History of Alpha Chi Rho

    As a student at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, Paul Ziegler joined the Beta Beta Society, a local literary society. He attended Trinity from 1868 until his graduation in 1872. Ziegler was a scholar, was elected Phi Beta Kappa, and was the Valedictorian of his class. After graduation he earned his Masters Degree in Divinity. Later, he was married and became a rector of an Episcopal church near his hometown in Michigan.

    In 1894, Reverend Ziegler's eldest son Carl enrolled in Trinity College. There were approximately 115 men attending Trinity in 1894, the majority of whom belonged to one of the national fraternities on campus. By this time, the Beta Beta Society had become the Beta Beta Chapter of Psi Upsilon Fraternity. Both William Rouse and his friend, Herbert Sherriff , were not invited to join that group. Paul Ziegler felt that they were rejected because William and Herbert were from the Midwest and had not attended a eastern prep school. Reverend Ziegler suggested that Carl, William, and Herbert create their own Fraternity based on principles which he felt were lacking in Trinity's existing fraternities.

    Reverend Ziegler believed that Trinity's fraternities were losing sight of their intended purpose and were basing their membership on a man's background rather than his intrinsic worth. He then wrote a booklet entitled The Exoteric Manual, which details the tenants and beliefs of an ideal fraternity. The manual was presented to these young men as the blueprint for a new Fraternity at Trinity College - Alpha Chi Rho.

    On January 1, 1895 at the Ziegler home in Detroit, Michigan, the final draft of the Exoteric Manual was accepted by all four men. The four Landmarks of Alpha Chi Rho were contained in the six page manual, although not in the same format as we know them today. It also contained an admonition to all Brothers in Alpha Chi Rho not to succumb to the challenges that had ruined other fraternities.

    On June 4, 1895, the four men performed the first Ritual and were initiated in Ziegler's room in Northam Towers at Trinity. This room is still being used b Alpha Chi Rho Brothers. The Founders called their group the Phi Psi Chapter, and it was their intention from the beginning to expand to other campuses.

 

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