2009-Present

Realizing the need for better coordination in its fundraising efforts, the Supreme Council on behalf of the Fraternity entered into a partnership with Affinity Connections, Inc. a firm that specialized in alumni relations. Affinity in the coming years would be responsible, amongst other things, for the Fraternity’s public facing website, donor database, mailers and direct marketing campaigns, and working with undergraduate chapters for the creation of content. One visible change was that the STAR, the Fraternity’s esoteric newsletter, would become an electronic publication sent to members with an email address. This version of the STAR would be dubbed the e-STAR and would be sent out monthly on a regular basis in the years to come.

On the expansion front, 2010 was dominated by our efforts at Wright State University. The Interest Group founded by two students, pressed forward despite Wright State’s opposition to expansion on their campus. Their efforts proved successful when on August 14 the group became the Beta-Zeta Chapter of Sigma Phi Delta our second foray into the state of Ohio. The founding members were Jacob A. Durdel, Dakota R. Kuhn, Benjamin K. Mahoney, Joshua A. Matthew-Martinez, Michael T. Morrison, Michael A. Watkins, and William P. Yokum.

The 2011 Thirty-Ninth General Convention was held in the Minneapolis area. The Convention Chairman was future Central Province Councilor Casey Fuhrmann. A talk on the Interstate 35 bridge collapse by the former Deputy Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Transportation was delivered to the delegates. This convention would have far reaching implications for provinces and Alumni Chapters. Nine years earlier, via an email ballot vote the General Convention stripped the outmoded layer of bureaucracy created by having Provinces that had their own by-laws, officers, and budgets. The necessity of having a more local organizational structure was deemed unnecessary given the advances in telecommunication. Continuing with this line of thought, the Thirty-Ninth General Convention made Province Conventions voluntary in the even years when no regular session of the General Convention was held. Chapters in a province would have to opt-in as a group and decide whether a Province Convention was necessary. Recent expansion trips had caused Chapters in a province to interact with each other more. Chapters were conducting more visits with each other. The fellowship and knowledge sharing that typically occurred during Province Conventions was happening more organically. Since Province Conventions were now optional, elections for Province Councilors would be conducted via email ballot.

The topic of Alumni Chapter dues was also discussed. Treasurer Jon Wiegand shared that payment of Alumni Chapter Dues amongst most of the Alumni Chapters was sporadic at best. Many chapters found it hard to find a stable base of alumni who could pay local dues which in turn would be paid to the International Office in the form of the yearly Alumni Chapter Dues payment ($400 at the time). This left little money for their own activities and was proving to be a significant hurdle for the starting of new Alumni Chapters. Amongst the Alumni Chapters present (Delta, Eta, Kappa, Omega) these Alumni Chapters were fine with removing their reimbursement to General Convention and using the money saved to just set aside funds to send Alumni delegates to future General Conventions. After a lively discussion, Alumni Chapter Dues were set to $0.00 indefinitely.

In August 2011 Sigma Phi Delta partnered with Capital One to issue a Sigma Phi Delta credit card that came in three designs. A percentage of spending on the credit card would be donated to the International Office along with a flat donation for each new sign-up. This program would last until 2014.

In November, an email ballot was sent to the General Convention to consider a motion that was tabled for further refinement during the Thirty-Eighth General Convention. Continuing with the trend to outsource more manual elements of the Fraternity’s operations, the Supreme Council decided to partner with Greek Capital Management for the collection of membership dues, pledge fees, and activation fees. Additionally the firm could help chapters with budgeting and filing taxes. A dues increase of $10 was enacted to cover the program, with the Supreme Council subsidizing the rest. All chapters would begin using Greek Capital Management for the payment of dues beginning in the spring semester.

The winter of 2012 had two bright spots in February. Continuing efforts that began the previous years, the Fraternity welcomed two new chapters within a week of each other over successive weekends. Beta-Eta Chapter at Stony Brook University was started when an interested student contacted Omega Chapter. Counted among its founding members were Mohammed J. Ahmed, Armen G. Bandikian, Arthur Bangiyev, Jean Olivier Brutus, Jignesh Daniels, Abir Deb, Fabrice L. Guillaume, Ricardo Martinez, Vishnu K. Rajan, Brett D. Schuler, Jacob O. Spiegel, Emaj Uddin, and Kevin Yeh.

Beta-Theta Chapter at James Madison University was started via a student who contacted Grand President Steven Weiss. Despite some initial hesitation by the faculty, Beta-Theta’s founding class was initiated: Nic R. Acton, Tony Battu, Anthony G. Bonadies, Evan E. Bowen, Tim B. Eisenhardt, Grant K. Haskins, Armand N. Jennings, Bobby J. Kostinas, John A. LeMaire, Matthew W. Mooers, Bryan B. Morrison, Jason L. Nembhard, Jordan M. Pappas, Jared S. Price, John D. Quakenbush, and Arniko K. Singh. Both Chapters would come to rely on the support network of newer East Coast chapters. Also in February, Treasurer Jon Wiegand stepped down and Brother Jeff Masters of Delta Chapter was appointed to replace him. Brother Wiegand had the unenviable task of picking up the pieces that were left him and setting the Fraternity’s books and accounts in order after the officer reshuffling in 2006. He was instrumental in applying standard accounting practices to the finances of the Fraternity.

The summer brought Beta-Iota Chapter at the University of Maryland. Grand Vice President Weiss was initially contacted by an interested student and the resulting Interest Group had the support of the local A.O.E. chapter. Founding members consisted of Quinn T. Borkey, Nathan V Caspar, Gregory Cheng, William D. Dunham, James T. Galatola, Patrick C. Gunson, Brandon S. Lee, Charles N. Lu, Richard J. Petrey, Adam A. Tajalli, and Shane G. Vetter. For the first time in a long time, the number of Active Chapters equaled the number of Inactive Chapters with sixteen a piece.

To accommodate the growing number of chapters on the east coast (three in the past year), Kappa and Beta-Zeta Chapters were moved to the Central Province in June during the Supreme Council’s annual Face-to-Face meeting in Austin, Texas. At that meeting, the Supreme Council instituted the tradition of meeting up with local alumni in the area for a night of dinner and fellowship, filling them in on what the Fraternity was up to. The Face-to-Face meeting was also remarkable because the first discussions on writing what would become the Fraternity’s strategic plan, were had.

Beta-Kappa Chapter at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania followed in February 2013. Initial contact was made from a student who learned about Sigma Phi Delta from its Wikipedia entry. This interested member also attended the Eastern Province Retreat in the summer of 2012. Founding members of Beta-Kappa Chapter included Michael P. Altonji, Thomas J. Brogan, Kerem E. Calay, Robert L Hergüner, Edgar Macuil, Raphael (Rafi) S. Mills, Tyler Q. Moon, Andrew J. Papazian, Jameson Petrchko, Brian Jonas Reed, Nicholas G. Schan, Rodrigue T. Somda, and Nicholas A. Tashjian.

In April, Executive Secretary Ian Santarinala collected and refined the ideas discussed during the previous year’s Face-toFace meeting and finalized the Fraternity’s Strategic Plan entitled “Plan for Building a Better Fraternity”. Within it a ten year plan was outlined that would take the Fraternity to its centennial celebration in 2024. Eight pillars were outlined in the plan which included Expansion, Operations, Infrastructure, Finances, Marketing, Member Development, Alumni Relations, and Engineering Identity. Such lofty goals as thirty chapters by 2020 and establishment of a headquarters and paid staff by 2020 were set. The Strategic Plan would serve as a guiding document in all of the Fraternity’s activities for the next few years.

Not to be outdone by the east coast, the first west coast expansion since Tau at Loyola Marymount was conducted when Beta-Lambda Chapter at San Diego State University was chartered in April. Close ties with A.O.E. and a visit to the Alpha Chapter ensured the success of the Interest Group. Founding members were Brent D. Boomhower, Michael C. Brekke, Alexander R. Brunson, Michael D. Duffy, Jaron H. Lin, Ryan A. Mitchell, Geoffery H. Retemeyer, Bryan L. Sims, Szilárd Vegh, and Everett D. Wolfe.

The Fourtieth General Convention was held in August of 2013 in the Washington D.C. area. Eastern Province Councilor Werner Born was Convention Chair. Besides the business portion of the Convention, a friendly competition was set up between chapters in the form of a scavenger hunt. In terms of business conducted, a major reordering of the Supreme Council was undertaken adding the positions of Director of Chapter Development (Erik Schultz of Delta Chapter the first holder of the office) and Director of Alumni Relations (Josh Lester of Epsilon the first holder of the office). The Supreme Council previously at their Face-to-Face meeting had determined that exec-level positions were needed to deal with Chapter Operations (especially for newer chapters without alumni support) and also our oft-neglected Alumni. In fitting with the desire for a more corporate structure and organization of the Supreme Council, Province Councilors were renamed Province Directors or effectively regional vice-presidents. Most roles with Director in their title were switched to Managers. The Communications Director (now Manager) was removed from the Supreme Council. The Board of Directors gained two exofficio appointed members. The first being an Agent for Service of Process which allows us to appoint a California resident indefinitely. The second was a Trustee who would act as a Legal Liaison.

The departure of Grand Vice President Steven Weiss should be noted here. For eight years he led the Fraternity in a period of unprecedented expansion, similar to the growth of the Fraternity when it was first founded as well as the post-WWII years. Elected to replace him was his Omega compatriot Eric Pew who up to that point was Steve’s right hand man as Director of Expansion.

Speaking of expansion, an addition in the Central Province soon followed in October. After several attempts at expanding to the Milwaukee School of Engineering, including Eta’s efforts in the 2000s, the Fraternity’s persistence finally led to success. Founders of Beta-Mu Chapter included Jordan A. Bauer, Aaron D. Becker, Benjamin J. Callen, William S. Dani, Andrew M. Gmeiner, Samuel A. Graves, Gregory T. Harreld, Ben D. Kealty, Corey M. Pruess, Mihir C. Shah, and Kai M. Swanson.

2014 marked the Fraternity’s 90th Anniversary with no sign of slowing down given all the activities it was undertaking. In February the Statutory Code was revised to clarify how long Supreme Council email votes were open (7 days); clarify matters of pledging such as voluntary resignation from pledging, GPA requirements, and pledging lengths; clarify membership matters such as voluntary resignation from membership and undergraduate member types; updating chapter payment instructions; and adding the Recruitment Chair as a required office. The changes regarding pledging would be the first of many changes to come in the next few years, the impetus of some of these changes coming from the North American Interfraternity Conference, but mostly as necessary changes the Supreme Council deemed needed due to changing societal attitudes toward fraternities. In 2014, several high-profile stories involving the Greek System debuted. In order to address these issues, and to ensure we were training only the highest caliber engineers, pledging would be a topic of interest in the coming years.

During 2014 a topic of continued interest was finally put to rest. Thanks to the efforts of Grand President Minden we finally renewed our marks and symbols with the U.S. Patent Office after they had lapsed years before. This had previously been deemed cost prohibitive, but understanding the benefits that could be derived from merchandising, the Supreme Council moved forward.

Once again, thanks to our association with A.O.E., in April, Sigma Phi Delta expanded to California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo. For decades, the only two chapters in the Western Province were Alpha and Theta Chapters. With the earlier additions of chapters at UBCO and SDSU, with the chartering of Beta-Nu Chapter at Cal Poly SLO the number increased to five. The founders of Sigma Phi Delta’s seventh foray into the state of California were: Austin C. Abernathy, Ryan M. Eakins, Robby B. Hulia, Garrett T. Klunk, Alex J. Kost, Minnal J. Kunnan, Greg T. Lane, John Jae Woo Lee, Andrew Pimintel, Ryan J. R. Rumsey, Ethan M. Tietze, and Ian A. Washburne.

During the Face-to-Face meeting in July held in Daytona Beach (which was coupled with an attempt to talk to the EmbryRiddle administration about possibly rechartering Pi Chapter) the topic of the day was Pledging. During the course of the weekend, the Supreme Council began formulating changes to the organization of the Pledge Program, standardizing it across all chapters and restricting all Pledge Programs to eight weeks. Tests would be administered online. Each week would correspond to a module, and the outline of what those modules would contain was determined at this meeting. These lessons correspond to the chapters of revised Pledge Manual, namely, 1. The History of Sigma Phi Delta 2. A Fraternity of Engineers 3. Brotherhood 4. Duty 5. Interchapter Relations 6. Sigma Phi Delta, Incorporated, with some leeway for other materials and local traditions. The Supreme Council would spend the better part of the next year tweaking the program.

The end of the year had the Supreme Council piloting the new Pledge Program to two new Colonies. Beta-Xi was founded when Arniko Singh, a Charter Member of Beta-Theta Chapter at James Madison University decided to transfer to West Virginia University. Along with help from A.O.E., Beta-Xi was chartered on December 6th, founding members being: Alexander S. Bartholomew, Drake A. Cargnino, Noah C. Clark, Conor R. Gallagher, Matthew E. Hergenroeder, Joshua C. Hudson, Seth F. Huy, Joseph T. Kotula, Charles T. Litchfield, Edwin P. Mann, Quinton P. Mays, Kyle P. McLaughlin, Drew H. Michael, Alejandro N. Guitz, Zachary T. Pritchard, Brett O. Radcliffe, Drew R.J. Rainier, Scott W. Saber, William S. Shipley, Garrett L. Sollon, Ryan F. Weakland, and Christopher J. Yenchko.

A week following the Beta-Xi chartering, Beta-Omicron was chartered at the University of Missouri. Sounding, like a broken record, once again our association with Alpha Omega Epsilon proved to be essential in this expansion effort. Mizzou proved to be one of our more successful Colonies initially pledging 36 members during Colonization Weekend. These members quickly became active within the community and on December 13th became Sigma Phi Delta’s twenty-second (at the time) active chapter. The thirty founding members included: Jacob B. Ash, Christopher M. Blasius, Nicholas G. Bowman, Daniel J. Brewer, Michael R. Brooks, Arvin C.S. Bustos, Jackson C. Chandler, Alexander R. Chung, Kevan S. Clarke, James P. Clynes, Justin C. Distler, Nicholas S. Endsley, Nicholas A. Eschbacher, Calvin D. Irwin, Earle J. Lariosa, David S. Lindsay, Jason D. Lohe, Ryan A. Mathewson, William B. Meyer, Ethan J. Roussin, Jacob J. D. Sanders, Chase L. S. Skawinski, Jackson T. Smith, Paul L. Smith, Matthew J. Taylor, Spencer G. Tompkins, Jesse N. White, Kyle J. White, Ethan A. Wilken, and Garrett R. Wilt.

Everything old was new again in 2015. Two expansion efforts were undertaken to recharter two inactive Chapters, Rho at Bradley University and Upsilon at the University of Wisconsin. As this History previously recorded, Rho had gone inactive in 1996 after a storied 30 year run. Upsilon was a bright flame that burned out quickly in the late 80s. Hopes were high for both rechartering efforts, but ultimately Rho Alumni support was the ultimate deciding factor in ensuring Rho was

rechartered. The students at Wisconsin made a valiant effort but ultimately were unable to find enough interested candidates. The undergraduates who brought Sigma Phi Delta back to Bradley University and rechartered Rho Chapter on April 15, 2015 consisted of Luca A. Boettger, Peter A. Borowski, Michael F. Castelluccio, Aaron M. Green-Van Zee, Evan C. Krueger, Zachary R. Pakula, Nicholas J. Peters, Trevor A. Peterson, John J. Roop, Brian W. Roskuszka, Jacob M. Ruemelin, Hovhannes Sahakyan, Samprati V. Shah, and Christian M. West.

