Delta Sigma Chi

Delta Sigma Chi (ΔΣΧ) is an American fraternal organization for professionals in the area of Chiropractic.^[a]

Delta Sigma Chi
ΔΣΧ
Founded	July 14, 1913; 112 years ago (1913-07-14) Palmer College of Chiropractic
Type	Professional
Affiliation	PFA
Status	Active
Emphasis	Chiropractic
Scope	International
Pillars	Service, Brotherhood, Accomplishment, Intelligence, Wisdom, Strength, Commitment
Colors	Red and   Blue
Mascot	Wyvern
Chapters	8 (active)
Members	5,000+ lifetime
Headquarters	7911 Warren Drive NW Gig Harbor, Washington 98335 United States
Website	www.deltasigmachi.org

History

In 1913, there were three chiropractic schools in Davenport, Iowa: the Palmer School of Chiropractic, Universal College of Chiropractic, and the Davenport College of Chiropractic. On July 4 of that year, a group of chiropractic students representing those schools held an Independence Day picnic at Credit Island. Within this large group, a smaller group of friends discussed the subject of a chiropractic Greek letter fraternity.

On July 13, 1913, the first meeting of the fledgling organization took place, which is now the celebrated birth of the legacy of Delta Sigma Chi.^[1] Its twelve charter members included:^[1]

• William E. Bender of Meadville, Pennsylvania
• Harry D. Cummings of Fort Lauderdale, Florida
• J. E. Cummins of Columbus, Ohio
• Arthur D. Daxie of Elgin, Illinois
• Lynn H. Gearhart of Buffalo, New York
• J. Dudley Hills of Detroit, Michigan
• Harold A. Hughes of San Francisco, California
• S. E. Julander of Des Moines, Iowa
• A. C. McCrea of Alliance, Ohio
• John H. Reardon of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• John R. Walsh of Munnhall, Pennsylvania
• Charles E. Weyland of Chicago, Illinois

At that meeting, the founder completed plans for a Greek letter professional chiropractic fraternity by electing temporary officers and appointed a committee to draft a constitution and bylaws. Hughes served as its first president.^[1] The charter membership was limited to twelve men, however, the membership was opened and extended to twenty.

On November 6, 1913, B. J. Palmer was initiated into the brotherhood of Delta Sigma Chi. Five years later Palmer was elected the honorary president of the fraternity. Delta Sigma Chi promotes straight unadulterated chiropractic principles, as set forth by B. J. Palmer. In addition, its members promote good fellowship and brotherhood as well as brotherly feeling amongst chiropractors, schools, and students.

Beta chapter was later added at Eastern College in Newark, New Jersey.^[2] This was followed by Gamma chapter at Texas Chiropractic College. By August 1921, Alpha chapter had 2,050 members, Beta had 200 members, and the newly created Gamma and Delta had 25 members each.^[2] When it celebrated its 38th anniversary in July 1951, the fraternity had 5,000 members.^[3] The fraternity has reprinted nine of B. J. Palmer's original books.

Today, the fraternity has a membership of several thousand individuals all around the globe, who continue to guard the sacred trust of chiropractic. Its national headquarters is located at Gig Harbor, Washington.^[4]

Symbols

The name Delta Sigma Chi (DSC) stands for Doctors of Straight Chiropractic. Its values or pillars are Service, Brotherhood, Accomplishment, Intelligence, Wisdom, Strength, and Commitment.^[5] Its colors are red and blue.^[6]

The fraternity's pledge pin is a blue and gold inverted pentagram with the Greek letters ΔΣΧ above a Wyvern, a mythical creature.^[7] The wyvern was incorporated in the Palmer family crest shown on page 55 of The Science of Chiropractic’ (Green Book Volume I by B. J. Palmer.^[7] It is also used as the crest of the fraternity's coat of arms.

Chapters

Following is an incomplete list of Delta Sigma Chi chapters. Active chapters are indicated in bold. Inactive chapters and institutions are in italics.

Chapter	Chartered date and range	Institution	Location	Status	References
Alpha	July 18, 1913	Palmer School of Chiropractic	Davenport, Iowa	Active	[8][9][b][c]
Beta	c. 1918	Eastern College	Newark, New Jersey	Inactive	[2]
Gamma	October 8, 1921	Texas Chiropractic College	San Antonio, Texas	Inactive	[10][2]
Delta	1921	Standard College of Chiropractic	New York	Inactive	[2]
Epsilon	1921	Missouri Chiropractic College	St. Louis, Missouri	Inactive	[11]
		Palmer School of Chiropractic	St. Louis, Missouri	Inactive
		Eastern Chiropractic College	New York City, New York	Inactive
	Before 1946	Texas A&I College	Kingsville, Texas	Inactive	[12]
Kappa	June 13, 1970	Logan College of Chiropractic	Chesterfield, Missouri	Inactive	[13]
Lambda	January 1976	Life University	Marietta, Georgia	Active	[14]
Mu	1984–19xx ?; October 2019	Parker University	Dallas, Texas	Active	[15]
Nu	January 1992	Life Chiropractic College West	Hayward, California	Active	[16]
Xi	October 4, 2010	Palmer College of Chiropractic Florida Campus	Port Orange, Florida	Inactive	[17]
Omicron	July 4, 2014	Sherman College of Chiropractic	Spartanburg, South Carolina	Active	[18]
Pi		German Chiropractic College	Dresden, Germany	Active	[19]
Rho	December 5, 2020	Cleveland University	Overland Park, Kansas	Active	[20]
Omega	March 19, 2017	Alumni chapter		Active	[21]

1. Delta Sigma Chi may also refer to a non-affiliated Latino, multicultural sorority formed in 1996 at the NYC College of Technology. It had been a founding member of the NMGC and is now independent. There is a 2-chapter co-ed Latino fraternity with this same name, but it likewise is independent of the others. Finally, there is a 60+ year old local fraternity at Heidelberg University in Ohio, using this name.
2. Chapter started at three campuses, originally including Universal College of Chiropractic and the Davenport College of Chiropractic
3. See J. Monroe Parker–Ficke House

Chapter houses

Main article: J. Monroe Parker-Ficke House

The Alpha chapter's Victorian-style mansion is known as the J. Monroe Parker-Ficke House.^[22][23] Construction began in 1881 and was finished three years later, with 43 rooms.^[24][23] The fraternity purchased the building and its furnishings in 1978.^[8][23] It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.^[24] It is located at 1208 Main Street in Davenport, Iowa.^[23]

Notable members

• Clarence Gonstead, chiropractor known for the Gonstead technique
• Edgar Howard (honorary), lieutenant governor of Nebraska and the United States House of Representatives^[25]
• Thomas Morris (honorary), lieutenant governor of Wisconsin^[25]
• B. J. Palmer, the "Developer" of chiropractic and president of Palmer School of Chiropractic

See also

• Professional fraternities and sororities

Further reading

• Cozzocrea D. M. "A History of the Delta Sigma Chi Fraternity of Chiropractic". Chiropractic History vol. 11, no.1 (June 1991)): 43. PMID 11612549.