The History of Axp
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History can be presented in many forms. It can be written or oral; or it can also be the truth, which is usually biased by human nature. This historical outlook on the trials and triumphs of our brotherhood was taken from history articles which have appeared in the Garnet & White, from personal letters in the Fraternitys archives, and from personal discussions with Brothers who shared their stories with us.
The year was 1894. Grover Cleveland was the President of the United States. The country was starting to recover from the Panic of 1893, which seriously jeopardized the monetary and fiscal policies of both the country and its individuals.
There were approximately 117 students attending Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. Most of the students attending Trinity College were from preparatory schools located in New England. The college system of that day was much different than todays system of higher education. Not every man went to college and those who did were expected to help shape the future of our country.
The Reverend Paul Ziegler had attended Trinity College and received his degree in 1872. While a student at Trinity, Rev. Ziegler was a member of the local Beta Beta Society. In todays terms, Beta Beta is a fraternity, but in that era, it was a literary society. In the 1890s, Reverend Ziegler and his family lived in Detroit, Michigan, and he wanted to send his oldest son, Carl, to his alma mater. This made Carl a unique student at Trinity. Instead of an easterner who had attended a prep school in New England, he was a Midwesterner. He was attending an eastern school that associated itself with schools such as Yale and Brown in the state.
Upon entering Trinity, he became friends with William Rouse and former pupil Herbert Sherriff. Both Carl and Herbert were not invited to join Reverend Zieglers fraternity, Beta Beta, which had now become the Beta Beta chapter of Psi Upsilon Fraternity. As a result, Reverend Ziegler wanted to found a Greek letter society on a basis that was distinct from that of existing societies. Reverend Ziegler wrote his beliefs about what the new brotherhood should stand for and portray in the “Exoteric Manual of Alpha Chi Rho.” This document, the first Exoteric manual of Alpha Chi Rho, was a non-secret statement of the principles of the new fraternity. The three men who accepted the first manual were Paul and Carl Ziegler, and Herbert Sherriff. Detroit could be considered the birthplace of Alpha Chi Rho.
When Ziegler and Sherriff returned to school, they interested four other men in joining them in their venture. All four had either refused or been refused membership in the existing fraternities at Trinity. Most all of the fraternities were part of some old and prestigious national organization. There were many doubts that such a new group had any hopes of survival. Two of the four dropped out of the group, which left us with our five Revered Founders. On June 4, 1895, the first formal meeting was held. The four undergraduate men exchanged the vows of brotherhood in Zieglers room in Northam Towers on the Trinity campus.
A personal letter from Ziegler to Rouse relates to us that the name of the chapter, “PHI PSI”, came about because Ziegler thought it was a nice sounding name for a chapter. They needed a chapter name since it was planned from the very beginning that Alpha Chi Rho would spread to other campuses.
At the conclusion of the school year in 1897, Carl Ziegler and Herbert Sherriff finished their studies at from Trinity. The Founders left the brotherhood in the hands of 17 Brothers. They had become one of the largest fraternities on campus, having over one-sixth of the student body. They included the brightest scholars and athletes on the campus. The first chapter hall was a rented room and the chapter had an eating club, which cost $4.50 per week. At that time, the college did not provide meals, and it was left up to the students to form clubs, join fraternities or eat with a private family in town. In addition to our respected membership, Alpha Chi Rho was the first fraternity on the campus to accept local students or “townies” as members.
At first Paul Ziegler was a businessman and pursued his ministry only after leaving the business field. He was a strong advocate of prohibition. William Rouse was the oldest student founder, while Carl Ziegler was the youngest. Rouse was the first President of the Phi Psi chapter and was considered to be quite intelligent. A sign in the Northam Tower room where our ritual was first performed stated “Chickens Roost High, But They Must Come Down” – obviously a statement which could be attributed to the attitudes of the existing fraternities on campus. William Rouse, first Phi Psi President, never met Paul Ziegler, even though Ziegler attended the Institutions of the Phi Chi and Phi Phi chapters.
Upon leaving Trinity, Carl Ziegler and William Eardeley were both living and working in New York. They became interested in expanding the brotherhood to another campus and approached a man from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. After discussions with these two Founders and the acceptance by the Phi Psi chapter (which had to approve all functions of each chapter, especially chartering new groups), three men started the Phi Chi chapter at Brooklyn Poly. The initiation fee was $10, a considerable sum of money at that time. Spurred on by success, Eardeley, when later in Philadelphia, approached a man of good standing at University of Pennsylvania. The man, Howard Long, class of 1900, thought that he was about to be attacked in the street when Eardeley first approached him. He rejected the proposal of starting a new fraternity on the Penn campus, especially one that was only in existence for less than one year and had only two chapters and no alumni of which to speak. However, Eardeley spoke to Longs mother as well as to his Episcopalian minister. These discussions helped Long make his commitment to this new venture. Phi Phi was chartered with 18 members in 1896. As a side note, Eardeleys full Christian name was William Appleby Eardeley-Thomas.
When the Fraternity was founded, there were few rules or guidelines. Each chapter was left to develop their own rules. However, policies that were made had to be approved by the brothers of the Phi Psi chapter. This did not always make for easy times; it was not easy to get permission from Hartford when things happened in Philadelphia. Although the Brothers were able to travel to visit each other, transportation was neither quick nor cheap, and the communications were not always quick or secure enough for secrets of the Fraternity. Each chapter continued to grow and flourish, although some discontent was brewing