A momentous occasion occurred in the history of the Fraternity when the first member of a dual-letter chaptered was appointed to the Supreme Council. Twelve years after the Fraternity entered the realm of dual-letter chapters, Kyle N. Gibb of Beta-Delta Chapter was appointed Western Province Director in April. The fruits of the Supreme Council’s labors towards expansion, was beginning to pay off in the form of grooming the future leaders of the Fraternity.

Increasing our foothold in the Lone Star State, Beta-Pi was chartered at Texas Tech University on May 2. The idea of forming the first engineering fraternity on campus led to a call between four interested students and Grand Vice President Eric Pew. The eventual success was facilitated by founding members Adam R. Venn, Kelvin E. Arrindell, Devin P. Espinosa, Jason A. Ebong, Amine Z. Benchemsi, Lance P. Blair, Matthew A. Carroll, Colton W. Darby, Kevin A. Doherty, Mitchell E. Dyer, Curtis A. Hallman, Michael H. Johnson, Nolan T. Kitching, Michael B. Lee, Jared L. Lehr, Christopher M. Memi, Ian C. Molock, Arjun P. Ogale, Frank Oranday, Douglas S. Pala, Christopher J. Stadtfeld, Nicholas A. Travelstead, and Bradon K. Uehling. During the 2015 Face-to-Face meeting held in St. Louis (in advance of the Forty-First General Convention) further work on the revised Pledge Program was undertaken. The Risk Reduction Policy was heavily revised to take into consideration many of the topics that couldn’t be accounted for when the Risk Reduction Policy was first created in 1987, areas such as social media. The name of the document was also renamed to be the Risk Management Policy. As had become the tradition, a dinner with local alumni was scheduled and was well attended.

The Forty-First General Convention was held in St. Louis, August 3-5, Central Province Director Jon Eastham serving as Convention Chair. It marked the second joint convention the Fraternity had held with its sister sorority Alpha Omega Epsilon (the first being the Sixth Joint Province Convention and Tutorial in 2006). After much discussion, a motion to switch the frequency of the regular meetings of the General Convention to yearly (similar to most other NIC fraternities) was defeated and returned to the Supreme Council for further study. The Constitution and Statutory Code were modified to allow Chapters to pledge graduate students at their discretion, a practice followed informally by many Chapters at this point anyways. The General Convention passed a motion to enter into a relationship with FIRST, an organization that designs programs that motivate young people to pursue education and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math, while building self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills. For years, active Chapters had been asking for some International Philanthropy that the Fraternity could sponsor. In keeping with our Object, FIRST proved to be the perfect partner in helping us advance the Engineering Profession. In the coming years, along with A.O.E., SPD Engineers would start sponsoring and volunteering with the high school FIRST Robotics competition and middle school FIRST Lego League. The Forty-First General Convention Banquet ended with the Fraternity recognizing Executive Secretary Santarinala for his twelve years of contribution to the International Office: starting with his stint as the Thirty-Fifth General Convention Chairman, through his time as Communications Director, to his tenure as the Executive Secretary where he spent countless hours streamlining the operations of the Fraternity and his attempts to run the International Office more like a corporation. In a speech given to the assembled guests, he thanked his fellow Brothers and those who he had served with on the Supreme Council past and present. During his tenure, he reflected on the fact that his signature appeared on over 1100 membership certificates, a ninth of the fraternity at the time. This record number of initiations was due to the successful expansion efforts. As a result Executive Secretary Santarinala’s signature appears on more Active Chapter Charters and Alumni Chapter Charters than any previous Executive Secretary. He remarked that through his tenure on the Supreme Council, Delta Brothers had served as Grand President or Executive Secretary for 76 of the 91 years of SPD’s existence. He believed that in the future this would most likely be the exception rather than the norm, thanks to the rise of all our new dual-letter Chapters. New leadership would arise from these new sources and enrich the already abundant pools of talent within the Fraternity.

2004-2009

The beginning of 2005 marked the beginning of some trying times for the Fraternity both financially and amongst its volunteer staff.

In 2005, necessitated by pressures within the fraternal world, the Fraternity obtained a General Liability Insurance Policy to cover its undergraduates, pledges, and alumni volunteers. In order to pay for this significant new expense, Brother Featheringham resigned from his position as Executive Director at the beginning of 2005. The Fraternity reverted to operating with a totally volunteer staff, including the reintroduction of the Office of the Executive Secretary which was filled by Alpha Alumnus Levon H. Barsoumian. The General Convention decided that it was unwilling to pass a dues increase or a separate Liability Insurance fee onto the undergraduate membership to pay for their coverage under the new Insurance policy. In years to come, a large part of the Insurance Policy would be subsidized by the Fraternity through the annual Alumni Fundraising Appeal.

The maintenance of the Fraternity’s jewelry inventory, as well as other items, was outsourced to a third party vendor. Partly due to the financial stress of taking on the new insurance policy, the Fraternity embarked on another new first with its first “virtual” Convention. The Thirty-Sixth General Convention was held via phone conference call with pre-distributed presentations. Select Supreme Council members travelled to specific chapters and led local sessions. Unfortunately, technology had not caught up with the ability to host a “virtual” Convention. Meetings were marred by poor phone connections and the to-be expected logistical challenges of a dozen people wanting to speak at the same time. The human element was also missed as chapters commented on their desire for the camaraderie and fellowship that usually accompany the General Convention. These comments were duly noted and would shape the General Conventions, Joint Province Conventions, and Province Retreats in years to come.

On December 3, 2005, the Beta-Delta Chapter of Sigma Phi Delta was founded at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (better known as Virginia Tech) through the efforts of Grand Vice-President Alixandre R. Minden, Communications Director Steven Weiss, and several Kappa brothers. Counted amongst the Charter Members were Leif Alleman, Joseph Ash, Keith Eyerman, Tom Fox, Scott Frash, Jayton Gill, Joe Kauffman, Brian King, Jordan Milford, Nick Miller, Steve Mogensen, Jimmy Naemi, Travis Ruby, Aaren Salido, Brian Skipper, Adam Skrobialowski, Cameron Sorlie, and Josh Weinberger. The founding of Beta-Delta would continue a trend that started with the founding of Psi at the University of Delaware and continue through the next decade, of increased expansion in the eastern United States. This happy moment at the end of 2005 was a bright spot leading up to the tumultuous handful of months.

Elected Grand President during the Thirty-Sixth General Convention was another Alpha alumnus Adam C. Lynch. Unfortunately, Grand President Lynch’s tenure was short lived, as work responsibilities necessitated his resignation in mid- 2006. One key initiative he spearheaded during his six month term was the entrance of Sigma Phi Delta into the North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC), a trade organization who serves as an advocate for its membership fraternities.

During its annual meeting attended by Grand President Lynch, he presented to the NIC the redesigned Fraternity Flag designed by Brother Ian Santarinala. The changes included outlining the black greek letters with white for readability, adding the stylized castle from the Coat of Arms, and adding the word ENGINEERS across the bottom in order to call out our chosen profession, setting us apart from the other NIC fraternities. Grand President Lynch was also responsible for the planning of a joint convention with our sister sorority Alpha Omega Epsilon and instilling a desire for the Fraternity to be more strategic in our vision.

Around the time of Grand President Lynch’s resignation the Offices of the Executive Secretary and Treasurer (which were held by the same person) became vacant. As would be expected, these vacancies, coupled with the recent loss of the Executive Director position, and the usual turnover that occurs with Supreme Council positions, had an adverse effect on the Fraternity. Record keeping and bookkeeping suffered and the level of service afforded to our chapters by the International Office was admittedly less than ideal. A problem that affects Exec Boards at the local chapter level was now affecting the Supreme Council—many of the Officers were young, a lack of knowledge transfer had occurred with previous officers, and poor contingency planning.

However, our Fraternity has always been resilient and after being staggered by a few punches, we quickly got back up and continued to move forward.

Alixandre R. Minden was first elected to office as the Communications Director in 2002. Active with the Fraternity since his days at Kappa Chapter, first as an intern, then as Communications Director, Alix as the newly elected Grand Vice-President was looking to build on the momentum of recent Chapter charterings. Little did he know that life had other plans for him. With the resignation of Grand President Lynch, a chain reaction began that would have far reaching implications on the Fraternity for the next decade.

Grand President Lynch’s last act before resigning was to nominate his replacement. Thus Grand Vice-President Minden became Grand President Minden, the 15th man to serve as the Fraternity’s Chief Executive and the first from Kappa Chapter.

- Communications Director Steven Weiss, Omega Chapter’s senior most Charter Member, became the new Grand Vice-President. After short searches the remaining Supreme Council vacancies were filled.

- Alpha Alumnus James A. DeBolt was slated to become the new Executive Secretary.

- Delta Alumnus Ian Santarinala filled the recently vacated Communications Director spot.

- Phi Alumnus Jon Wiegand was appointed the new Treasurer. Along with Phi Alumnus Chad Meirose as Central Province Councilor, this team would form the nucleus of the Supreme Council for the next handful of years, adding some much needed stability while continuing to advance the Object of the Fraternity.

As mentioned earler, the Sixth Joint Province Convention and Tutorial was held in the Chicagoland area in July jointly with our sister sorority Alpha Omega Epsilon. The event proved to be a success and the bonds between both our organizations were renewed and strengthened. Many of the sessions were shared and having the women’s perspective led to many lively discussions. In the next few years, A.O.E. would support SPD’s expansion efforts and provide several leads on schools where they had chapters but a counterpart male engineering fraternity was lacking. Several changes were made to the Constitution and Statutory Code, the most notable being that all business of the General Convention would now be conducted via email ballot as opposed to via the U.S. Mail system. During the event former Executive Director Bob Featheringham and Executive Secretary Ed Hurst were recognized for their contributions to the Fraternity. Executive Director Featheringham’s master fundraising efforts had led to more donations being collected, from more Brothers, than in any point in the Fraternity’s history. In the coming years, with the onset of the Great Recession, donations would be harder to come by. In August it was learned that the Beta-Alpha Bangladesh chapter had gone inactive.

2007 began with two Executive Orders clarifying the ban preventing members from belonging to other engineering or social fraternities, as well as clarification on the ability for members or pledges to wear the Sigma Phi Delta letters. In March, the International Office received word that Phi Chapter’s house had been destroyed in a large fire. Luckily all seven members living in the house escaped unharmed. The Greek Community in Brookings, South Dakota rallied in support of the homeless Brothers, and in short order the house was repaired and Phi Chapter was able to reoccupy it.

The Thirty-Seventh General Convention was held in the New York area with Omega Chapter as host. The Convention Chair was Eastern Province Councilor Michael Piemontesi. A presentation on the Sigma Phi Delta LinkedIn group, which was created this year, was given. The Convention was an overall success with many topics covered and a walking tour of the Brooklyn Bridge given to the delegates.

The theme of 2008 was money woes. Due to chapters being delinquent in paying dues several normal activities the Fraternity typically engages in had to be cancelled. The Supreme Council had no Annual Face-to-Face meeting this year. The Fraternity narrowly avoided being late in their insurance payment. The CASTLE was scaled back.

Grand President Minden once again met with Theta Tau to discuss a possible merger after they made overtures to us. The terms were not agreeable and we decided to continue being the Premier International Fraternity of Engineers. Luckily the financial situation would improve in 2009 partly due to the founding of Beta-Epsilon Chapter at the University of British Columbia at Okanagan.

The satellite Okanagan campus of UBC was created in 2005 and by 2008 the administration was looking to add greek life to their campus. Sigma Phi Delta was the first North American Interfraternity Conference fraternity chartered on that campus. Originally seeded from a Theta member who had transferred to Okanagan (Addison Twitchell), the fledging group made quick progress in meeting the requirements for chartering. The charter members of the Beta-Epsilon Chapter were Eric Baikie, JD Fraser, Austin Dennis, Michael Wiltshire, Skylar Knight, Matt Matier, Seth Attrill, Derek Zellmann, Ben Kernan, Willem Kuiken, Ben Staden, Aidan Docherty, Gordon Ross, Scott Forsyth, Gary Hanscomb, Danny Grant, Chad Lecompte, Montana Reid, Barry Woodward, Christopher Cooke, and Mitchell Grant.

This would be Grand Vice President Weiss first successful colonization during his tenure but certainly not his last. During the course of his tenure, the entire colony to charter process was codified and the activities that occurred during Formal Pledging to Chartering weekend were formalized. These Colonization and Chartering weekends were categorized by many chapters traveling to support the expansion efforts, sharing a little bit of the Brotherhood with these fledging groups, giving them a glimpse at the goal they were working towards. Newly chartered chapters would attend the pledging ceremonies of Interest Groups lending insight into the process and giving words of encouragement. In this way the snowball of expansion would continue to grow in the next few years.

During the 2009 Face-to-Face Meeting held at Grand President Minden’s home in Mansfield, Texas the Supreme Council enacted changes to the various Endowment Fund accounts maintained by the Fraternity to simplify the tracking and accounting of money allocated to those funds. For decades, some percentage of membership dues and initiation dues were allocated to the General Endowment Fund and CASTLE Endowment Fund, both funds managed by the Board of Trustees. The purpose of these Endowment Funds was originally to extend loans to local Chapter housing corporations, the building of an International Headquarters and Museum, and in the case of the CASTLE Endowment Fund the printing of the CASTLE. In practice however costs for printing the CASTLE had been coming out of the International Office’s yearly operating expenses (the General Fund). During this meeting the CASTLE Endowment Fund was eliminated. All monies from that point onward would be split between The General Endowment Fund and the General Fund (at the time, the split was 5% to the General Endowment Fund versus 95% towards the Fraternity’s operations in the General Fund). Coupled with the elimination of individual Province budgets, from earlier in the decade, the Fraternity’s books were simplified greatly.

Beta-Epsilon’s chartering in March allowed them to attend the Thirty-Eighth General Convention down the road in Vancouver with Theta Chapter as host. Future Western Province Councilor Bob Orlando of Theta was Convention Chair. The charter fee was raised from $100 to $200 to cover some of the costs of printing the Charter document and obtaining its frame. Membership dues were raised to $130.

During 2009, the fifth printing of the Ritual was undertaken by Communications Director Ian Santarinala. The ritual was digitized, made larger, and new binders were found. This new printing was done in anticipation of future expansion. All older chapters would eventually receive a new copy of the Ritual and the older copies were ceremonially burned. Additionally, after the stock of the last blank membership certificates and cards were consumed, Communications Director Santarinala worked with the printers of the CASTLE to digitally typeset a new version of the membership certificate and cards. Members’ names, chapters, years and dates would be spaced correctly moving forward. The Grand President and Executive Secretary’s signatures would be digitally added to these documents relieving these officers from having to hand sign hundreds of certificates and cards. Up to this point, the Seal of the Fraternity was created by loading a gold foil seal into a seal embosser and pressing down until an imprint stamp was left. After years of use, the seal embosser plate had lost some of its sharp edges leading to some sad looking castles on the Seal of the Fraternity. Again working with the printers, Communications Director Santarinala had premade Seal of the Fraternity embossed stickers made. The embosser, as well as the type-block plates used to originally create the membership certificates were mercifully retired.

On the social media front, the Sigma Phi Delta official Facebook group was created this year. Previously, informal Facebook groups had been created by various chapters and groups, but the official group was created under the ownership of the International Fraternity. Since then pictures of events and status updates on Supreme Council activities have been posted. Likewise in 2009 Sigma Phi Delta’s Twitter handle @sigmaphidelta was created. Both these channels were created to appeal to the generations of millennials who the Fraternity was now targeting.

