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Louis Manigault, Alpha Sigma Phi’s principal Founder, and Stephen Ormsby Rhea, one of the co-founders, first met and became friends at St. Paul’s College. There they joined a local fraternity, the Phi Theta Kappa Society. Both Manigault and Rhea arrived to enter the freshman class at Yale in the fall of 1845, and neither of the men chose to join a freshman society. Louis Manigault found the condescending attitude of the members of Kappa Sigma Theta, the sole sophomore society, toward their fellow students undesireable. As a freshman, he had visions of starting a rival sophomore fraternity. For his freshman year, Louis Manigault lived in a college boarding house that sat at the intersection of Temple and Chapel Street. The boarding house gave Manigault the privacy and freedom to concentrate on planning the creation of Alpha Sigma Phi. Alpha Sigma Phi is the 10th oldest men’s fraternity in the United States. We are approaching our 175th Anniversary.
Local History
Rutgers University originated as Queen’s College in 1766. It became the land grant college of New Jersey. Phi Lambda Delta was organized in 1926 and it was later known as Phi Lambda Sigma. It initiated as a faculty advisor Dr. Charles Conners, a member of a defunct local fraternity known as The Collegiate Brotherhood. Through Conners’ influence, members of the older local, which had been active from 1892 to 1906, were taken into membership in Phi Lambda Sigma in 1929. Phi Lambda Sigma was chartered with 32 undergraduate and 23 (of 77 alumni) members in the initial initiation on March 27-28, 1931. At the time of its installation as Rho of Alpha Kappa Pi in 1931, the Chapter had a house at 26 Union Street, New Brunswick, New Jersey. It was remodeled to accommodate 24 members. Alpha Kappa Pi’s first father-son legacy was Strassberger, Rutgers ‘35, son of Strassberger, Col. Bro. ‘03, Rutgers ‘31. With the end of World War II and the merger of Alpha Kappa Pi and Alpha Sigma Phi, the Chapter was re-designated as the Beta Theta Chapter of Alpha Sigma Phi and moved into new quarters at 40 Hardenbergh Street. In 1955, the Chapter purchased a new house at 106 College Avenue and remodeled by the Brothers to double its residential capacity. The major undertaking was known as “30 Weeks with 30 Greeks.” The Beta Theta newsletter, “Alpha Sig Triangle,” won the Chapter Newsletter Award in 1964. The Chapter won the Academic Achievement Award for 1990, and received the Greek Life Advisory Board #1 ranking from Rutgers in 1992. In 1995, the Chapter was placed on probation by the University, and in 1998, the charter was withdrawn. The chapter initiated 1030 members prior to its suspension. Reorganization commenced in January of 2001.
Beta Theta Chapter, at Rutgers University was re-chartered on September 16, 2006. Grand Councilor Tilden, Epsilon Nu ’93 (SUNY Binghamton), presented the charter. Dan Duncan, Zeta ’00 (Ohio State), and Ryan Brown, Delta Sigma ’94 (Coastal Carolina), represented National staff, and with assistance from undergraduates from Alpha Tau (Stevens Tech) and Alpha Rho (NJIT) initiated the charter members at the chapter house. The chartering banquet marked the 75th Anniversary initial chartering of Beta Theta Chapter.
Alpha Sig Facts:
The Beta Theta Interest Group was started in the spring semester of 2001 after a previous charter revocation, taking over five years of continuous petitioning to be re-granted its lost charter. The interest group quickly reached colony status one year later before chartering in 2006. It is "officially" regarded as the second longest running petition for formal recognition to Alpha Sigma Phi. Rutgers men have the finest distinction of being stubborn gentlemen and never giving up.
The Chi Chapter still holds the record for the longest time (for a continuously active petitioning group to get from petitioning to chartering. The group, Washington House was organized on February 22, 1898. A member, Harold F. Mac Neish, Alpha ‘12, joined Alpha Sigma Phi at Yale while doing graduate work there. He led Washington House to petition Alpha Sigma Phi for a charter in 1913. The petition was not accepted, but work between the groups continued, and a successful petition was submitted in 1919. Nathan Van Stone, Theta ‘10 (Michigan), was advisor to the colony in 1919-20, and served as installing officer. The Washington House was installed as Chi Chapter on May 15, 1920.
C. Russell Kramer, Rutgers '31, served as National President of Alpha Kappa Pi, and has received the Distinguished Service Award of Alpha Sigma Phi. James N. Bausch, Rutgers '70 was Alpha Sigma Phi Scholar of the Year in 1972. Russell Kramer, Nelson Wheaton, Rutgers '31, Donald McKenzie, Rutgers '55, Howard Kidd, Rutgers '54, Mitchell Speert, Rutgers '87, Joseph Kunigonis, Rutgers '71, Paul Sweetwood, '75, and Sam Patel, '06 have received the Delta Beta Xi Award.
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