Sigma Chi exists because six men refused to vote against their conscience.
In the fall of 1854, those six future Founders belonged to Delta Kappa Epsilon at Miami University. A dispute broke out over the election of a leader for a campus literary society: several brothers wanted to back a fellow Deke out of pure loyalty, despite knowing he wasn’t suited for the role. Four members refused, insisting a man should be judged on merit rather than allegiance. Two more sided with them, splitting the twelve-man chapter in half. The rift never healed, and by April 1855 those six were formally expelled. Rather than walk away empty-handed, they brought in a seventh man, William Lewis Lockwood, who hadn’t been part of the dispute but brought the organizing skill the group needed, and together they built a fraternity of their own: one founded on choosing the right men and holding to principle, even when it meant standing apart. They made it official on June 28, 1855, wearing their new badges in public for the first time on Commencement Day.
For their emblem, they turned to the story of Constantine, the Roman emperor said to have seen a cross in the sky before a decisive battle and taken it as a sign of victory to come. The Founders adopted that same symbol, the White Cross, along with the words that accompany it: In Hoc Signo Vinces, “In This Sign You Shall Conquer.” More than 165 years later, that emblem still marks the fraternity, now carried by hundreds of thousands of men across chapters worldwide.
Our Guiding Values
The Three Great Aims of this fraternity are Friendship, Justice, and Learning. They’re the standard a chapter returns to when deciding what matters and how to act.
Each of the seven Founders came to be associated with a particular virtue, and together these form the Seven Core Virtues:
- Courage (Benjamin Piatt Runkle): standing up for what you believe, even when it costs you.
- Wisdom (Thomas Cowan Bell): seeking knowledge and exercising sound judgment.
- Integrity (William Lewis Lockwood): doing what is right when no one is watching.
- High Ambition (Isaac M. Jordan): setting worthy goals and pursuing them in earnest.
- Self-Control (Daniel William Cooper): remaining disciplined and composed under pressure.
- Courtesy (Franklin Howard Scobey): treating every person with respect.
- Fidelity (James Parks Caldwell): remaining loyal to your word and your brothers, for life.
These virtues are what members strive toward for life, not a bar to clear once and move past.