Post-convention, via a pre-arranged agreement, Executive Secretary Jim DeBolt and Communications Director Ian Santarinala swapped positions. For the next 5+ years, Executive Secretary Santarinala would do much to try and make the Fraternity’s operations more modern and more in line with how any small enterprise would run.

2000-2004

Brother Mike Golden of Delta Chapter was awarded a $3000 internship to be served through June 2000. Starting February 1, 2000, two additional internships were awarded to Tom Mercer (Epsilon) and Alix Minden (Kappa). Brothers Mercer and Minden assisted the National Office through October 1, 2000.

On April 5, 2000 the Supreme Council voted unanimously to recognize a Colony at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. Omega Chapter was then chartered on May 5, 2000. This historic day accomplished the milestone of completing all single Greek Letter chapter designations for Sigma Phi Delta. The charter members of Omega Chapter were: Jonah Charles Blake, Golam M. Bokhtier, Jeffery K. Chang, Endrit Gjona, William S. Irvine Jr., Jeremy Nacer, Ankoor Naik, Michael J. Torntore, Charter Chief Engineer Steven A. Weiss, and Jonathan Werner.

The Fifth Joint Province Convention was held between June 29 and July 2, 2000, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with Eta Chapter hosting. Key pieces of business emanating from the Convention were: (1) that Delta Chapter would be realigned to the Central Province; (2) the Petition of the Colony at Rutgers to become Omega Chapter was accepted unanimously; and (3) the National Director position, that would sweep together the offices of Executive Secretary and Circulation Manager, was approved. In addition Grand President Lindner reported a strengthening of the partnership with A.O.E. However, this has helped A.O.E. the most; SPD helped them start at least four chapters at schools in the US and Canada. Grand President Lindner also reported that the Fraternity had an incident where an active chapter did not follow the Risk Reduction Policy. The chapter and individual members found themselves with serious challenges from the university and local law enforcement. He reminded all that Sigma Phi Delta set up the Risk Reduction policies to educate the members of the risks they face and give them a framework to minimize their liability. The professional program was a tour of both Harley Davidson Engine plant and Miller Brewing Company.

In order to reduce damage when items are “stolen” by a visiting Chapter, the Supreme Council directed that each chapter build a Rip-off Trophy that would be the only item that allowed to be taken from chapters by a visiting chapter. The trophy shall be obvious and shall be able to be taken without damage. As partial repayment for damage caused to the Delta house, Kappa Chapter was directed to construct a Master Rip Off Trophy.

At its Chicago area meeting of April 6-8, 2001, the Supreme Council interviewed several qualified candidates for the newly created Executive Director position, and on June 1, 2001 Brother Robert R. Featheringham, an alumnus of Lambda Chapter, inaugurated the position of Executive Director of Sigma Phi Delta. This was the Fraternity’s first full-time paid position to handle fraternity affairs. This position was set up for a two year trial period, after which the Executive Director's effectiveness would be evaluated.

The Thirty-Fourth General Convention was hosted by Kappa Chapter at Tri-State University in Angola, Indiana, on July 19- 21, 2001. Attending this convention were a group of representatives from the Sigma Phi Delta Colony at Virginia Commonwealth University, as well as three representatives from Zeta Phi Sigma, an engineering sorority at VCU. At this convention a Chapter health system was instituted to provide a consistent basis to determine how well chapters are meeting the ideals of Sigma Phi Delta. The professional event was a tour of the Cooper-Standard plant in Auburn, Indiana. Tutorials were presented on Risk Reduction, Chapter Financial Management, Rush and Recruiting, and the Fraternity’s initiative, Engineers United, seeking to work together with Women in Engineering organizations for the benefit of the Engineering profession. The General Convention voted: 1) to assist the formation of Zeta Phi Sigma at VCU; 2) to initiate a general fundraising initiative of all members. As part of his normal Executive Director duties, Featheringham was appointed to the

position of Fundraising Manager. In the coming years, Brother Featheringham had the unenviable task of soliciting (in other words “begging”) the Membership for money to allow the International Office to do the Fraternity’s work. Additionally, Bob began the tradition of mailing out Birthday cards to Brothers at this time. The end of 2001 signaled the end of Grand President Paul A. Lindner’s time on the Supreme Council. For nearly a decade, from 1992 to 2001 (all but two of those as Grand President), Brother Lindner guided the Fraternity through some of its most tumultuous times and into the 21st Century. Elected at the Convention to succeed him as Grand President was Derek R. Troy, the first Alpha Chapter Alumnus to serve as Grand President since founding member Gilbert H. Dunstan.

On the expansion front, a colony was started at Virginia Commonwealth University and inroads were made at the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) when Eta Chapter pledged and activated several students from that school. Both these efforts would eventually succumb to lack of interest. Chi Chapter at the University of Cincinnati went inactive at this time. In other interesting news, it came to the attention of the Supreme Council that a nationally distributed gentleman’s magazine had featured Sigma Phi Delta’s letters in a questionable cartoon within its pages. After some discussion it was decided it wasn’t worth the effort to pursue any further action.

The year 2002 was marked with several sweeping changes to the Fraternity, many coming from motions presented to the General Convention by mail-ballot vote. The first of these came on January 15, 2002 when the Supreme Council certified the General Convention mail ballot vote on changing “Christian” to “Virtuous” Manhood in the Object of the Fraternity. The term “Christian Manhood” had been controversial since the beginning of the Fraternity, per Grand Old Man Robert J. Beals. In written correspondence he stated, “Alternative language would be acceptable.” In fact, the 30th General Convention in 1993 directed a committee to develop alternative language. In expansion efforts, the question would always inevitably be raised regarding why we espouse Christian ideals if we were not a Christian organization? In the face of an ever expanding, diverse Fraternity, it was deemed desirable to remove the last vestiges of our former policy of restricting membership to Christian Caucasians and North American Indians. This change notwithstanding, our Declaration of Principles and Objects remains intact. “We believe in an Eternal God who has power over the lives of men, while, at the same time, not espousing any denominational or religious creed.” (Manual of Procedure).

Other legislature passed this year included:

- A Constitutional amendment authored by Grand President Troy that restructured the way the Fraternity was organized that made for a more unified and stronger International organization. Provinces remained but would only serve as geographical areas that Province Councilors oversaw. By-laws, governmental organization, and fees at the Province level were eliminated and accordingly, there would be just one Fraternity dues amount. The International Office assumed control of funding all province retreats/conventions rather than having each Province do this from separate Province accounts.

- A Constitutional amendment to eliminate the Board of Trustees restriction that disallowed more than two members being from same active chapter. Additionally a requirement was added that members be at least five years out of school before assuming office. This was to ensure local, parochial Chapter interests did not drive the Board’s considerations.

- A Statutory Code amendment changing the requirement that The CASTLE be mailed in October, rather than September.

The seeds of new chapters were planted this year when contact was made by Grand Vice-President Hileman and Communications Director Minden with a group of enthusiastic students from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. They would eventually be colonized on November 9, 2002 with Alpha Alumnus Tony Troutman in attendance. Additionally an Interest Group was started at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology after an inquiry from a group of students in that country was received. Throughout the year, discussions were had regarding the feasibility of “advancing the Engineering Profession” at universities throughout the world. In preparation for the arrival of any such chapters outside North America, the following legislature was enacted:

- A Constitutional amendment requiring engineering school curriculum either be ABET (US), CEAB (Canada), or ABET-SEP (non-North American schools) accredited. In cases where Petitions for Charter came from non-North American schools that were not accredited as ABET-SEP, the Supreme Council could waive the requirement before sending the Petition for Charter to the General Convention.

- Dues were adjusted to account for the disparate affordability in the countries where we were located. (At the time, the current GDP’s were: US=$100; Canada, $68.73; and Bangladesh, $4.33.)

In 2002, for the first time ever, the Pledge Manual, the Manual of Procedure, Constitution, Statutory Code, and several forms were placed online. Many of these efforts were headed up by the intern for that year, Brother Jeffrey Leesman of Delta Chapter.

Locally, the Supreme Council was notified of problems at Eta and Phi with their landlords. At Eta, several disputes with Marquette administration arose regarding the lease of their newly constructed three-year old house and the amount of rent that they were being charged. At Phi, despite having a verbal understanding of right of first refusal on the purchase of their house, Phi's landlord sold the Phi Castle to the university. Luckily, temporary housing was found and a new Phi Chapter House was identified.

Brother Featheringham headed up efforts to have our Coat of Arms and Letters, trademarked after their registrations had lapsed undetected years previous. It was eventually decided that according to common law, little doubt existed that we owned our Coat and Letters. As such no action was deemed necessary at the time to solidify our ownership position. Featheringham also completed the necessary Certificate of Revivor for Articles of Incorporation paperwork that put us in good standing with the California Franchise Tax Board.

Featheringham also stepped up efforts in his role as Merchandising Manager. During this year it was decided that the Fraternity adopt a new logotype that could more easily convey that we were a fraternal organization of engineers, something that the Coat of Arms couldn’t readily do at-a-glance. A contest was held and a design by Eta Chapter was chosen as the eventual winner. It should be noted that this design was further refined by Brother Ian Santarinala of Delta Chapter, the first of many contributions to Sigma Phi Delta.

2003 began on an upbeat note with the initiation of ten charter members of our first chapter outside North America (and first dual-letter chapter) at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh on January 5, 2003. Efforts in creating the Beta-Alpha Chapter of Sigma Phi Delta were spearheaded by Omega Brother Golam Bokhtier. Grand President Derek Troy and Grand Vice President Keith Hileman made the long trip around the world to conduct the Chartering ceremonies. The Charter Members were: Sk. Monsur Ahmed, Anwar Iqbal Ahmed, Debashis Dash, Md. Rakib Ud Dowla, Sagar Gope, Shahnewaz Hasanat-E-Rabbi, Mohammad Samiul Hossain, Riyadh Hossain, Md. Tofiqul Islam, S.M. Raiyan Kabir, and Tasibul Islam Khan.

On May 17, 2003, Beta-Gamma at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, entered the roll of Sigma Phi Delta Chapters. The Installation was conducted by Grand President Troy and Grand Vice-President Keith Hileman. Charter members were Cory L. Broussard, Wesley A. Buchhorn, William C. Carpenter, Jace R. Daigle, Jeremy L. Huebel, Kyle D. Kibodeaux, Joshua L. Morgan, Jeffery D. Nelson, Richard L. Nero, Freeman M. Peart, and Travis G. Watson. Interestingly enough, Beta-Gamma becomes our second Texas Chapter after Gamma Chapter at the University of Texas at Austin.

Also in May, it was learned that Eta Chapter had been suspended for two years by Marquette (reduced to one year with the help of Executive Director Featheringham and Eta Alumni) and had been evicted from their recently built house for violating the University’s Risk Reduction Policy. Following suit, the Supreme Council charged Eta Chapter with violating the Fraternity’s Risk Reduction Policy. After a plea of guilty, Eta was placed on a three-year Chapter Improvement Plan for the duration of their suspension which outlined the positive steps necessary for Eta to regain their Charter which was placed into the custody of the General Convention.

Also this year, Brother Ian Santarinala unveiled an official cleaned-up version of the Sigma Phi Delta Coat of Arms. The Coat, which had remained unchanged since 1934, was reincarnated in several versions throughout the 90s with each version suffering from severe digital artifacts. Brother Ian Santarinala, using original source versions of the Coat, was able to create a rendering true to the wishes of the original designers. The Coat of Arms, Fraternity Logotype, and new slogan “The Premier International Fraternity of Engineers” were all featured prominently in new Fraternity stationary in the form of letterhead, envelopes, business cards, and memorandum templates.

The Thirty-Fifth General Convention was opened on July 24, 2003 by Grand President Troy on the campus of the University of Illinois. The Convention was held in conjunction with the occasion of Delta Chapter’s 75th Anniversary Diamond Jubilee Celebration. Future Executive Secretary Ian Santarinala was Convention Chair. Between this celebration and Alpha’s four years earlier, this would be the first of many Diamond Jubilees celebrated by our Chapters in the coming years. The planning of the Convention exposed the Fraternity for the first time ever to the world of liability insurance, a topic that would be on the minds of the Supreme Council in the upcoming years. The University of Illinois required any organizations meeting on its premises to carry a $1 million liability insurance policy. Luckily, Brother Featheringham was able to find us a carrier willing to issue us coverage for a one-time event thus ensuring that the convention could proceed. However, with recent events at Eta (and future violations of the Risk Reduction Policy at Epsilon and Delta) the need for a National Liability Insurance Policy to protect the Fraternity’s Active Chapters, Alumni Chapters, and Officers from personal risk was crucially needed. Other business conducted at the Convention included the raising of Active dues to $100 and Alumni Chapter fees to $400. It was also decided at this Convention that the Office of the Treasurer would become a voting member of the Supreme Council. Brother Featheringham after reviewing the work of the Executive Director position graciously offered to continue for another two-year term at a reduced salary with no bonus, and also on a consulting basis so as to divert responsibility of payroll taxes to himself rather than the Fraternity. The weekend culminated with the Convention Banquet attended by many Delta Alumni. It was announced during dinner that Theta Alumnus Eric Newell, class of 1967, had been awarded the Sigma Phi Delta Professional Achievement Award for his contributions to the field of energy supply in his role as CEO of Syncrude Canada Ltd. and for his work in strengthening partnerships between education and business.

The onset of 2004 marked a major milestone in the history of Sigma Phi Delta. Due to the Sigma Phi Delta Foundation’s rules limiting a Board of Director’s service to two terms, for the first time in 60 years Robert J. Beals did not serve the Fraternity in any capacity. Shortly thereafter, on February 28, 2004, the second Grand Old Man of Sigma Phi Delta entered the Castle Eternal.

We should also note the contributions of Brother Keith “Stick” Hileman (7289) of Kappa Chapter whose term ended at the beginning of 2004. During his tenure as Grand Vice-President five new Chapters were added to the Fraternity, Chi, Psi, Omega, Beta-Alpha, and Beta-Gamma. His time as Grand Vice-President marked one of the more active periods in the Fraternity’s expansion.

During the Fall of this year, Information Systems Manager Ed Hurst launched an initiative to automate online many of the forms the fraternity required. For countless years, pledges had to submit typewritten copies of their Form 1’s to the Executive Secretary. In this modern age, the entire initiation lifecycle would be transacted online.

1995-2000

By 1996, there were several other indications of the major improvements in communications and participation at the National level. One was the coordinating of monthly Supreme Council conference calls by Grand President Scott Everett. Another indicator was the convening of an unprecedented second Supreme Council meeting this winter in the Chicago area, to plan and budget the Third Joint Province Convention. 100% of the Supreme Council was in attendance at both meetings.And thirdly, was the long-awaited publication of the first CASTLE in over two years.

At its meeting in Elk Grove Village on March 30, 1996, the Supreme Council voted to transfer $2,000 in funds from the General and Convention Funds to the Expansion Fund, to aid in the expansion campaign headed by Grand Vice-President Paul A. Lindner.

The Third Joint Province Convention was held on August 30, 31 and September 1, 1996, in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois with Delta Chapter as Host chapter. This was the first Joint Province Convention to have a chapter as host. Tutorial topics included Rush, Budgeting and Finances, Sigma Phi Delta Values, Chapter Operations, Expansion, and Communications. Events accompanying the Convention included a campus tour, a demonstration of the Virtual Reality Cave in the Beckman Institute Building, a cookout at Delta Chapter, the formal initiation of five new Delta Chapter members, and a formal dinner. Of concern to the Fraternity was the fact that Rho chapter, which had re-activated in 1986, was not represented at the last two Conventions. No one was living in Rho’s chapter house, which had been condemned by the City of Peoria, and the Central Illinois Alumni chapter decided not to invest in restoring the house. The members of Rho chapter failed to return to the house in the Fall of 1996, and the chapter was decidedly rendered inactive at that time.

