# Christian fraternities

While the traditional social fraternity is a well-established mainstay across the United States at institutions of higher learning, alternatives – in the form of social fraternities that require doctrinal and behavioral conformity to the Christian faith – developed in the early 20th century. They continue to grow in size and popularity.

## History

Christian fraternities were established in the early part of the 20th century; the three largest were Beta Sigma Psi, Alpha Gamma Omega, and Sigma Theta Epsilon, which are still active.

### Beta Sigma Psi

Beta Sigma Psi, the oldest Christian fraternity, was founded as a national fraternity for Lutheran students in 1925 at the University of Illinois, home to the largest Greek system in the United States. The fraternity had its origins in the concerns of Rev. Frederick William Gustav Stiegemeyer, the son of a Lutheran pastor, who had been entrusted with the spiritual care of Lutheran students at the university. In the fall of 1919, he organized the Lutheran Illini League with a nucleus of ten students. At that time they intended to meet once or twice a week for religious instruction and discussion on contemporary issues. In the fall of 1920, now with twenty members, the Lutheran Illini League rented a house. In early 1921, it reorganized as the Concordia Club. By 1923, the group regularly participated in campus activities; so much so that they began being referred to as the "Concordia Fraternity." On April 17, 1925, incorporation papers were filed for Beta Sigma Psi National Lutheran Fraternity in Springfield, Illinois. By 1970, Beta Sigma Psi had grown to eighteen chapters. The fraternity had ten active chapters as of 2016.

### Alpha Gamma Omega

Alpha Gamma Omega was established in 1927 at UCLA. The fraternity suffered a decline in chapters and membership before experiencing extensive national growth starting in 1987. As of 2020, it had sixteen active chapters.

### Sigma Theta Epsilon

Sigma Theta Epsilon is the result of the merger of Methodist-affiliated fraternities in 1941: Phi Tau Theta, founded in 1925, and Sigma Epsilon Theta, founded in 1936 at Indiana University. The merged fraternity was initially called Delta Sigma Theta, but the name was changed to Sigma Theta Epsilon in 1949 when a national sorority Delta Sigma Theta that was already using the name threatened legal action.
By the late 1950s, Sigma Theta Epsilon had grown to over twenty chapters. However, its numbers began to decline at the end of the 1960s. The fraternity became non-denominational in 1968. Down to only three chapters by the 1980s, Sigma Theta Epsilon began chartering new chapters again in 1988. The fraternity had twelve active chapters during the 2000s, but as of 2016 had only three active chapters. It ceased operations in 2022.

### Texas movement

At the same time that the historic Christian fraternities were beginning to rebound from their declining numbers, other groups of Christian fraternities developed, with the rise of the Evangelical Christian movement in the later 20th century. Fifty-five chapters of Christian Greek letter organizations trace their roots to the Texas Movement. Beta Upsilon Chi (BYX) began in 1985 on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin as a local Christian fraternity and expanded when students at neighboring Texas schools convinced the founders of BYX to open new chapters. As of 2017, it is the largest Christian fraternity in the United States.
Beta Upsilon Chi, directly led to the founding of four other Christian Greek letter organizations. The second largest Christian fraternity in the United States, Alpha Nu Omega, was founded three years later. It was followed by Gamma Phi Delta in 1988, while Kappa Upsilon Chi was founded in 1993 on the campus of Texas Tech University. Kappa Upsilon Chi was founded by four men who led Christian college ministries, some of whom graduated and entered into the ministry. The Alpha class contained some members formerly of Phi Gamma Delta social fraternity at Texas Tech. The fraternity sought to be a social alternative for Christian men. While it originally had no intentions of expanding, the fraternity grew rapidly. Omega Kappa Psi was established in 1995.

### Alpha Nu Omega

Alpha Nu Omega, Incorporated was founded in 1988 on the campus of Morgan State University. Its organizational purpose is to "present a Christian alternative to the students and or faculty on college/university campuses, to minister to the needs of the whole person (spirit, soul, and body), and to promote an attitude of academic excellence among its members." Alpha Nu Omega is established as far north as New York, as far south as Florida, and as far west as Ohio. While most chapters are located at historically African-American colleges and universities, the organization does not consider itself an African-American Christian organization and welcomes all ethnicities. The organization exists as one organization but operates as two distinct entities: a fraternity and a sorority. The two are bound by one constitution. As of 2016, sixteen chapters were active.

### Alpha Omega

Alpha Omega Collegiate Ministries was founded in 1994 by Donyll Lewis on the campus of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The vision of Alpha Omega is based on Revelation 1:8 and the question, "Why join a man-made fraternity when the body of Christ is the largest fraternity in the world?" It is co-ed and multicultural. The fraternity is based in Michigan. It has chapters as far north as Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan and as far south as the University of Toledo, Bowling Green State University in Toledo-Bowling Green, Ohio.

