Chi Tau (local)
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| Chi Tau | |
|---|---|
| ΧΤ | |
_logo,_a_fraternity_started_at_Chico_State_in_1939.jpg) | |
| Founded | May 1, 1939 Chico State Teachers College |
| Type | Social |
| Affiliation | Independent |
| Status | Defunct |
| Defunct date | 2005 |
| Scope | Local |
| Chapters | 1 |
| Headquarters | Chico, California United States |
Chi Tau (ΧΤ) was a local fraternity at California State University, Chico that landed in the media spotlight following the 2005 hazing death of Matthew Carrington. It was established in 1939, became a chapter of Delta Sigma Phi in 1956, separated from Delta Sigma Phi in 2001 to become a local fraternity, and went inactive in 2005.
Chi Tau was founded as a fraternity at Chico State Teachers College (now California State University, Chico) on May 1, 1939, and operated as an unaffiliated organization.[1][2] Its faculty advisor Earl C. Hald, followed by Lorenzo McHenry in 1942.[3] Fraternity members held social events and collected scrap metal to support the war effort during World War II.[4][5]
In 1954, the fraternity decided to affiliate with a national fraternity.[6] It was chartered as the Delta Alpha chapter of Delta Sigma Phi on December 20, 1955.[7][6] It was the first fraternity at Chico State to affiliate with a national fraternity.[6]
In the 1950s, the fraternity sponsored a Christmas party for children, held social events, and sponsored an homecoming queen candidate.[7] The fraternity was housed in the three-story Magnolia Manor on the corner of West Fourth and Chestnut Streets, a property leased for the fraternity by the Delta Sigma Phi national fraternity.[7] The chapter's alumni governing board purchased a house for the chapter on West Fourth Street in 1991.[citation needed]
Delta Sigma Phi headquarters suspended the chapter in 2001 due to a series of alcohol violations; the university also expelled it.[8][9] The chapter continued to operate as a rogue (unsanctioned, unrecognized) fraternity, reverting to its original name of Chi Tau.[8] Chi Tau continued to occupy the former Delta Alpha chapter house, owned by the alumni association.[citation needed]
The local fraternity was known for parties, alcohol, and violence; in part because it was not held to the policies or standards of other nationally-affiliated fraternities or the campus administration.[citation needed] In the fall of 2003, the Interfraternity Council (IFC) at Chico State pushed for the city to remove the group's Greek letters from the front of their house because the Chi Tau organization was giving other, legitimate, Greek groups on campus a bad reputation.[citation needed]
Symbols
The Greek letters Chi Tau were selected to represent the words "character" and "tolerance."[10]