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sigma chi timeline

/ The founding and parent chapter era /

/ A new form of governance /

/ Sigma Chi International /

/ 100 YEARS OF SIGMA CHI /

1946

/ WINDS OF CHANGE /

1972
1972

Sigma Chi

  • The Executive Committee authorized a program to provide General Fraternity and staff participation and assistance in the initial creation of new local fraternities as prospective future chapters. The first such group was established at Florence State University in Alabama (now known as the University of North Alabama).
  • The committee authorized the new Erwin L. LeClerg Outstanding Chapter Advisor award. The first recipient was Dr. Elton B. Hill, Michigan State 1915, a longtime advisor to the Gamma Psi Chapter.
  • On the governmental and international scene, national elections in the United States and Canada increased the size of the delegation of Sigma Chi members in the Congressional and legislative bodies of the United States and Canada to a record number of three United States Senators, one Canadian Senator, and 15 United States Representatives—the largest fraternity delegation in the Greek-letter world.
  • Astronaut John W. Young, Georgia Tech 1952, was one of three astronauts who circled the moon in Apollo 10. In 1972, as commander of the Apollo 16 space mission, he became the ninth man to set foot on the moon. He carried with him to the moon a Sigma Chi badge and flag, which are now on display in the Fraternity Headquarters Museum.

World Events

  • One of the high points in 1970s diplomacy, and of the Nixon Presidency, Richard Nixon becomes the first U.S. president to visit China.
  • US, USSR & 70 other nations agree to ban the use of biological weapons.
  • Apollo 17 launches from Cape Kennedy marking the end of Nasa’s manned lunar missions.

/ RECONSOLIDATION /

1995
1995

 

Sigma Chi

  • The Magazine of Sigma Chi commemorated its 100th anniversary with a special 120-page edition.

World Events

  • 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days freed.
  • First launch of the Space Shuttle Program.
 
1981
 

Sigma Chi

  • The Fraternity created the Edwin C. Fisher Grand Praetor Award.

World Events

  • The first Internet domain name is registered (symbolics.com).
 
1985
 

Sigma Chi

  • Epsilon Omicron chapter at the University of Western Ontario hosted the first Leadership Training Workshop held in Canada.
  • The Fraternity established the George Ruhle Outstanding Scholar and the Henri Stegemeier Faculty Advisor Awards.

World Events

  • Supernova 1987A in LMC 1st seen; 1st naked-eye supernova since 1604.
  • U.S. President Ronald Reagan challenges Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall” in a speech before the Berlin Wall.
 
1987
 

Sigma Chi

  • The Fraternity established the Risk Management Foundation to provide educational and liability information and insurance services to active chapters and house corporations.
  • The General Headquarters building was named in honor of Past Grand Consul J. Dwight Peterson, Indiana 1919.

World Events

  • Mulroney & Reagan sign Canada-US free trade agreement.
  • Margaret Thatcher becomes longest-serving British PM this century.
  • Discovery of most distant galaxy (15 billion light years) announced.
 
1988
 

Sigma Chi

  • Sigma Chi recorded its 200,000th initiate, John Delaney, Utah State 1994.
  • Executive Secretary William T. Bringham Sr., Illinois Wesleyan 1946, retired after serving the Fraternity in that full-time Headquarters staff position nearly 36 years.

World Events

  • 140 nations agree to ban chemical weapons (poison gas, etc).
  • The first of 24 satellites of the Global Positioning System are placed into orbit.
  • Thousands of Chinese crowd into Beijing’s Tiananmen Square cheering students demanding greater political freedom. The demonstrations are brutally suppressed by the Chinese Govenment leading to the Tiananmen Square massacre.
 
1989
 

Sigma Chi

  • The Fraternity established Constantine Capital Inc. to assist house corporations in securing financing for new, expanded or renovated chapter housing.
  • Grand Historian Douglas R. Carlsons, Minnesota 1973, 554-page History of the Sigma Chi Fraternity 1955 to 1980 was published, the first Sigma Chi history volume since 1955.

World Events

  • As a new decade dawns, the end is near for the old Soviet Union. Throughout the year, the Warsaw Pact implodes as nation after nation renounce their ties to Moscow. On May 29th, Boris Yeltsin is elected president of the Russian Republic, which begins to act as the sovereign power in Russia. Despite a short-lived attempt to prop up the Soviet regime, it formally dissolved on December 8. 1991.
  • In an act of deluded hubris, Saddam Hussein, leader of Iraq occupies Kuwait and challenges the world to remove him.
 
1990
 

Sigma Chi

  • The Fraternity Executive Committee voted to prohibit all chapter little sister groups by June 1992.
  • The 68th Grand Chapter adopted the Fraternity Mission Statement and a new policy on alcohol and illegal drugs.

World Events

  • Operation Desert Storm–the allied effort to remove Iraq from Kuwait begins and ends in six weeks.
  • In a sign of the times, U.S. President, George H. W. Bush decides to end full-time B-52 bombers alert.
 
1991
 

Sigma Chi

  • The Fraternity adopted the Childrens Miracle Network as its recommended service project.
  • The Fraternity rededicated its Founding Site at the Leadership Training Workshop, held August 13-16 at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.

World News

  • The world mourns as one the last son of Krypton meets his death at the hands of super-villain, Doomsday. Over the course of a year, DC Comics relates the story of a world without Superman that span nearly all of the publishers monthly titles. The character is resurrected the following year thanks to advanced Kryptonian technology that regenerated the Man of Steel.
 
1992
 

Sigma Chi

  • Legislation to create two undergraduate positions on the Executive Committee was approved by the 69th Grand Chapter in Toronto, Ontario, also prompting two undergraduate appointments to the Leadership Training Board.

World Events

  • Foreshadowing the September 11th attacks, Terrorists plant a bomb in the garage of the World Trade Center killing 6 and injuring over 1,000.
  • The Maastricht Treaty takes effect, formally establishing the European Union.
 
1993
 

Sigma Chi

  • The James F. Bash Significant Improvement Award was presented for the first time to Eta Alpha Chapter, Eastern Kentucky.

World Events

  • The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is established.
  • All eyes are turned to space as the Shoemaker-Levy comet breaks apart and collides with Jupiter in a series of 9 impact events.
 
1994
 

Sigma Chi

  • Frank J. Raymond, Penn State 1971, was named president of the Sigma Chi Foundation, succeeding Merrill E. Boz Prichard, Illinois 1948, who had served as the Foundations executive officer since 1986.
  • Significant Sig Jon M. Huntsman, Pennsylvania 1959, and Jon M. Huntsman Jr., Utah 1983, made a joint gift to the Foundation to underwrite the Murray K. McComas Scholarships.

World Events

  • The United Kingdom’s oldest investment banking firm, Barings Bank, collapses after a securities broker loses $1.4 billion by speculating on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
  • The 50th anniversary of the end of World War II is celebrated around the globe. In England, thousands of people participate in public celebrations including Queen Elizabeth II who was a member of Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service where she trained as a mechanic and drove a military truck in support of the war effort.