Lambda Chi Alpha

Lambda Chi Alpha ( ), commonly referred to as Lambda Chi, is a collegiate fraternity in North America. With over 300,000 initiates as of 2024, it is the third-largest social fraternity in the world by number of initiates. It has almost 8,700 current undergraduate members affiliated with chapters and associate chapters at 166 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. Its members may be known variously as Lambda Chis, LXAs, LCAs, Lambdas, or Choppers at different campuses. Lambda Chi Alpha was founded at Boston University in 1909¹. It is a member of the North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC), which it rejoined in November 2023 after withdrawing from the conference in 2015. Among the largest 15 social fraternities in the world, Lambda Chi Alpha is the youngest. Since 2014, after maintaining its headquarters at various locations in Indiana, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, it has been headquartered in Carmel, Indiana, outside Indianapolis.

Lambda Chi Alpha ( ), commonly referred to as Lambda Chi, is a collegiate fraternity in North America. With over 300,000 initiates as of 2024, it is the third-largest social fraternity in the world by number of initiates. It has almost 8,700 current undergraduate members affiliated with chapters and associate chapters at 166 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. Its members may be known variously as Lambda Chis, LXAs, LCAs, Lambdas, or Choppers at different campuses. Lambda Chi Alpha was founded at Boston University in 1909. It is a member of the North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC), which it rejoined in November 2023 after withdrawing from the conference in 2015. Among the largest 15 social fraternities in the world, Lambda Chi Alpha is the youngest. Since 2014, after maintaining its headquarters at various locations in Indiana, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, it has been headquartered in Carmel, Indiana, outside Indianapolis. ===Theta Kappa Nu merger=== The Theta Kappa Nu fraternity was formed by eleven local fraternities on June 9, 1924, in Springfield, Missouri. With the help of the North American Interfraternity Conference in identifying local groups, and Theta Kappa Nu's policy of granting charters quickly to organizations with good academic standards, the fraternity grew quickly and had approximately 2,500 initiates in 40 chapters by the end of 1926. During the Great Depression, both Theta Kappa Nu and Lambda Chi Alpha saw membership decrease and chapters shut down. In 1939, the two fraternities agreed to merge. The merger ceremony was held at Howard College (now Samford University) chapter of Theta Kappa Nu in Birmingham, Alabama. The merger immediately increased the number of chapters from 77 to 105 (or 78 to 106) and the number of members from 20,000 to 27,000. At the time, this was the largest merger in fraternity history. All Theta Kappa Nu chapters became Lambda Chi Alpha chapters and were given chapter designations that began with either Theta, Kappa, or Nu. At schools where chapters of both fraternities previously existed, the two merged and retained Lambda Chi's Zeta recognition. ===North American Interfraternity Conference=== The fraternity first joined the North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC) in 1913. In October 2015, it resigned from the association, citing in-fighting and dysfunctional governance. The fraternity's exit coincided with NIC lobbying for the Safe Campus Act, which was opposed by both the fraternity and sexual assault advocacy groups. Lambda Chi Alpha re-joined the NIC in November 2023. ==Notable members== Lambda Chi Alpha has over 300,000 members¹. In 1945, Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president of the United States, was made an honorary initiate of the Lambda Chi Alpha chapter at the University of Missouri. ==In popular culture== Lambda Chi Alpha is referenced in the 2005 Kenny Chesney song "Keg in the Closet", which includes the lyrics: "This ol' guitar taught me how to score, right there on that Lambda Chi porch, Mary Ann taught me a little more, about wanting what you can't have." Chesney is a Lambda Chi brother from the Iota-Omicron chapter at East Tennessee State University. In 2023, the University of New Orleans chapter was featured in Season Seven, Episode 1 of the Netflix series, Queer Eye. ===21st century=== In March 2007, Remy Okonkwo, a member at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky, was found hanging in the Lambda Chi house on campus. The coroner ruled his death a suicide but his family alleged foul play was involved. In January 2011, the chapter at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida was suspended after a sorority member was shot and killed inside the fraternity house by a Lambda Chi brother who was dating her identical twin sister. The shooter claimed it was an accident. In May 2014, following a yearlong investigation, seven members at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign were arrested and charged with using and distributing illegal drugs. Police found MDMA pills, 40 grams of MDMA powder, cocaine residue, Adderall pills, suspected LSD, cannabis, a large tank of nitrous oxide, and drug paraphernalia in the fraternity house. As a place to purchase drugs, the fraternity had reportedly gained the nickname "the candy shop", according to The News-Gazette. In March 2016, the chapter at Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas was placed on a five-year suspension for hazing and code of conduct violations. In 2009 the fraternity had been disciplined but not suspended for similar infractions, which led to the expulsion of 35 out of its at the time 92 members¹. In May 2016, the fraternity's national office suspended the chapter at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon after a photo of a Lambda Chi Alpha cooler decorated with the phrase, "Do you wanna do some blow man?" went viral on the Internet. The cooler was discovered along with a half-mile wide swath of trash left behind at Shasta Lake in Northern California, where an estimated 1,000 students¹ from multiple universities including the University of Oregon had docked houseboats over the weekend for an unofficial intercollegiate event that continues to happen annually. [https://thatoregonlife.com/2024/06/uo-students-turned-a-pristine-lake-into-a-trash-bin-over-memorial-day-weekend/ In August 2016, Colson Machlitt, a football player at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky, died after allegedly jumping down a flight of stairs at the fraternity. Alcohol was suspected to be involved in his death. In January 2017, the Indiana University-Bloomington chapter in Bloomington, Indiana, was placed under a two-year suspension after an associate member reported hazing activities occurring in the chapter house to the university, which allegedly included brutal physical exercise, liquor hazing, and the act of capping were mentioned in the report. In response, the fraternity's national office removed over 100 members¹, who were able to fully recolonize in fall 2021. In April 2018, the chapter at Cal Poly SLO in San Luis Obispo, California was placed on interim suspension after social media images surfaced depicting members dressed up as gang members with one wearing blackface during the school's multicultural celebration weekend. In August 2018, the chapter at Butler University in Indianapolis was suspended by the school, which did not cite a specific reason for the suspension. The Indianapolis Star reported that alcohol violations played a part. The university said it would not consider reinstating the chapter until 2021. Following the suspension, a woman filed a civil rights complaint against the university, saying that it grossly mishandled her allegation that she was raped by a member of the fraternity during a fraternity party. The fraternity member had previously been accused of sexual misconduct by another student. In September 2020, the University of Georgia chapter in Athens, Georgia, was suspended after racist and other insensitive text messages between members were exposed by a fellow student on Twitter. In January 2024, the West Virginia University chapter in Morgantown, West Virginia was placed on an interim suspension following allegations of permitting and facilitating underage alcohol consumption.

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