National History

The Sigma Chi fraternity was founded as a result of a disagreement between members of the Kappa chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon. In the fall of 1854 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, the twelve men of the Kappa chapter disagreed on who would be Poet of the Erodelphian Literary Society. One group, led by Whitelaw Reid, supported one of its fellow Dkes, while the opposing group felt this candidate lacked poetic skills. This group consisted of James Parks Caldwell, Isaac M. Jordan, Benjamin Piatt Runkle, Franklin Howard Scobey, Thomas Cowan Bell, and Daniel William Cooper.
This seemingly miniscule disagreement was seen by both groups as a matter of principle and friendships grew apart. Chapter meeting continued to occur with the divide between the two groups widening. All came to a head in February 1855 at a local Oxford restaurant. The dinner was organized by Bell, Caldwell, Cooper, Jordan, Runkle, and Scobey in hopes of repairing the situation. Only one brother from the opposing group showed up late. He was Whitelaw Reid accompanied by a stranger, Minor Millikin. Millikin, having only heard Reid's side of the story, passed judgment on the disagreement and sided with Reid. Millikin and Reid drew up a plan to expel Runkle and Scobey from Delta Kappa Epsilon while punishing the others. At this time, Benjamin Piatt Runkle stood up, removed his DKE pin and stormed out of the meeting followed by his five supporters. The six men were expelled from the fraternity in April 1855 and immediately started drawing up plans for their own fraternity.
The six men began working with William Lewis Lockwood to organize a new fraternity. Lockwood had incredible organizational skills and is responsible for setting up the general plan of the fraternity. Runkle and Caldwell lived in a second-floor room of a building near Oxford's public square on High Street. This room became known as the birthplace of Sigma Chi. Runkle and Lockwood designed the badge as we know it today in this room. The seven founders went public with their fraternity by wearing their badges for the first time at Miami University's Commencement Ceremony on June 28, 1855.

Source: The Norman Shield. Sigma Chi Fraternity. 2003