Talk of creating a new law fraternity at Cornell University started before the power of fraternities was realized. Several students batted the idea around in the fall, but decided to postpone any action until the spring semester. Meanwhile a Phi Delta Phi brother was chosen as the editor of the school newspaper, and more remarkably, another Phi Delta Phi won the class presidency — without seemingly competing at all. One Cornell student, Alphonse Derwin Stillman, started to look into it, and found out that the university was virtually controlled by a small but powerful band of brothers from Phi Delta Phi.

On this day, October 13, in 1890, according to a fraternity history article written by one of the founders in 1907, a handful of Cornell law students gather to adopt the Delta Chi constitution and found their new fraternity.

The students wanted more than just an alternative to the dominant Phi Delta Phi fraternity: they also sought companionship and mutual assistance both in school and beyond. Many well-known names belonged to the fraternity, among them William Jennings Bryan, former Secretary of State and presidential candidate; Tim Crown, the founder of the Fortune 500 technology firm Insight; and Cornell’s own Jon Daniels, who became the youngest General Manager ever in the Major Leagues.