## List of Christian fraternities

| Fraternity | Symbols | Chartered | Founding location | Scope | Emphasis | Active chapters | Status |
| Alpha Delta Gamma | ΑΔΓ | October 10, 1924 | Loyola University Chicago | National | Jesuit | 12 | Active |
| Alpha Gamma Omega | ΑΓΩ | February 25, 1927 | UCLA | National | | 15 | Active |
| Alpha Iota Omega | ΑΙΩ | 1999 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Local | | 1 | Active |
| Alpha Nu Omega | ΑΝΩ | November 3, 1988 | Morgan State University | National | African American, fraternity and sorority | 19 | Active |
| Alpha Omega | ΑΩ | 1998 | Young Harris College | Regional | | 7 | Active |
| Alpha Omega Collegiate Ministries | ΑΩ | 1994 | Western Michigan University | National | African American, coed | 8 | Active |
| Alpha Omega Theta | ΑΩΘ | July 16, 2002 | St. Louis, Missouri. | Regional | | 6 | Active |
| Beta Alpha Gamma | ΒΑΓ | May 26, 2018 | | Local | African American | 1 | Active |
| Beta Sigma Psi | ΒΣΨ | April 17, 1925 | University of Texas | National | Lutheran | 11 | Active |
| Beta Sigma Theta | ΒΣΘ | 1973 | Michigan Technological University | Local | | 1 | Active |
| Beta Upsilon Chi | ΒΥΧ | 1985 | University of Texas | National | | 37 | Active |
| Chi Alpha Omega | ΧΑΩ | 1987 | East Carolina University | Regional | | 9 | Active |
| Chi Omicron Rho | ΧΟΡ | 2017 | Pittsburg State University | Local | | 1 | Active |
| Delta Nu Omega | ΔΝΩ | December 27, 2015 | Broward County, Florida | Local | African American | 1 | Active |
| Delta Phi Xi | ΔΦΞ | December 2007 | Tarleton State University | Local | | 0 | Inactive |
| Gamma Phi Delta | ΓΦΔ | March 21, 1988 | University of Texas at Austin | National | African American | 18 | Active |
| Gamma Psi Lambda | ΓΨΛ | October 21, 1999 | Fort Valley State University | National | African American, coed | 8 | Active |
| Kappa Phi Epsilon | ΚΦΕ | 2004 | University of Florida. | Local | | 1 | Active |
| Kappa Upsilon Chi | ΚΥΧ | 1993 | Texas Tech University | National | | 7 | Active |
| Lambda Sigma Phi | ΛΣΦ | 2001 | University of Alabama | Regional | | 2 | Active |
| Megisté Areté Christian Fraternity | MA | 1989 | Illinois State University | Regional | African American | 10 | Active |
| Men of God | M.O.G. | 1999 | Texas Tech University | Regional | African American | 5 | Active |
| Mu Omicron Gamma | ΜΟΓ | September 9, 2001 | Old Dominion University | Regional | African American | 3 | Active |
| Mu Sigma Chi | ΜΣΧ | October 24, 2008 | Ferrum College | Local | | 1 | Active |
| Nu Alpha Omega | ΝΑΩ | 2020 | | | African American | | |
| Omega Kappa Psi | ΩΚΨ | 1995–1997, 2017 | University of North Carolina at Charlotte | Local | African American | 1 | Active |
| Phi Alpha Kappa | ΦΑΚ | 1929 | | Local | | 1 | Active |
| Phi Kappa | ΦΚ | October 1, 1889 –April 29, 1959 | Brown University | National | Catholic | 0 | Merged |
| Phi Kappa Chi | ΦΚΧ | 1988 | Baylor University | Local | | 1 | Active |
| Phi Kappa Theta | ΦΚΘ | April 29, 1959 | Ohio State University | National | Non-denominational | 57 | Active |
| Phi Tau Theta | ΦΤΘ | 1925–1941 | | Local | Methodist | 0 | Merged |
| Sigma Epsilon Theta | ΣΕΘ | 1936–1941 | | Local | Methodist | 0 | Merged |
| Sigma Kappa Lambda | ΣΚΛ | June 29, 2014 | Birmingham, Alabama | Local | African American | 1 | Active |
| Sigma Theta Epsilon | ΣΘΕ | 1941–2022 | | National | Non-denominational | 0 | Inactive |
| Tau Alpha Gamma | ΤΑΓ | 2007 | | | African American | | |
| Theta Kappa Phi | ΘΚΦ | October 1919–April 1959 | Lehigh University | National | Catholic, social | 0 | Merged |
| Xi Upsilon Gamma | ΞΥΓ | 2022 | | | African American | | Active |
| Zeta Phi Zeta | ΖΦΖ | April 11, 2001 | Chicago, Illinois | | Fraternity and sorority | | Active |