Historedia
Episode 1 of 2

Founding of Theta Chi

When
10 April 1856
Where
Norwich University, then in Norwich, Vermont (now in Northfield)
Part of
Theta Chi fraternity founded at Norwich University

Theta Chi was founded on April 10, 1856, at Norwich University, then located in Norwich, Vermont, by military cadets Frederick Norton Freeman and Arthur Chase.

The fraternity was established during the 1856 academic year at Norwich University, which was then located in Norwich, Vermont. Egbert Phelps is considered the assistant founder for lending help and advice to Freeman and Chase after transferring to Union College in 1854. The first initiates after the founders were Edward Bancroft Williston and Lorenzo Potter, both initiated on April 11, 1856. The university moved to Northfield, Vermont, only later, after an 1866 fire, so Northfield is a later locality rather than the founding site.

Sources

  1. Theta Chi Wikipedia, revision of 2026-07-12
  2. Norwich University Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-27

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.