A Supreme Council Meeting was held in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, on February 22, 1997. At this meeting, Grand President Everett reviewed the progress made towards meeting the Fraternity’s goals set last year. Motions included increasing the number of awarded undergraduate scholarships to three, $1000 “Undergraduate Achievement Awards”, with $250 going to the recipient’s chapter. To improve the effectiveness of chapter visitations by National Officers, it was requested that the visiting officer submit a chapter visitation report to the Supreme Council before any travel expenses will be paid. A motion was passed to vacate the office of Editor of the CASTLE. Editor Joseph Welinski, who was too busy to carry out his duties and only able to produce one issue of the CASTLE in his 14 months holding that office, effectively resigned. A draft copy of a new Expansion and Rush brochure, which was developed by Deputy Province Councilor for Expansion, Tom Walker, was distributed to the Supreme Council for comment. The Council felt that 100 gratis copies should be distributed to the undergraduate chapters, and that additional copies can be sold as needed.

A historic Thirty-Second General Convention of Sigma Phi Delta was held on August 28-30, 1997, in Brookings, South Dakota, with Phi Chapter as host. Executive Secretary Beals had a new pacemaker installed the day before the Convention and could not attend. This was the first Convention missed by Brother Beals in forty-six years. Following his absence from Convention, “Grand Old Man” Robert J. Beals announced that he would be retiring from the office of Executive Secretary after this term and asked Grand President Lindner to appoint his successor. The brotherhood was re-awakened to the significance of his role as Executive Secretary of the Fraternity. At the Supreme Council meetings, paralleling the General Convention, there was much discussion of the duties of the office of Executive Secretary as well as the roles and responsibilities of the Grand President, Editor of the CASTLE and Circulation Manager. One outcome of this assessment was the renaming of the office of Editor of the CASTLE to Communications Director and the creation of the separate

appointed office of Information Systems Manager. The Communications Director would take on all duties related to publishing, marketing, and maintaining a consistent image for the Fraternity. The Information Systems Manager, reporting to the Communications Director, would be responsible for the Fraternity’s image in electronic form, including its World Wide Web site and e-mail identities. To that effect, changes to the Constitution and Statutory Code were drafted and approved by mail vote of General Convention. It was also the consensus that some of the duties of the Executive Secretary could be appointed to new assistant positions or assigned to other existing National Officers.

During the business sessions of the Convention, open discussion was held on the topics of Goal Setting, Risk Reduction and Alcohol Policy, and whether Sigma Phi Delta should become a dual-gender Fraternity. On the latter topic, one group suggested that a “separate but equal” organization is needed, whereby the Fraternity would have both all-male and/or allfemale Chapters at any given university, but that co-ed houses would not work. The overall consensus though was, once again, that the Fraternity should try and succeed as a single-gender Fraternity. A convention proposal to change the title and responsibilities of the Editor of the CASTLE to Communications Director (CD) was passed unanimously by mail ballot. The CD not only is responsible for the publishing of the CASTLE, but also he will supervise the Circulation and Web Managers.

In other business, the General Convention approved for Honorary membership, Steven Foor, the father of Kappa Chapter active Mason Michael Foor, who died in the Spring at age 19. Active chapter National dues were increased by $10 to $110 per annum, and 5% of these dues are now to go into an Expansion Fund, with the General Fund apportionment changing to 33%. Delta Alumnus Burt A. Wagner III, was elected to immediately fill the vacant office of Editor of the CASTLE, and assume the added responsibilities of the new Communications Director office for the 1998-1999 biennium. Eric P. Messerschmidt resigned as Eastern Province Councilor to devote his efforts to a special Sigma Phi Delta expansion/marketing project, and strongly recommended Kappa Alumnus Michael L. Votaw to be his replacement. Brother Votaw was unanimously voted into the position. The General Convention also elected as Board of Trustees member, Delta Alumnus William J. Trader. Unfortunately, Brother Trader passed away in the following year, before his term as Trustee was to have started. Robert J. Beals was elected to a second and final term of the Sigma Phi Delta Foundation Board of Directors.

A Supreme Council meeting was held in the Chicago area on November 8, 1997 to plan for the biennium 1998-1999. The Supreme Council met again on March 7-8 1998 in Vancouver, BC for further biennium planning and for establishing the details for the Fourth Joint Province Convention. Theta Chapter hosted the Fourth Joint Province Convention and Tutorial, July 30 - August 1, 1998. Events included a barbecue at the Theta house, a plant tour of CREO products, initiation of an honorary member, Richard Hancock, a visit to a salmon hatchery, and a banquet at the botanical gardens. A new toll-free number was established, 1-877 SIG PHIS (877-744-7447) which is directed to the Executive Secretary’s office. A Chat Room page was opened on the Internet Relay Chat (IRC), allowing brothers and officers to chat about any topic. This capability allowed for monthly online Supreme Council meetings. The Fraternity's financial books and jewelry inventory were automated using Quickbooks 6.0.

On December 12, 1998 a colony was established at the University of Delaware. Under the leadership of Brother Keith Hileman and Kappa Chapter actives, visits were made to the University of Cincinnati where a number of engineering students expressed interest in joining Sigma Phi Delta.

In order to reduce the amount of paper work and cost of printing, Fraternity forms, Meeting Minutes, and Constitution and Statutory Code were posted to the World Wide Web site. These documents will no longer be supplied in printed form but should be downloaded and printed at the local level.

On the 75th Anniversary of the Fraternity's founding, two chapters were installed, the first, Chi Chapter at the University of Cincinnati on April 10, 1999 and the second was Psi Chapter at the University of Delaware. The charter members of Chi Chapter were: Jeffrey S. Ackerman, Joshua E. Bare, Keith E. Daegele, Shaun M. Limber, Brandon A. Lynne, Andrew E. Pierson, Dale W. Schaefer, Michael J. Starr, Rob C. Sweet, Adam W. Swejk, Robert Charles Thomas, and Charter Chief Engineer Zachary Khang D. Vuong. The charter members of Psi Chapter were: Gregory A. Aluise, Michael D. Day II, Eric A. Fine, Charter Chief Engineer Leonard J. French Jr., Donald J. Hancock, Aaron S. Knipe, Jeffrey J. Robinson, Brian K. Scramlin, William E. Sedutto, John W. Soisson, Matthew S. Underhill, Mike P. Vansant, and Erich C. Weigert.

Also in the Spring of 1999, Grand Vice President Scott Everett resigned his position to be succeeded by Brother Keith Hileman. Brother Adam Lynch was appointed to the newly created position of Director for International Expansion. Brother Jimmy Jones of Delta Chapter was awarded the $3000 eight-month internship to provide assistance to the National Office. Sigma Phi Delta's Silver Anniversary was celebrated in style at the Thirty-Third General Convention, hosted by Alpha Chapter. It was held at the Regal Biltmore hotel in Los Angeles, California, on July 15-17, 1999. The professional program

included a visit NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. The Supreme Council made a monetary award to Kappa Chapter for its extraordinary efforts in bringing Psi Chapter to reality. The Fraternity expressed its appreciation to Brother Robert J. Beals, for attending the Convention to receive the Fraternity's Professional Achievement Award, and for his dedication to the Fraternity during nearly 50 of its 75-year history and his continued service on the Sigma Phi Delta Foundation Board of Directors. The General Convention heard an address by Alpha Omega Epsilon’s National Executive Board Vice President, on joint efforts to expand the two organizations. The General Convention directed a committee to approach Phi Beta Epsilon engineering Fraternity (in the Philippines) to seek an agreement on their joining Sigma Phi Delta. The Supreme Council decided to break up the duties of the office of the Executive Secretary. Brother Hurst was appointed to the new position of Treasurer, responsible for the Fraternity’s finances, and Brother Derek Troy was appointed to the position of Executive Secretary, responsible for administrative duties, minutes, and forms. A third position was Merchandising Chair, to be responsible for all merchandise and jewelry orders of the Fraternity, and Brother Hurst was appointed to that position on an interim basis. A fourth position, Information Systems Manager, was also being filled on an interim basis by Brother Hurst.

Later in 1999, an effort to establish a Chapter at Rutgers University for both Sigma Phi Delta and Alpha Omega Epsilon had slowed. However, it was noted that A.O.E.'s expansion efforts were more successful recently than Sigma Phi Delta's.

1989-1995

The Province boundaries were changed in January 1, 1990, to balance the number of chapters in each of the Provinces, insofar as possible. The Eastern Province - Central Province boundary, unchanged since 1948, would separate the Canadian Provinces of Quebec and Ontario, descend through Lake Michigan, follow the Wisconsin - Illinois border, then down the Mississippi River to its termination. This change moved Rho Active Chapter from the Central to the Eastern Province. Inasmuch as it has been policy that the principal alumni chapter associated with an undergraduate chapter be in the same Province, Central Illinois Alumni Chapter also moved to the Eastern Province. At the same time, Chicago, Illinois, and its immediate suburbs, was declared an "open city", enabling residents of the area to serve as officers in either Province.

For purposes of clarification, though no change was made at this Convention, the Central Province - Western Province boundaries separate the Canadian Provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, travel along the North Dakota-Montana-South Dakota borders, the South Dakota-Wyoming border, the Nebraska-Wyoming, Colorado-Kansas borders, the Oklahoma-New Mexico-Texas borders into Mexico.

Shortly after the 28th General Convention, Executive Secretary Beals began conversations with students at South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota, about the formation of a colony. In 1934, the consolidation of the South Dakota state engineering programs at Brookings had forced Beta Chapter to go inactive. Former Grand Vice President Schleck and Epsilon Active Chapter continued the contacts. On April 20, 1990, Grand President Reinert established the group as Phi Colony of Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity. SDSU rules require the colony to exist for one year prior to petition for charter as Phi Chapter of Sigma Phi Delta.

The Supreme Council met in the Chicago-land area for its annual meeting on February 16 and 17, 1990. All members of the Supreme Council, except for the Executive Secretary, were present. This was the first-ever Supreme Council meeting he had missed. On February 13, 1990, he had had a pacemaker installed and was just leaving the hospital. Plans were made for a Joint Province Convention in Fall 1990. A joint meeting would permit tutorials and information interchange unparalleled in separate conventions. However, insufficient interest was evidenced and the joint convention was cancelled.

The Supreme Council increased the mileage allowance for Fraternity travel from a long held $0.17 per mile to $0.20 per mile. The Grand President was authorized to purchase a computer for that office.

The Supreme Council met in the Chicago area for a March 1 and 2, 1991, meeting. The Council recommended that Dr. Richard Kenyon, the new President of Tri-State University, be initiated as an Honorary Member of the Fraternity at the 29th General Convention. Dr. Kenyon was elected an Honorary Member by the General Convention.

At different times, the criticism has been heard that the Supreme Council is made up of "older" alumni and out of touch with the undergraduate viewpoint. None of the incumbent Province Councilors stood for re-election at the 1990 Province Conventions. All three new Province Councilors were initiated into the Fraternity in 1986, graduated in May or June of 1990, and assumed office as Councilors on January 1, 1991.

Having fulfilled all of the requirements, the Colony at the South Dakota State University petitioned for Charter as Phi Chapter of the Fraternity. On May 4, 1991, Grand President William J. Reinert, Executive Secretary Robert J. Beals, Central Province Councilor Michael Fox and members of Epsilon Chapter formally installed Phi Chapter of Sigma Phi Delta in Brookings, South Dakota. Charter members included Marten H. Christensen, Chad D. Fletcher, Charles J. Hauck, Gary H. Kessler, William K. McGreevy, Jr., Gregory W. McLaughlin, John P. Meier, Jon A. Rokeh, Paul D. Scheier and Michael J. Teeman. Michael J. Teeman was Charter Chief Engineer and Chad Fletcher was Charter Chapter Secretary.

The Twenty-Ninth General Convention of the Fraternity was held on August 29, 30 and 31, 1991, in Angola, Indiana, with Kappa Chapter as Host Chapter. The Fraternity was in probably the worst crisis in its history. Incumbent Grand President William J. Reinert declined nomination for a fourth term and there were no candidates for this office or that of Grand Vice President. The Grand President and the Executive Secretary set up a meeting with the Theta Tau Fraternity to once again consider a merger of the two fraternities. A special issue of the STAR was sent to all members pleading for support of the Fraternity.

In response to the solicitation, there were three candidates for Grand President and three for Grand Vice President, two of whom were also candidates for Grand President. Paul A. Lindner, Delta alumnus, was elected to the office of Grand President for the biennium 1992 - 1993 and Keith Colombo, Pi alumnus, was elected to be Grand Vice President. Neither had held National or Province office prior to their election. David E. Vosecky, former Editor of the CASTLE, was elected to that office. However, David died of a massive heart attack on his forty-fourth birthday - September 17, 1995 - just two weeks after the close of the Convention.

The Convention raised the non-itemized expenses for the Executive Secretary to $2,500 per year plus a $1.00 annual salary. Similarly, the non-itemized expenses for the Circulation Manager of the CASTLE were raised to $1,000 per year plus a $1.00 annual salary. The Executive Secretary traded in a five-year old computer for a new modern one. The Sigma Phi Delta Housing Group, associated with Pi Active Chapter, reported that Pi Chapter was defaulting in payments and the housing group, as well as the Chapter, were in serious financial constraints.

In 1976, the Fraternity had tried to establish a Little Sister Program. Several of the Chapters had informal organizations for this purpose. At this Convention, the Fraternity decided to drop all references to Little Sister status throughout the Fraternity.

Executive Secretary Beals had been working on the establishment of the Sigma Phi Delta Foundation, a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3), organization, which could accept gifts for educational purposes. Contributions, in the United States, to this Foundation are tax deductible. Elected as the first Board of Directors were William J. Reinert, Delta alumnus; Gary L. Ray, Kappa alumnus; and Robert J. Beals, Delta alumnus. The Charter for this Ohio-based corporation was granted on November 5, 1991. The Board of Directors was elected by the General Convention, with two-, four- and six-year terms for the above listed Directors. William J. Reinert was elected by the Board to be the first President of the Foundation, Gary L. Ray was elected Vice President and Robert J. Beals was elected Secretary-Treasurer.

A joint meeting of the Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity, represented by Grand President Paul A. Lindner, Past Grand President William J. Reinert, Past Grand President George Flanders, and Executive Secretary Robert J. Beals, and the Theta Tau Fraternity, represented by Grand Regent Dean W. Bettinger, former Grand Regent Randall J. Scheetz, Student Member of the Executive Council Michael T. Abraham, and Executive Director Robert E. Pope, was held at the Theta Tau Fraternity National Office in St. Louis, Missouri, on January 11, 1992. The purpose of the meeting was to explore the merger of the two engineering fraternities. Theta Tau had 28 undergraduate chapters, admitted women to those chapters desiring dual-gender status, and had a permanent National Office. There appeared to be a common interest in the merger until the matter of the name for the new organization was debated. Neither side was willing to compromise on the new name.

The challenge to the new Supreme Council of Sigma Phi Delta was great after the termination of the negotiations. Either we make a go of the Fraternity or we might have to accept Theta Tau's conditions to save our chapters. Plans were formulated for the first Joint Tutorial and Province Conventions, to be held in the Fall of 1992 in Chicago, Illinois.

