenfield Quarles entered the Chapter Eternal at his home
in Helena, Arkansas, January 14, 1921. He had lived a life
of noble service.
Formation of Sigma Nu
Foundation
In 1945, Brother William P. Yates (Beta Rho, Pennsylvania),
inspired the formation of the "Sigma Nu Inc., Educational
Foundation" with a handsome bequest. Its name was changed in
recent times to the "Sigma Nu Educational Foundation, Inc."
The foundation has been instrumental in assisting collegiate
members with financial aid supplements, and the General
Fraternity in the development of the LEAD Program, (LEAD is
an acronym for leadership, ethics, achievement,
development). The Foundation continues to support the
exclusively educational programs of the Fraternity.
Return to Lexington
Even before Sigma Nu's first central office was organized in
Indianapolis, some dreamed of the day when the Fraternity
would have an appropriate shrine at Sigma Nu's birthplace,
but it took nearly four decades before the first step was
taken. That step was the appointment of a Headquarters
Committee in 1954. It compared rent with ownership and
ultimately recommended the later in a college town where a
Sigma Nu chapter thrived. Inevitably Sigma Nu history and
tradition pointed to Lexington.
Regent James W. Bradley (Epsilon Epsilon, Oklahoma State)
and his High Council took the historic step in 1957,
purchasing without mortgage or lien a singularly appropriate
property, a large, a large home ideally suited for
conversion and development. The land, conveniently located
on the highest hill in the corporate limits of Lexington,
Virginia, and on a seven-and-one-half-acre tract overlooking
VMI and Washington and Lee University, enjoys the Blue Ridge
Mountains as a backdrop to the east and the Allegheny
Mountains to the west. The land was originally owned by the
son of General Frances H. Smith, the first superintendent of
VMI, who inspired Hopkins in the founding of Sigma Nu; the
house, built by the grandson of Superintendent Smith, came
to Sigma Nu directly from the Smith family. Milton L. Grigg,
a renowned Virginia architect and participant in the famous
Williamsburg Restoration, was contracted to restore the
building. The Headquarters facility was occupied in 1958 and
officially dedicated June 9, 1960.
Sigma Nu Centennial
On January 1, 1969, Sigma Nu reached its one-hundred-year
milestone. In the year that followed, it marked that event
with a series of Centennial dinners at 36 locations
throughout the country and with pilgrimages to the
gravesites of the three Founders and the first editor of The
Delta. Then on Sunday, June 15, a Centennial Convocation was
held in Lexington. Two beautiful new wings of the
Headquarters building were dedicated, one housing the Sigma
Nu Museum and the other the Fraternity's Honor Library, the
later to be dedicated in tribute to former Executive
Secretary Richard R. Fletcher, who had long since earned the
moniker "Mr. Sigma Nu." Sigma Nu in its 100th year had come
a long way from its founding. At the century mark it had
issued 164 charters of which 143 chapters were alive and
flourishing. Of the nine other truly national fraternities
older than Sigma Nu, only three had more initiates. Sigma Nu
owned 110 chapter houses providing living accommodations for
more than 3,500 students. All this had been accomplished
solely through the appeal of its principles - without false
claims or specious promises, without merger, without
honorary members. Every chapter had earned its own way by
applying integrity in both purpose and method.
Sigma Nu Celebrates Its 125th
Year
Well into the Fraternity's second century, Sigma Nu
continued its dramatic growth. Today, the number of
initiates is nearly 200,000; the number of chapters
approaching 250. Many of the Fraternity's chapters have
initiated more than a 1,000 members, with a large number
topping 1,500 and several exceeding 2,000.
Among the many significant achievements during the past
decade has been the addition of adjacent properties in
Lexington, Virginia, known as the Ethical Leadership Center,
owned by the Sigma Nu Educational Foundation, Inc.
Particularly noteworthy is Sigma Nu's interfraternity
leadership in risk reduction and risk management matters
followed by the introduction of its unique LEAD Program, one
of the most meaningful educational initiatives ever
undertaken by a college fraternity. In addition, the
transfer of ownership of the Fraternity's Headquarters
property, known as the Sigma Nu Headquarters Shrine, to the
Sigma Nu Educational Foundation, Inc. has enabled alumni
gifts to assist in its restoration and preservation, so as
to relieve the burden of upkeep on future generations of
collegians.
Finally, in celebration of the Fraternity's 125th
anniversary, the Foundation undertook construction of a
third wing to the Headquarters Shrine as well as a Pathway
of Honor of engraved bricks, which provides an opportunity
to celebrate the life of each Sigma Nu. The Pathway of Honor
will meander throughout the Lexington properties. A special
"Pilgrimage to the Rock" was one of the memorable highlights
of the 56th Grand Chapter held in Washington, DC, in August
1994.
For a century and a quarter Sigma Nu chapters have shaped
the man of integrity. Their challenge for the future is to
focus efforts and energies anew to the fuller realization of
the great mission set by our Founders - to build Men of
Honor, ethical leaders for society based upon the concept of
the Brotherhood of Man under the Fatherhood of God. Indeed,
Sigma Nu may be on the threshold of the era of its greatest
achievement as it enters the 21st Century.
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