To assist the new Supreme Council to hit the ground running, the normally late winter Supreme Council meeting was held on November 9, 1991. With the death of the elected Editor, the Grand President appointed an Editor of the CASTLE, Edward A. Hurst, Alpha alumnus. Several years ago, the unrelated business income from the Board of Trustees' investments was set aside for scholarships. Each chapter was eligible for a $500 scholarship. If a chapter failed to provide a nominee, that amount went to another chapter who then had two scholarships. Plans were formulated for the First Joint Tutorial and Province Conventions. Specific goals for the biennium were established, based on the Object of the Fraternity.

A colony had been established earlier at the University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta. The colony had petitioned for Charter as Chi Chapter of the Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity but failed to maintain the required ten members up to formal installation. They continued their colony for a few more years. A representative had attended the 29th General Convention and the First Joint Province Conventions without official status. By 1997, the lack of support by the Dean of the College of Engineering, coupled with the death of one of the Colony members, contributed to a lack of will on the part of the colonists to create a chapter, and the effort there was shelved.

The First Tutorial and Joint Province Convention was held in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, on September 4, 5 and 6, 1992. Eight hours were devoted to tutorials on Fraternities and the Law, Financial Record Keeping, Rush, Pledge Program, Expansion, Housing Corporation Concerns, Electronic Bulletin Board. The Foundation held its first formal meeting after incorporation. Goals on Objectives for the Fraternity were expanded and formalized. National Dues for undergraduate members were raised from $80 to $90 per year. Eastern and Western Province dues were raised from $30 to $40 a year while the dues for the Central Province remained at $30 per year. Province Conventions met for several hours during the overall session.

Continuing a long-standing practice, the Supreme Council held a winter meeting on February 19 and 20, 1993, in Des Plaines, Illinois. Plans were formulated for the Thirtieth General Convention. Efforts were made to once again publish issues of the STAR.

The Thirtieth General Convention was held in Los Angeles, California, on September 2, 3 and 4, 1993. Pi Chapter members had moved en masse from their Chapter houses in Daytona Beach, Florida, leaving the housing board with almost $130,000 in renovations with no chapter to support them. A summons was issued for the Chapter to appear at a hearing during the 30th General Convention. After the hearing, the General Convention found the Chapter guilty on the charges of conduct prejudicial to good order, delinquency in accounts and violation of the Oath of Initiation. The Chapter was officially reprimanded, as provided for in the Statutory Code. They were instructed to provide 200 man-hours of labor to repair the trashing of the chapter houses. Failure to comply could result in a change of penalty to suspension.

Of considerable concern to the Delegates was the subject of a dual-gender organization. To remain strictly professional would require opening our membership to women engineers. The consensus was that we should be a social fraternity of engineers, which would permit us to retain our single-gender membership.

Tutorials were held during this Convention on Rush, Pledging and Membership, Chapter Operations, Budgeting and Financial operations, Alumni Relations, Housing and Risk Reduction. The consensus was that we had packed too much in too little time. Grand President Paul Lindner was elected to a second term in that Office. The Convention was unable to elect a Grand Vice President or Editor of the CASTLE. Both officers were appointed later by the Grand President. Former Central Province Councilor and Grand Vice President Dennis E. Kroll, returned as Grand Vice President. Executive Secretary Beals was reappointed to an eleventh two-year term of office, thereby equaling his twenty-two years as Grand President.

The Supreme Council met on February 18 and 19, 1994, in Des Plaines, Illinois. Fraternity Goals and Objectives were reviewed. Plans were formulated for the Second Tutorial and Joint Province Convention. They were revised to more closely parallel the Object of the Fraternity.

The Second Tutorial and Joint Province Convention was held in Rosemont, Illinois, on September 2, 3 and 4, 1994. Pi Chapter failed to respond to the reprimand and the call for service to the chapter, as directed by the Thirtieth General Convention. The Supreme Council called for the revocation of the Pi Active Chapter Charter unless the members responded by October 1, 1994. There was no response from the members of Pi Chapter and its Charter was revoked on October 1, 1994.

The subjects for this second tutorial included Budgeting, Pledging, National Office Concerns, Financial Record Keeping, Expansion, Rush, Alumni Chapter Concerns, Risk Reduction and Active Chapter Management. Incumbent Province Councilors were returned to office. As usual, it was not possible to find candidates to serve as Province Secretaries. National Officer recruitment was a continued concern.

A Pledge Fee of $10.00 was established. For this fee, the individual Pledge receives a copy, of the Pledge Manual, Manual of Procedure, Constitution and Statutory Code and Code of Ethics. The fee is submitted at the time of notification of pledging by the Chapter.

The long-delayed meeting of the Supreme Council was held on April 21 and 22, 1995, in Arlington Heights, Illinois. The major emphasis of this meeting was National Officer recruitment. The Eastern and Central Province Councilors resigned on this date. Replacements were not found until the Thirty-First General Convention. An individual letter was sent to each alumnus; a special issue of the STAR was distributed. Once again, the Fraternity lacked candidates going into a General Convention. It was the consensus that the Delegates had been worked quite hard at the two Tutorials and the intervening General Convention. A more liberal schedule, including a plant trip and some social functions, were scheduled for the Thirty-First General Convention.

Responses from the chapters towards the Fraternity Scholarship were lagging. To promote interest, the Contest was changed. Where, previously, the contest was based solely on grade point average, fraternal involvement and civic and university involvement, the new Scholarship was based on a white paper plus the above-listed items. The first topic assigned was "The Role of Social Engineering Fraternities in the Next Decade". The $500 stipend was raised to a $1000 stipend, with $200 of the award going to the undergraduate chapter. Two such scholarships were to be awarded Fraternity-wide.

As a result of the extensive search for candidates, there were candidates for all National Offices when the Thirty-First General Convention met in Fargo, North Dakota, on August 31, September 1 and 2, 1995. Alpha Omega Epsilon Sorority was, at the time, a four-chapter sorority, founded in 1988, with chapters at Marquette University, University of North Carolina at Raleigh, South Dakota School of Mines and Milwaukee School of Engineering. Julie Heinrich, their National Executive Board President, attended the 31st General Convention. It is the intent of both engineering organizations to work together an expansion. A Memorandum of Understanding was drawn up between the two organizations.

Tutorials were held on Rush, Pledging, National Officer Recruitment and Expansion. The agenda was more relaxed than at previous conventions. One session was dedicated to professional development through two plant tours. Another session was set aside for a paint ball "war" among the delegates.

Since the reorganization of the Fraternity after World War II, in 1948, one Epsilon alumnus and two Rho alumni each held two-year terms as Grand President. During the remaining forty-two years, the Grand President was a Delta alumnus. This Convention elected Scott Everett, an Epsilon alumnus, to lead the Fraternity during the following biennium. Former Grand President Paul A. Lindner accepted the office of Grand Vice President to concentrate on expansion of the Fraternity. Executive Secretary Beals accepted appointment to a twelfth consecutive term in that office.

Following the precedent of four years earlier, the Supreme Council met on November 17 & 18, 1995, in Des Plaines, Illinois, to permit the new Council to have its plans in motion by January 1, 1996. In addition to reviewing the goals for the biennium, the Supreme Council established the new national offices of Deputy Province Councilor for Expansion, to assist the Grand Vice-President in expansion at the Province level. Upon reviewing the duties of all National Officers and noting the added duties of Circulation Manager as maintainer of the Fraternity's newly established World Wide Web site and on-line directory system, the Supreme Council voted to increase the non-itemized expenses for the Circulation Manager to $1,500 per year.

The growth of the Internet in the 1990's spawned dramatic improvements in communications at all levels within the Fraternity. By 1995, over half the National Officers and active Chapters had their own e-mail addresses and use of this medium was increasing rapidly. Sigma Phi Delta's World Wide Web site offered general information about the Fraternity to the world, and offered members a searchable, up-to-date online directory of home addresses, e-mail addresses and "home pages" of Sigma Phi Delta Brothers. The Web site and online directory system had its origins as an electronic bulletin board system, developed in 1992 by then Editor of the CASTLE, Edward A. Hurst.

1984-1989

The Supreme Council met in Chicago, Illinois, on March 22 and 23, 1985, to review the status of the Fraternity and to prepare for the Twenty-Sixth General Convention. Of concern was the virtual inactive status of Rho Chapter. Members of the Supreme Council met in Naperville, Illinois, with the two remaining Rho Chapter members and with Rho alumni on March 23, 1985. The attitude and the reputation of the Chapter on the Bradley campus were not conducive to rushing and pledging. The Western Province asked, and received, permission to raise its dues to $20.00 per year. Pi Chapter had retired the mortgages on its two houses in Daytona Beach, Florida, and scheduled a mortgage burning for early May 1985.

The Supreme Council met before the Twenty-Sixth General Convention on August 28, 1985. The Executive Secretary was authorized to add a hard disk to his computer equipment. The Fraternity purchased the computer equipment being used by Editor Vosecky to publish the CASTLE. The Executive Secretary's compensation was reviewed. It was decided that his salary would remain at one dollar ($1.00) per year but that he would be allowed $1600 per year, payable quarterly, for non-itemized expenses. The Supreme Council, concerned over the increasing use of alcohol at rushing functions, mandated a Dry Rush for Fall 1985 and following years. This was not well received by some of the Chapters who were substituting alcohol for effort in rushing.

Held in Vancouver, British Columbia, on August 29, 30 and 31, 1985, the Twenty-Sixth General Convention was the first in Vancouver since 1951. The Fraternity was faced with continuing low enrollments and problems the Chapters need to solve to remain viable. To assist the Chapters in their rushing functions, the Grand Vice-President assembled all the available chapter literature into a book, which was distributed to the undergraduate chapters for new ideas and proven solutions. This had been done in an earlier year by Eastern Province Councilor Don Nelson. The concept of Joint Province Conventions, to provide more inter-chapter contact, was explored, but nothing developed from the idea. Yielding to inflation and the demand for increased activity from the National Office, undergraduate dues were increased from sixty to eighty dollars per year and undergraduate initiation fees were increased from forty to sixty dollars per year. Incumbent Grand President William J. Reinert was elected to a third term of office; Executive Secretary Beals was appointed to a seventh consecutive term of Office.

The Supreme Council met in Mt. Prospect, Illinois, on April 5 and 6, 1986. The percentage scoring of the Scholarship Award was changed to 50% for grade point average; 30% for Fraternal involvement; and 20% for University and civic involvement. It was hoped that this would be an incentive to increased participation in fraternal activities. There were indications that Lambda Chapter was staging a comeback and plans were made to hold the Nineteenth Eastern Province Convention in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Board of Trustees voted to provide new light boxes to the undergraduate Chapters to replace the boxes, which had been in use, in some Chapters, since 1939. In most instances, the plastic of the Coat of Arms was cracking and the cost of preparation of the individually painted transparencies was prohibitive. The Executive Secretary contracted with the supplier of the original transparencies to prepare a screen-printed Coat of Arms.

Shortly after the Nineteenth Eastern Province Convention, Lambda Chapter decided that the engineering enrollment at the Indiana Institute of Technology was too small and too disinterested in fraternities to continue to operate. Lambda Chapter went inactive, officially, on February 1, 1986. Their last formal initiation had been the initiation of four members on December 7, 1985. Rho Chapter, which had gone inactive in 1985, requested reactivation and initiated four new members on November 22, 1986. Since that time the chapter has grown in size and activity.

The Supreme Council meeting on March 13 and 14, 1987, was one of the most active in recent years. Held in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, it signaled the beginning of a new era in Fraternity operations. At the same time, the Council became increasingly aware of the pitfalls and risks of being an officer of a volunteer organization. The use of chemical substances, particularly alcohol, in the Chapter Houses and at Chapter functions; the possibilities of activities approaching hazing in some of the Chapters; chapter house safety and hazards; new tax laws affecting not-for-profit organizations; the tendency for people to sue for little or no reason; etc., increased the legal and financial responsibilities of being an officer. The question of permitting inactive status in an undergraduate chapter was again raised. Should married undergraduates be exempted from fraternal obligations? Over the past several years, the Federal Discount Rate had sunk to a low five percent. Recognizing that loans to housing corporations under existing laws could be made only at extremely low returns, the Council accepted the recommendation of the Board of Trustees to set a lower limit of five percent (5%) on any housing loan to a corporation associated with a Fraternity undergraduate chapter.

Shortly before the Twenty-Seventh General Convention, the Winnipeg Alumni Chapter reported that it had sold the Xi Chapter House at 77 Spence Street in Winnipeg. The house was unsuitable for more than two or three persons to live in and was in need of considerable repairs. Concern was immediate over the continued viability of Xi Active Chapter without a house in which to meet.

The pre-Convention meeting of the Supreme Council on September 2, 1987, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, continued the activity begun in March. Minor changes were made in the Chapter Efficiency Contest to give more credit for expansion and special activities in the Chapter. The United States Internal Revenue Service had ruled that interest income from investments of the Board of Trustees and of the National Office was not business-related but were taxable. It was discovered that the Fraternity Scholarship Program had not been approved by the IRS and the interest income used for still taxable. There was, however, a legal "out". If the monies for the Scholarships were "set aside" in a separate account, which could be used for no other purpose, such monies were not taxable. Of course, the Trustees and the Supreme Council set up such a set aside Fund for 1987 and subsequent years.

Triangle Fraternity had approached the Executive Secretary during the summer concerning the possibility of a consolidation of national offices, and other functions, of the two fraternities. Triangle National President James Marshall and Executive Director Jack Sargent met with the Supreme Council to explore the possibilities. Triangle Fraternity had thirty-two undergraduate chapters and three colonies at the time of this meeting. It was the consensus of both groups that a committee be formed to consider the feasibility of such action. This would not constitute a merger but a consolidation of activities, with both fraternities retaining their names, Rituals, etc. Immediately prior to the Convention, a letter was received from the Theta Tau Fraternity suggesting a merger. It was decided that a merger was out of the question and the Theta Tau offer was summarily rejected.

As is required at the time of every General Convention, the Supreme Council reviewed the compensation of the Executive Secretary and the Circulation Manager of the CASTLE. The one-dollar ($1.00) annual salary was retained but the non-itemized expense allowance for the Executive Secretary was increased to $2000 per year and for the Circulation Manager to $800 per year, effective January 1, 1988.

The Supreme Council adopted a "Risk Reduction Policy" to provide guidance to the Chapters and officers in those areas were liabilities and risks were prevalent. The General Convention later adopted the Policy as well. More stringent regulations on the use of controlled substances, especially alcohol, were proposed and adopted by the Twenty-Seventh General Convention. The Executive Secretary indicated that he and the Secretary-Treasurer of the Board of Trustees were covered under a financial bond.

The Twenty-Seventh General Convention met in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on September 3, 4 and 5, 1987, with Eta Active Chapter as Host. Members of the Milwaukee Alumni Chapter had petitioned for re-charter and were represented at the Convention for the first time in over twenty years. The format of this Convention reflected the new ideas surfacing in the Fraternity. Seminars were held on Legal Liabilities, Career Networking, Expansion opportunities and Procedures, and Rush Activities. The possibility of a Resume Book and a Fraternity program to provide resume access to the members was broached. Plans were made for the continued growth and expansion in each of the areas in an effort to reverse the low membership, low number of chapters, and limited Fraternity recognition.

Since its inception, the Fraternity had required that active chapters pay undergraduate dues after the six-month period in which they were incurred and then on a prorated basis. The Convention adopted a totally different approach in that undergraduate dues, effective March 1, 1988, would be due in advance and there would be no prorating of dues. Undergraduate member dues were retained at eighty dollars per year, but the due dates were changed from November 1 and April 1 to October 1 and March 1 of each year. Undergraduate and alumni initiation fees were increased from sixty to eighty dollars plus the cost of a badge. The Convention again considered the inclusion of women in the Fraternity membership, noting that inasmuch as we are social as well as professional, we are exempt from the Federal requirement that we admit women. The Convention decided to retain our all-male membership. The possibility of expanding our membership to include computer science majors was considered. Inasmuch as it might be considered as changing our engineering identity, no decision was made.

The 27th General Convention elected George J. Flanders, Rho alumnus, to be the tenth Grand President of the Fraternity for the biennium 1988 - 1989. Brother Flanders was born in Bunker Hill, Indiana, on June 3, 1960. He was initiated by Rho Chapter on February 11, 1979, and graduated in 1980 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Bradley University. He later obtained an MBA from Bradley. George is the second Rho alumnus to be Grand President. As the elections ended, for the first time since 1950 there was not an elected member as a National Officer from Delta Chapter. The Supreme Council approved the appointment of Dr. Robert J. Beals to an eighth term as Executive Secretary.

The first Supreme Council meeting outside the greater Chicago area was held on February 10 and 11, 1989, at the home of Grand President Flanders in Aurora, Colorado. All members of the Supreme Council attended the meeting. A business plan for the Fraternity was adopted, but was never fully implemented during Grand President Flanders' tenure. It was announced that Xi Chapter now had quarters at 71 Mapleridge Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba. They had purchased a frame construction bungalow in a residential area. Details of continuing a Career Network position within the Fraternity were discussed, with Scott Morrison, Delta alumnus, as the principal contact for this job-search office. In light of the pending installation of Upsilon chapter in the Central Province, the Council recommended to the 28th General Convention a consideration of changing Province boundaries. If changed, this would be the first change since 1948.

The resignation of Eastern Province Councilor James C. Kwock on September 15, 1989, preceded the appointment of G. Mark Shaw, Delta alumnus, as Eastern Province Councilor.

In the spring of 1987, James P. Schleck, then Central Province Councilor, and Dan Neal, Eta Chapter's Expansion Chairman, visited the University of Wisconsin-Madison with the intent of starting a student group toward charter as a chapter of Sigma Phi Delta. In the fall of 1987, Andrew Cotter, brother-in-law to James Schleck, enrolled in engineering at Wisconsin-Madison. During its formative months, Eta Chapter nurtured the new colony.

On April 8, 1989, Grand President George J. Flanders installed Upsilon Chapter of Sigma Phi Delta on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Assisting with installation were Grand Vice-President James P. Schleck, former Grand President William J. Reinert, Central Province Councilor Donald J. Nelson, Executive Secretary Dr. Robert J. Beals, and members from Eta and Kappa Active Chapters. Ten men made up the charter membership of Upsilon Chapter. They were Andrew A. Burns, Andrew B. Cotter, Daniel M. Prommelt, James A. Martinson, Robert C. Mutchler, David J. Uselmann, Jeffrey D. Wolfe, Thomas E. Wuttke, Arthur R. Ziesemer and Daniel R. Zinky. Arthur R. Ziesemer was Charter Chief Engineer and Andrew A. Burns was Chapter Secretary.

Executive Secretary Beals drafted amendments to the Constitution and Statutory Code of the Fraternity, which would provide for colony status for groups interested in becoming chapters of the Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity. This more formal status of colony would provide better organizational structure, better recognition on the campus, and would provide a focus of activities on the campus. The General Convention, by mail ballot, approved the provisions on June 20, 1988, and they went into effect at that time. Members of a colony are not initiated members of Sigma Phi Delta but have the status of pledges of an undergraduate chapter.

The Twenty-Eighth General Convention was held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with Xi Active Chapter as Host, on August 31 and September 1 and 2, 1989. In a "first", the Convention elected former Grand President William J. Reinert, ninth president of the Fraternity, to be the eleventh Grand President for the biennium 1990 - 1991. The Convention planned for a Rush Seminar, at which all chapter rush chairmen would be expected to be present. This Seminar was planned by Central Province Councilor Donald J. Nelson and was held in Chicago, Illinois, on January 13 and 14, 1990. Realizing that the preponderance of Fraternity activities are financed in U.S. funds and that the Canadian member, while paying the same "face amount", was actually contributing about 80% to 85% support because of exchange rate, the Convention established that all dues, fees, jewelry items, supplies, etc. would be paid in U.S. currency or its equivalent. Jewelry and supplies had already been purchased under this provision. In another financial move, the Convention directed that a $50.00 registration fee be imposed on all chapter delegates to the Twenty-Ninth General Convention.

1974-1984

Recognizing the impact of inflation and the increase cost of all forms of service, the General Convention, by mail ballot on December 1, 1974, approved the increase in undergraduate initiation fees and National dues, to be effective on January 1, 1975. The initiation fee was increased to $30; the National dues were increased to $30 per annum payable in two installments on April 1 and November 1 of each year. Dues had last been increased in 1967.

The General Convention recalled Philip G. Robinson (Alpha) from the Office of Western Province Councilor, effective on June 1, 1975. This was the second known instance of removal of a member of the Supreme Council for failure to carry out the functions of his office. Interestingly, both incumbents had been Western Province Councilors. 

The Twenty-First General Convention was to have been co-Hosted by Alpha, Sigma and Tau Active Chapters. However, in the period between the Twentieth and Twenty-First General Conventions, Sigma Chapter had drifted into inactive status. No exact date can be fixed in that the Chapter stopped reporting; stopped communicating; and stopped functioning. A new Alumni Chapter was represented at this Convention, however, when the alumni associated with the Rho Active Chapter formed the Central Illinois Alumni (CIA) Chapter, which was chartered in Peoria, Illinois, on September 28, 1974. 

The Twenty-First General Convention convened in Los Angeles, California, in late August 1975, with Alpha Chapter as Host. In light of the increased activity of females in the engineering profession, the possibility of enlarging our Fraternity membership to include women was considered. It was pointed out that Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity had always been a social-professional fraternity of engineers and that the inclusion of women would not be in keeping with the social character of the Fraternity. It was noted that Tri-State College had become Tri-State University and that one or more engineering curricula had been accredited by the Engineers Council for Professional Development (E.C.P.D.). The Chapter Efficiency Contest, submitted for consideration in 1973 was approved for use by the Fraternity, effective on January 1, 1976. This was a vastly revised Contest with increased emphasis on chapter participation in preparation of the Report. Anticipating that the alumni of the Fraternity would want to help out in the current financial crunch, the Convention adopted the principle of an annual Alumni Solicitation for funds for specific purposes, for example, expansion, scholarship, publication of the CASTLE, help in student housing, or other general uses of the Fraternity. Later, retiring Grand President Kraatz was appointed the first Alumni Solicitation Coordinator. The Convention elected as the eight Grand President of the Fraternity Benjamin L. McCash (Delta). Ben was born on July 28, 1947, in Casey, Illinois. He was initiated by Delta Chapter on February 19, 1967, and graduated from the University of Illinois in 1959 with a degree in Agricultural Engineering. 

In December 1976, the National Little Sister Program as adopted by the Fraternity. A Convention of Little Sisters had been held in Angola, Indiana, on September 25, 1976, at the time of the Fourteenth Eastern Province Convention. This has been the only such Convention of Little Sisters held to date. 

Early in 1977, a group of undergraduate students at the University of California at Berkeley expressed interest in the reactivation of Nu Chapter on that campus. Grand President McCash and Grand Vice-President Richard N. Ziegler (Kappa) initiated five men into Nu Chapter on May 14, 1977, thereby reactivating the Chapter and ending the period of six years during which the Chapter was inactive. 

The Twenty-Second General Convention of the Fraternity was convened in Peoria, Illinois, in early September 1977, with Rho Active Chapter and Central Illinois Alumni Chapter as Hosts. Finances, as usual, played a large role in the discussions. Alumni Chapter annual dues were raised from $50 to $75 per annum, effective January 1, 1978. Active member (undergraduate) annual National dues were raised to $40 per annum, payable on April 2 and November 1at $20 per member. The Alumni Solicitation program was continued. The Convention expressed ts appreciation to Editor of the CASTLE Dale Hachtel (Rho) for his dedication and service to the Fraternity as Editor for the past six years. The Convention elected incumbent Grand President Benjamin L. McCash to a second term in that Office. 

One of the highlights of the Convention was the initiation as an Honorary member of the Fraternity Dr. Martin G. Abegg, President of Bradley University, on September 3, 1977. National Officers were the Ritual Team for the initiation. In recognition of his years of service to the Fraternity, the Convention named Dr. Robert J. Beals to succeed to the title long held by Grand Old Man Russell C. Smith, in the following resolution: 

"We, the members of the Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity, as represented in General Convention assembled, do resolve that BROTHER ROBERT J. BEALS has contributed for three decades to Sigma Phi Delta and as his contributions have been all but unique and are equivalent to those of BROTHER RUSSELL C. SMITH,

Therefore, it be further resolved that from this Convention onward, BROTHER ROBERT J. BEALS will bear the title formerly held by BROTHER RUSSELL C. SMITH and be known as "THE GRAND OLD MAN OF THE SIGMA PHI DELTA FRATERNITY."

Following the Convention, color photographs of the Fraternity jewelry were distributed to all undergraduate Chapters of the Fraternity. The Ninth Edition of the Manual of Procedure was distributed. The brochure "Pro Bono Professionis" and the booklet "What Fraternity?" were revised and reprinted.

In October 1977, the Professional Interfraternity Conference and the Professional Panhellenic Association merged into the Professional Fraternity Association. Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity continued to be a member of the new Association. 

To implement the programs under consideration and to begin the planning program for the biennium 1978-1979, the Supreme Council met at the home of Grand President Benjamin L. McCash in Burr Ridge, Illinois, on October 29 and 30, 1977. This was the third such meeting in the Fraternity's history, all having been held in Chicago suburbs. Former Editor Dale Hachtel was appointed Alumni Solicitations chairman for the biennium. The CASTLE was changed in format and method of printing. The Fraternity purchased an offset printing press and tried to print its own publications, the first issue of which appeared in the Winter 1977 CASTLE. Unfortunately, the press was limited in scope and ability, and this experiment was cancelled after about two issues. Plans were formulated for seminars to be held at the Fall 1978 Province Conventions on RUSH and CHAPTER FINANCIAL OPERATIONS. 

Even as the Fraternity rejoiced in the return of Nu Chapter from inactive to active status, Iota Active Chapter was having extreme difficulty in gaining members. The Chicago Technical College had concentrated its efforts on special and short courses rather than on degree-granting engineering programs. The College had never been granted E.C.P.D. recognition for any program. Accordingly, on March 15, 1976, the Supreme Council approved inactive status for Iota Chapter. The Iota Alumni Chapter continued to be active. The Iota Chapter house was sold on December 21, 1976. 

The fourth special meeting of the Supreme Council was held at the home of Grand President McCash in Burr Ridge, Illinois, on March 17 and 18, 1979. Plans for the Twenty-Third General Convention were formulated. The executive Secretary reported that, for the first time in Fraternity history, the National Office had opened a bank account in Canada, using the Assiniboine Credit Union, Ltd., in Winnipeg, Manitoba, as a repository for Canadian funds paid to the National Office. Travel reimbursement for National Officer travel had been seven cents per mile for many years. Effective at once, the reimbursement was raised to ten cents per mile. Interest on loans from the Board of Trustees to housing corporations of the Fraternity was increased from 6% to 10%. The Circulation Manager of the CASTLE's salary was increased from $50 to $200 per year, payable in four quarterly payments. 

The Twenty-Third General Convention of the Fraternity convened on August 30, 1979, at the Potowatomi Inn, Pokagon State Park, Angola, Indiana, with Kappa Active and Kappa Alumni Chapters as Hosts. During the meeting, the Supreme Council reviewed the salary of the Executive Secretary and raised the annual stipend from its 1969 level of $1,000 to $1,200 per year, payable in quarterly payments, and to be effective on January 1, 1980. There were strong indications that during the biennium between the Twenty-Second and Twenty-Third General Conventions, Nu Chapter had ceased to function. Failure to answer correspondence, a lack of formal initiations, the moving from the rented Chapter quarters all contributed to the inactivity of that Chapter. The Convention returned incumbent Grand President Benjamin L. McCash to a third term of office. 

The Supreme Council held a fifth special meeting on April 3 and 4, 1981, in Burr Ridge, Illinois. Plans for the Twenty-Fourth General Convention were approved. Plans for a Disney World professional visit were discussed, with hopes that the behind-the-scenes working of that Park would be viewed. The format for the Nominations for the Professional Achievement Award was approved. To better understand the effect of cost increases over the years, the following table summarizes the sales price for the Code #113, #1 crown pearl, ruby points and center Fraternity badges from 1965 to date: 

Year Beginning September 1 Badge Charge Chapter Sales Price 1965 - 1971 (gold) $15.64
$19.80 1972 - 1973 (gold) 20.00 25.00 1974 (Balclad) 23.75 30.00 1975 - 1976 (Balclad) 31.00 34.00 1977 - 1978 (Balclad) 34.10
37.50 1979 (Balclad) 38.20 42.00 1980 (Balclad) 51.55
57.00 1981 - 1983 61.90 68.00 1984 - 1990 64.95 71.50 1991 - 1995 71.43 75.00 1996 - 1997 75.60 83.00 1998 - 2001 78.80 86.75

The change was made from the gold badge to the Balclad, which was a gold plated badge, at the time of rapid increases in the price of gold. The rapid increase in 1980 was due to the large increase in the price of pearls and synthetic rubies.

The Twenty-Fourth General Convention of the Fraternity convened in Daytona Beach, Florida, on September 3, 1981, with Pi Active Chapter as Host. Interestingly, Pi Chapter was, at that time, in delinquent status for failure to pays its National and Province Dues and was unable to be represented at the Convention it had planned. Recognizing the impact of inflation and the increased costs of operating the Fraternity, the Convention increased undergraduate member dues from $40 per year to $60 per year; increased undergraduate initiation fees from $30 to $40; and increased alumni chapter dues from $75 to $100 per year. During past Conventions, the Fraternity Law had been changed with regard to the interest allowable on loans to housing corporations associated with the undergraduate chapters. To permit maximum flexibility and still control the interest rates, the Convention established the allowable interest rate to be "not higher than 2% below the U.S. Federal Discount Rate". The category of "Inactive Member", long suspected (but not proven) of being a haven for those who wanted to retain Fraternity membership but who did not wish to fulfill their fraternal obligations otherwise, was eliminated. This would preclude a student temporarily in financial or academic difficulties from lightening his loan and would require that undergraduate students remain totally committed or else resign from Fraternity membership. 

The Engineers Council for Professional Development (E.C.P.D.), which had been established in the early 1930's, was reorganized as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). E.C.P.D. was responsible for the accreditation of engineering programs at colleges and universities in the United States. ABET took over these functions after the reorganization. Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity, in an effort to assure itself and others that its member chapters and students were "Professional" had adopted the criteria that at least one program at a school or college must be E.C.P.D. (or ABET) accredited before a Chapter could be established at that school. Iota Chapter at Chicago Technical College and Lambda Chapter at Indiana Institute of Technology were the two chapters established on campuses, which lacked this recognition. Both were chartered before the criteria were established. 

The Convention elected as the ninth Grand President of the Fraternity another Delta alumnus, William J. Reinert. Bill was born on June 1, 1934, in Chicago, Illinois. He was initiated by Delta Chapter on November 19, 1955, and graduated from the University of Illinois in 1957 with a degree in General Engineering. He had a son, William T. Reinert, who was a member of Delta Chapter at this time. As had his two predecessors, Grand President Reinert appointed Dr. Robert J. Beals to be his Executive Secretary. With this appointment, Beals surpassed William M. Jermain, Jr., in total length of service in this Office. 

Following tradition, the Supreme Council held a special meeting on November 19 and 20, 1982, at the Grand President's home in Mt. Prospect, Illinois, to review the operations of the Fraternity and to plan for its future. The low level of membership in the undergraduate chapters and the apparent lack of results in pledging were of concern to the Council. Tau Chapter had become inactive. Effort had been made to contact the last-known officers and some of the Ritual paraphernalia and Chapter records were recovered. The last known contact with Tau Chapter members had been made by the Western Province Councilor in early 1982. 

At the Supreme Council meeting on August 31, 1983, immediately before the Twenty-Fifth General Convention, the Supreme Council established the salary of the Executive Secretary and the Circulation Manager of the CASTLE to be $1.00 per year, but that the Executive Secretary be allowed up to $300 per quarter for non-itemized expenses while the Circulation Manager would be allowed up to $50 per quarter for non-itemized expenses. The Supreme Council considered, for the third time in the Fraternity's history, a possible merger with the Theta Tau Fraternity. No decision was made as the matter was taken under investigation. The Fraternity entered the computer age when it authorized the Executive Secretary to purchase a word processor to assist in the operation of his Office. The CASTLE and the STAR had been on a computerized mailing list operated by one of the alumni, operating on his business computer, for several years. 

The Twenty-fifth General Convention was Hosted by Delta Active Chapter on September 1 - 3, 1983, in Urbana, Illinois. The continued low undergraduate chapter membership, the diminished number of Faculty Members, and the lack of productive expansion effort since the chartering of Tau Chapter in 1970, were major items of concern at this Convention. The chapters had initiated less than one hundred members per year for the past decade. Executive Secretary Beals served as President of the American Ceramic Society, the professional organization of over 11,000 ceramic engineers and scientists in the United States (and around the world) during 1982 - 1983. The convention elected incumbent Grand President William J. Reinert to a second term of Office. The four (out of nine) Grand Presidents who are alumni of Delta Chapter have led the Fraternity all but two years since 1950! The Supreme Council approved the reappointment of Executive Secretary Beals to a sixth two-year term. Though this Office had been intended to be more permanent than the elective Offices in the Fraternity, no other Executive Secretary had held the Office, since its inception in 1958, for more than two consecutive terms. 

Early in 1984, the Fraternity adopted a definitive statement on hazing. This definition is included in the Section "STATUS OF A PLEDGE" earlier in this Manual. With the increased number of women in programs in engineering, it was inevitable that the subject of women members in the Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity should arise once again. There had been general consensus that the social nature of the Fraternity precluded women members. There has been increased participation by women, both engineers and non-engineers, as Little Sisters in the Fraternity. 

Planning for the 1984 Province Conventions was accomplished at the now annual Supreme Council meeting in Mt. Prospect, Illinois, on March 30 and 31, 1984. The Board of Trustees of the Fraternity, in its January 14, 1984, meeting, had expressed interest in having some of its interest monies used as a Scholarship Fund for undergraduate members of the Fraternity. The Supreme Council decided that these scholarships should be around $500 per year per Chapter, with the purpose of the Fund being "to recognize outstanding 'active' members scholarship, fraternal, university and civic involvement". The evaluation would be babes: 60% on grade point average, 15% on fraternal involvement, 15% on university involvement, and 10% on civic involvement. The first scholarships were scheduled to be awarded on November 15, 1984, based on statistics from the 1983 - 1984 academic year. 

In an effort to make news from the Chapters and individual members more timely, the Supreme Council decided to experiment with the idea of eliminating, at least temporarily, the publication of the STAR and to change the format of the CASTLE from a 16 to 24 page, twice a year, publication to a quarterly six to eight page, timely, publication. The first of the new CASTLES was to be printed in the fall of 1984. The location of the Province boundaries, established in 1948, was reconsidered but there was no consensus for changing their location at this time. 

A bright spot on the horizon for the Fraternity, in this time of high costs and high interest, was the building by Kappa Active and Kappa Alumni Chapters of a new chapter house on the Tri-State University campus at Angola, Indiana. This was the first new chapter house in the Fraternity in several decades and the first completely new house known. The Chapter House was dedicated on October 13, 1984. In addition to the many actives and alumni of Kappa Chapter, Grand President Reinert and Executive Secretary Beals participated in the ceremonies. While the Fraternity was rejoicing with Kappa Chapter over its new house, the Lambda Chapter house forty miles away in Fort Wayne, Indiana, suffered heavy fire damage and the house was condemned by the City. The Chapter was in temporary living quarters and considerable concern was expressed about its viability. The Indiana Institute of Technology was not ABET-accredited and engineering enrollment was decreasing. 

The Sixth Edition of the Sigma Phi Delta Pledge Manual was distributed in the Fall of 1984. The third printing of the formal Ritual for Initiation was made in late 1986 and distributed at that time. There were a few minor changes, but the Ritual has remained essentially unchanged since its adoption in 1940. The Constitution and Statutory Code of the Fraternity were reprinted and redistributed. Changes were minor in nature. 

1968-1974

Grand President Beals became President of the Professional Interfraternity Conference in Chicago, Illinois, in Mach 1968, for a two-year term of Office. This is the first time that Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity had provided a President for the P.I.C.

Efforts of Grand Vice-President Michael J. Deuel (Eta) and Gene Irvin, expansion chairman of Alpha Active Chapter, were rewarded when a student group at California State College at Long Beach submitted a petition for charter as Sigma Chapter of the Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity. This Chapter was installed in ceremonies at the Alpha Chapter House on February 1, 1969, by Grand President Beals, Grand Vice-President Deuel and Western Province Councilor Kenneth Gielow (Nu), assisted by undergraduate and alumni members of Alpha and Nu Chapters. Twenty-four undergraduates and two Faculty Members, led by Charter Chief Engineer Dennis Lambert and Chapter Secretary Mike Maronta, were in the Charter Chapter. This was the second Chapter to be installed in the Alpha Chapter house, the first being Mu Chapter in 1951. 

The Eighteenth General Convention of the Fraternity was held in Chicago, Illinois, in late August 1969, with Iota Active and Iota Alumni Chapters as Hosts. The second Grand President's Trophy for Expansion was presented to Alpha Active Chapter at the Convention banquet on August 30, 1969, for the chartering of Sigma Active Chapter. Gene Irvin, so much responsible for the chartering of the Chapter, accepted the Award. A certificate of appreciation was presented to Brother Orville J. Banasik upon his retirement as Editor of the CASTLE. Brother Banasik, who was born on November 17, 1919, in Wales, North Dakota; initiated by Epsilon Chapter on January 19, 1947; graduated in Cereal Chemistry from North Dakota Agricultural College (later North Dakota State University); served the Fraternity as Central Province Councilor, Grand Vice-President and Editor of the CASTLE. He edited the First Edition of the Pledge Manual. 

A standardized format for Chapter By-Laws was adopted by the Convention. The Executive Secretary's salary was raised from $700 per year (where it had been since January 1, 1964) to $1,000 per annum, payable quarterly, and to be effective an January 1, 1970. The Executive Secretary took over keeping a current mailing list of Members and the responsibility for the distribution of the CASTLE and the STAR, thereby eliminating the necessity for a Circulation Manager of the CASTLE. Dr. Beals was elected to a tenth consecutive term as Grand President of the Fraternity. 

During February 1969, a group of sophomore students became interested in forming a fraternity for engineers at Loyola University of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. One of the students, Yim-Hei (Joe) Yeung, contacted various national fraternities in the hope of establishing a Chapter on that campus. Dr. Beals was contacted by Mr. Yeung and arranged, through Grand Vice-President Michael J. Deuel (Eta), for a meeting between Sigma Phi Delta and the Loyola group. May 11 saw the official formation of a Committee for Tau Chapter. By-Laws were drawn up and plans for a Petition for Charter were made. The submission of the petition was delayed because the Interfraternity conference and Student Affairs Committee had no guidelines for the chartering of a new fraternity. Continued support was received from Gene Irvin, Alpha active, and Mike Deuel. On February 25, 1970, petitions were submitted to the General Convention of Sigma Phi Delta for Charter as Tau Chapter. Twenty-five actives and two Faculty Members were installed as Tau Chapter at the Alpha Chapter House on April 11, 1970, with Grand President Beals, assisted by former Grand Vice-President Michael J. Deuel, Trustee Robert D. Malinowski, newly appointed Western Province Councilor Charles A. Freberg (Alpha) and actives from Alpha and Sigma Chapters. This was the third chapter to be installed in the quarters at 817 West Thirtieth Street in Los Angeles, the Alpha Chapter house. James L. Wolcott was Charter Chief Engineer and Patrick D. Garvey was Chapter Secretary. 

The fraternity situation on the Berkeley campus worsened as the fifty fraternities on the campus in the early 1960's decreased to twenty-three fraternities in 1970. Nu Chapter's membership continued to decline and, when the Tenth Western Province Convention was held in Berkeley in September 1970, only two active members remained in that Chapter. To all extents and purposes, Nu Chapter became inactive at that time and continued inactive until May 14, 1977, when five actives reactivated the Chapter. The San Francisco Bay Area Alumni Chapter requested permission, on May 1, 1971, to resume Alumni Association status. 

The Nineteenth General Convention of the Fraternity was held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in early September 1971, with Eta Active Chapter as Host. The third Grand President's Trophy for Expansion was presented to Alpha Chapter for the chartering of Tau Active Chapter, the second such award for Alpha Chapter. By action of this Convention, this Trophy will henceforth be known as the GILBERT H. DUNSTAN TROPHY FOR EXPANSION. Primary subjects for discussion at the Convention included low membership in the Chapters, low finances in the treasuries, and ways of improving both. The Fraternity Ritual was revised somewhat and was reprinted for the first time since its adoption and printing in July 1940. The new Ritual was distributed in October 1971. Merger with Theta Tau Fraternity was again considered, but the Delegates were not favorable to being absorbed by the larger organization. The Delegates presented a Certificate of Appreciation, signed by all the Delegates, to Dr. Beals for twenty years of service as Grand President of the Fraternity and also elected him to an eleventh term as Grand President. 

Grand President Robert J. Beals called the Twentieth General Convention of the Fraternity to order in Moorhead, Minnesota, on August 30, 1973, where Epsilon Active and Fargo Alumni Chapters were Hosts. This was to be the last Convention at which he would preside as Chairman in that he declined to accept further nomination to the Office of Grand President. In recognition of this long service, the Delegates voted to have a wood-mounted brass plaque engraved for presentation. The plaque reads: 

"The Twentieth General Convention of the Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity on this date, the thirty-first of August, Nineteen Hundred and Seventy-Three, unanimously extends its gratitude and appreciation to DR. ROBERT J. BEALS for his twenty-two consecutive years of dedicated and unfailing service performed in the Office of Grand President, and his continued efforts in the advancement of the Engineering Profession and the goals of the Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity."

Efforts were extended for the establishment of a Little Sister Program for the Fraternity, though no definitive action was taken to make the program a National program at this time. Membership requirements were changed in that, upon petition, a Chapter could initiate as Member a student enrolled in an accredited Engineering Technology program. It was also decided that the Chapter Chief Engineer did not have to be enrolled in an engineering program during his tenure, which had been a requirement for untold years. However, the Convention Delegate must be an engineering student during his incumbency. Recognizing the trends in finance, the Convention increased the allowable limit for interest on loans to undergraduate chapter associated housing corporations from 4 1/2% to 6%. A greatly revised Chapter Efficiency Contest was advocated. Because of opposition to format, the matter was referred to a later action by the Supreme Council. The revised Contest was used, together with the established format, for 1974. Plans were formulated for the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Fraternity's Founding on April 11, 1974. Gerald A. Kraatz (Rho), who was Charter Secretary of Rho Chapter and who had served as Grand Vice-President, was elected as the seventh Grand President of the Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity. Gerry was born on May 14, 1946, in Evanston, Illinois. He was initiated as a Charter Member of Rho Chapter on December 18, 1965. He graduated from Bradley University in Mechanical Engineering in 1968.

It had been anticipated by the Twentieth General Convention that incumbent Executive Secretary William M. Jermain, Jr. would accept appointment to a third term as Executive Secretary, the Office he had held, on two separate occasions, for a total of nine years. In addition to this Office, be had served the Fraternity as Grand Vice-President and Central Province Councilor. Bill had been initiated by Eta Chapter on February 10, 1952, in the first formal initiation attended by the newly-installed Grand President Beals. He graduated from Marquette University in June 1952 with a degree in Civil Engineering. Bill was born on February 21, 1928, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. When Jermain declined to accept appointment as Executive Secretary, the newly-elected Grand President Kraatz prevailed and former Grand President Robert J. Beals was appointed to the office of Executive Secretary, effective on January 1, 1974. 

1960-1968

The long-awaited Song Book, edited by Lyle D. Oleson, was made available to the membership in April 1960. This book combined Fraternity, school, religious, party and patriotic songs into one volume. The book is now out of print, but inasmuch as Fraternity singing seems to have gone out of style, it has not been reprinted.

The Fourteenth General Convention met on August 31 and September 1 and 2, 1961, at the Oak Park Arms Hotel, Oak Park, Illinois, with Delta Active and Delta Alumni Chapters as Hosts. This body extended to Brothers W. Robert McIlvenna and Lyle D. Oleson the gratitude of the Brotherhood for their efforts on its behalf. Suitably engrossed certificates were presented to these Brothers. Minor changes were made in the Statutory Code. The Office of Business Manager of the CASTLE was eliminated since, by recent practice, the Executive Secretary had been carrying out the functions of that office. The publication dates of the STAR were changed to the first of February, April and October. It was decided that Faculty and Honorary Members could be given any badge or key, reversing an earlier Law that only the key or pearl Bet badge could be used. A minor change was made in the Ritual for Formal Initiation, the first change since its adoption in 1940. Merger with the Theta Tau Fraternity, also a fraternity of engineers and a member of the Professional Interfraternity Conference, was considered by the Convention but was considered unwise.

As had the General Convention in Vancouver in 1951, the Fourteenth General Convention discussed, at length, the question of length of tenure of National Officers. It was the overwhelming consensus that no limit should be placed on the number of terms an officer could serve. The best man for the office, without regard to his length of service, should be elected to the office. At the same time, the Fraternity realized that, with the increased size of the organization and with the high degree of organization the Brotherhood enjoys, the more difficult it is for someone not familiar with the office to assume the responsibilities of a National Officer. Considerable thought was given to the establishment of a National officer Training Program. In post-Convention discussions and surveys, the consensus was that the best training for a National Office position is obtained while functioning as a Province Councilor. In this Office, the problems concerning the members are first faced and the awareness of the functions of National Office leadership is gained. The Convention elected the incumbent Grand President, Dr. Robert J. Beals, to a sixth term of office.

A first for the Fraternity occurred on March 2 and 3, 1963, when the entire Supreme Council met in a special session at the home of Grand President Beals in Naperville, Illinois. The Council considered expansion, alumni participation, forms and records, and other matters of concern to the Fraternity. A meeting was held with the National Officers of Triangle Fraternity with discussions centering on a possible merger between the two fraternities. The Seventh Edition of the Manual of Procedure was issued in early Fall of 1963. The Third Edition of the Pledge Manual was issued early in 1962.

Pi Chapter acquired a house at 503 NE 27th Street in Miami, Florida, on April 1, 1963. Delta Chapter moved from its long-time address (since 1946) in Urbana, Illinois, to a new chapter house in Champaign, Illinois, in July 1963.

The National Officer Training Program, adopted by the Fourteenth General Convention, was put into effect. Under this program, nominees for National and Province Offices receive copies of all correspondence to and from the incumbent and have a meeting or meetings with the incumbent, if this is geographically possible.

The Fifteenth General Convention was held in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in late August 1963, with Lambda Chapter as Host. At this Convention, the Supreme Council raised the salary of the Executive Secretary from $500 to $700 per annum, payable quarterly. The Convention adopted a resolution honoring Brother William M. Jermain, Jr. The Grand President had a suitably engrossed certificate prepared for presentation. The point scores of the Chapter Efficiency Contest were revised and the entire Contest was continued on a percentile rating. A Professional Achievement Award, to be presented to alumni of the Fraternity who have made an outstanding achievement or contribution to the field of engineering, was established.

The Fraternity celebrated its Fortieth Anniversary in 1964. Grand President Beals visited each of the Chapters of the Fraternity during the biennium. For the first time, a member of Sigma Phi Delta held an office on the Board of Directors of the Professional Interfraternity Conference when Robert J. Beals was elected to the Board of Directors at the Atlanta, Georgia, meeting in 1964. A second meeting of the Supreme Council was held in Naperville, Illinois, on April 3 and 4, 1965, to evaluate the Fraternity progress, to lay the groundwork for better expansion effort and to provide for the more efficient operation of the Fraternity.

In April 1965, the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Institute moved its campus from Miami to Daytona Beach, Florida. Pi Chapter moved with the School, making this the first Chapter to change geographical locations.

The General Convention recalled incumbent Province Councilor W. Robert McIlvenna for failure to carry out the functions and duties of his office on September 1, 1965. Brother McIlvenna was succeeded by John G. Ellis (Alpha) in the first known recall of a member of the Supreme Council.

The Sixteenth General Convention of the Fraternity was held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in early September 1965, with Xi Chapter as Host. Two new Alumni Chapters, Winnipeg Alumni and Twin City Alumni (Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota) were present at this Convention. Interest rates on loans from the Endowment Funds of the Fraternity to housing corporations associated with undergraduate chapters of the Fraternity were increased from the 1929 level of 3% to a rate of 4 1/2%. The Office of Historian of the Convention was added and the Editor of the CASTLE was given this office if he is in attendance at the Convention. The Convention made official a procedure for the granting of gifts or bequests from friends of the Fraternity to be used for furthering the objects of the Fraternity. A few, minor, changes were made in the Statutory Code, the first changes made in four years. The Laws of the Fraternity were changed to provide for an Official Directory, published in the CASTLE, every five years, beginning in December 1965. Elected to a seventh consecutive term was Grand President Robert J. Beals.

Early in 1965, James Ransom, Delta Active, approached the faculty at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, about the formation of a chapter of the Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity. On May 3, 1965, an interested group of fourteen students met with James Ransom, Ronald Davis and William Cocagne, all of Delta Chapter, for the purpose of establishing a Chapter. At a May 7 meeting, Eastern Province Councilor Robert D. Malinowski (Delta) met with 19 students and outlined the petitioning procedure. The group, on May 11, 1965, organized as Sigma Rho, a local engineering fraternity, for the purpose of petitioning the Bradley University for a Charter. Grand President Beals met with the group on May 24. Because of a delay in the granting of a Charter on the campus, the group was not able to petition for Charter as a Chapter of Sigma Phi Delta until late in 1965. On December 18, 1965, Grand President Beals, assisted by Executive Secretary Charles Peterson (Kappa) and Eastern Province Councilor Robert D. Malinowski, together with representatives of Delta, Kappa and Iota Chapters, installed Rho Chapter of Sigma Phi Delta on the Bradley Campus. Ten undergraduate and one Faculty Member were in the Charter Chapter. Charter Chief Engineer was Theodore W. Olsen and Chapter Secretary was Gerald A. Kraatz.

The chartering of Rho Chapter provided the first opportunity for the awarding of the Grand President's Trophy for Expansion. It was presented to Delta Chapter at the Seventeenth General Convention banquet in Los Angeles, California, on September 1, 1967.

Undergraduate member dues were raised by mail ballot vote of the General Convention in November 1966, from fifteen to twenty dollars per year. The increase became effective on April 1, 1967. At the same time, alumni chapter dues were increased from thirty to fifty dollars per year. This increase became effective on January 1, 1967. These represented the first National dues increases since 1953 although Province dues had been instituted in the interim.

Trademarks, in Canada, on the CASTLE (NS 43852), the Coat of Arms (NS 44034) and the name SIGMA PHI DELTA (NS 44033) as used on jewelry and similar items were renewed for a second fifteen-year period in August 1967.

The Seventeenth General Convention of the Fraternity met on August 30 and 31 and September 1, 1967, in Los Angeles, California, with Alpha Active and Los Angeles Alumni Chapters as Hosts. The Convention added a fifth section to the Chapter Efficiency Contest. This Section is the responsibility of the Editor of the CASTLE and recognizes the importance of the publications of our Fraternity. The Convention also affirmed that, effective January 1, 1968, the business managers and treasurers of all undergraduate and alumni chapters would be required to be bonded. A certificate recognizing his continued interest in and his contributions to the Fraternity was presented to former Executive Secretary and Eastern Province Councilor Charles E. Peterson (Kappa). All forms and records of the Fraternity were reviewed. In the next edition of the Manual of Procedure, specimen forms would be completely filled in to illustrate the proper method of submission. Grand President Beals had completed sixteen years in the Office, having been elected eight times.

1952-1960

Sweeping changes were made in the functioning of the Fraternity's National Office when new officers took over in 1952. The Ninth General Convention, meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, with Theta Active Chapter and Vancouver Alumni Chapter as Hosts, elected former-Eastern Province Councilor Robert J. Beals to be the sixth Grand President of the Fraternity. Former-Central Province Councilor John Gray as appointed to the office of General Manager. Steps were immediately taken to incorporate the Fraternity and on September 29, 1952, the Fraternity was at last incorporated under the Laws of the State of California. The incumbent Trustees, who had never functioned in their offices, were asked to resign and men interested in the Offices were appointed. For the first time in the Fraternity's history, the monies of the General and CASTLE Endowment Funds were turned over to the Board of Trustees by the General Manager, whose office had controlled the Funds since their establishment. The first known meeting of the Board of Trustees was held in June 1952 in Los Angeles.

Trademarks on the Fraternity insignia, which had been discussed for many years, were petitioned in the United States and in Canada. The original trademark on the letters on the badge had been granted on December 8, 1930, and was renewed on April 24, 1951. Additional trademarks on the Sigma Phi Delta CASTLE (No. 572,392) were granted on March 24, 1953, and on the Sigma Phi Delta Crest (No. 580,750) were granted on October 6, 1953. In Canada, slightly different trademarks were granted. The name "Sigma Phi Delta" was covered by Trade Mark No. 44033 on August 6, 1952; the Crest was covered by Trade Mark No. 44034 on the same date; and the CASTLE was protected under Trade Mark No. 43852 on October 16, 1952. The National officers, including the members of the Supreme Council, General Manager and the Board of Trustees, were bonded under a blanket bond of $10,000. The annual, permanently awarded, Efficiency Contest plaque was made up to replace the formerly used rotating trophy, and was awarded to those chapters winning the Contest since its reinstitution. By-Laws from the Active and Alumni Chapters were forthcoming and the Alumni Chapters, most of whom had been operating for years without Charter, were made official Chapters of the Fraternity. 

In the Fall of 1951, six seniors from Mu Chapter (UCLA) transferred to the campus of the University of California at Berkeley. Carrying with them the ideals of Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity, they went about forming the nucleus of a Chapter on that campus. The men, Mal Walden, Dick Frankian, Roger Schaefer, Bob Spracklen, Dan Vrooman and Dick Harris, were assisted by Western Province Councilor John G. Ellis and Professor Harold B. Gotaas, an alumnus of Beta Chapter, then on the Faculty of the University of California at Berkeley. Twelve charter members were initiated as Nu Chapter of Sigma Phi Delta on December 6, 1952, by Grand President Robert J. Beals, Western Province Councilor John G. Ellis, and Professor David M. Wilson of the University of Southern California. Charter Chief Engineer of Nu Chapter was William R. Nichol and Chapter Secretary was Richard L. Burnell. 

John G. Ellis, staunch advocate of the Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity on the West Coast, was initiated as a member of Alpha Chapter on February 14, 1930. He graduated in 1931 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. He was born in El Dorado, Kansas, on October 24, 1906, and died at his home in Vallejo, California, on January 11, 1977. He served the Fraternity officially as Western Province Councilor, Grand Vice-President and Member of the Board of Trustees. He served unofficially as mentor and example for generation of undergraduate members at Alpha, Theta, Mu and Nu Chapters. 

Interest in the formation of a Chapter of Sigma Phi Delta at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg was created by a letter from Grand Vice-President Albert G. Shore (Theta) to the Dean of Engineering at the University of Manitoba. The matter was turned over to the Student Council who took no action. However, two of the Council members were engineers and they were sufficiently interested to write to Brother Shore for more information. These men were Barry F. Murphy and Barry J. Ferries, who were to be the Charter Chief Engineer and Chapter Secretary, respectively, when, with the assistance of Epsilon Chapter, fifteen men became sufficiently interested to be installed as Xi Chapter of Sigma Phi Delta by Grand President Robert J. Beals and Central Province Councilor Orville J. Banasik (Epsilon) on May 2, 1953. 

The first Western Province Convention had been held in Los Angeles, California, on September 20 and 21, 1952. At this time, the Fraternity initiated as an Honorary Member A. Burton Metzger, who was born in New York, New York, on June 10, 1896. He graduated in Electrical Engineering from Pratt Institute in 1915. At the time of his initiation, he was Safety Engineer for the Sandia Corporation, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and was the first Honorary Member to be initiated since the War. 

The Tenth General Convention met at Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, in September 1953. The design for the Grand President's Key, representing the Fraternity symbol, the Castle, was adopted and the key was later struck and presented to each of the Chief Executives of the Fraternity. The Convention officially conferred upon Russell C. Smith the title and the honor of "Grand Old Man of Sigma Phi Delta", which title he wore proudly and with honor until his death on November 23, 1975, in Florida. The Manual of Procedure, the Pledge Manual and the Song Book were taken from the hands of the individual chapters and assigned to National officers for completion. As a result, the Pledge Manual, which had been discussed for many years, was ready for distribution by November 1, 1953, having been edited by Central Province Councilor Orville J. Banasik (Epsilon). The Manual of Procedure, assigned to General Manager John Gray, was distributed on April 1, 1954. Slight changes were made in the Pledging Ritual. The Efficiency Contest was altered from its long-standing format to provide better representation to the individual chapters. For the first time, individual National Officers, as well as the undergraduate chapters, filled out certain portions of Contest. 

A Nominating Committee for National Officers, composed of the Province Councilors, was established by the Eleventh General Convention when it met in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in September 1955, with Eta Chapter as Host. One of the outstanding features of this Convention was the initiation of two Honorary Members during the proceedings. The National Officers acted as the Ritual team to initiate Harold John Holmquest, who had a son as an undergraduate member of Delta Chapter at the time, and Robert G. Johnson. John Cody Holmquest, the son, had been initiated by Delta Chapter on February 27, 1955. This family became one of the first Third Generation Families of Sigma Phi Delta when John Cody Holmquest, Jr., was initiated by Delta Chapter on January 29, 1978. There were no further initiations of Honorary Members into the Fraternity until 1977. 

During the Twelfth General Convention at Hamilton Lake, Indiana, in September 1957, with Kappa Active and Alumni Chapters as Hosts, the form of Fraternity government was changed. The Office of General Manager was abolished and the Office of Executive Secretary was created. The method of selection of the Executive Secretary was the same as that for the General Manager, appointed by the Grand President with Supreme Council approval. However, the Executive Secretary became an ex-officio member of the Supreme Council and of Board of Trustees. His salary was left to the discretion of the Supreme Council, who set it at $500 per year, payable quarterly. John Gray, in serving as the last General Manager, was surpassed in length of service only by Russell C. Smith. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on December 22, 1918. He graduated from Chicago Technical College in 1948 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. For a brief period in 1948, John was both Chief Engineer of Iota Chapter and Central Province Councilor. Joseph F. Bowers, the incumbent Eastern Province Councilor, was appointed as the first Executive Secretary of the Fraternity. He had been initiated by Lambda Chapter on October 6, 1955, and graduated from Indiana Technical College in 1956 with a degree in Radio Electronics. He was born on March 15, 1924, in Boynton, Pennsylvania. The Convention elected incumbent Grand President Robert J. Beals to a third term of Office. 

Most extensive changes were made in the Constitution and Statutory Code at this Convention. Where previous Conventions had made alterations and word changes, this Convention took apart the Fraternity Laws and rearranged, edited, and deleted to give a completely new look to these Laws. Only minor changes have been made in the Laws since that time. A Ritual for the Installation of Chapter Officers was adopted. The Office of Chapter Councilor was removed as Deputy Province Councilor, though the Chapter Councilor remained as a member of the Province Convention. 

On April 20, 1957, the first organizational meeting of the Sigma Phi Engineering Group was held at the home of Lyle D. Oleson (Charter Chief Engineer of Kappa Chapter), now Editor of the CASTLE, in East Lansing, Michigan, where he was a graduate student and a member of the engineering faculty. Seven undergraduates attended this first meeting. By the Fall of 1957, this group had grown to twenty-five members and petitioned for acceptance by the Michigan State University. The University decided to postpone approval of any further social fraternities on the campus. However, professional fraternities without a house were permitted. Accordingly, the group petitioned as a professional fraternity and were accepted by the University. This cleared the way for them to petition for Charter as a Chapter of the Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity. They were installed as Omicron Chapter by Grand President Beals on May 3, 1958, with twenty undergraduate and one Faculty Member. Probably more National Officers were present for this installation than at any other Chapter installation. Grand President Robert J. Beals, Executive Secretary Joseph F. Bowers, Editor of the CASTLE Lyle D. Oleson, Eastern Province Councilor Marion B. Stults (Lambda) and Central Province Councilor William M. Jermain, Jr., (Eta) acted as the installation Ritual team. Schuyler D. Rogers was Charter Chief Engineer and Gerald W. Trabbic was Chapter Secretary. 

The Twelfth General Convention felt the need for a commemorative plaque on the campus of the University of Southern California. On April 11, 1959, on the Thirty-Fifth Anniversary of the Founding of the Fraternity, Grand President Beals dedicated a brass plaque, which was mounted at ground level in concrete, on the USC campus. This plaque is at the corner near the site of the founding of the Fraternity. Present for the dedication was C. J. Robinson, first president of the Fraternity, as well as several members from Alpha and Nu Chapters. This plaque states, simply: "SIGMA PHI DELTA, An International Social Fraternity of Engineers, was founded on this site, April 11, 1924". 

The Thirteenth General Convention was held at the Alumni House on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley, California, on September 3 - 5, 1959, with Nu Chapter as Host. The Supreme Council reported on the establishment of the Grand President's Trophy, to be awarded to any Chapter that has made a significant contribution toward establishing a new Undergraduate Chapter. The design of the Trophy is a wooden arch, 15 inches high, mounted on a wooden base which supports a male figure, Grecian, holding bolts of electricity. On the arch is a brass plate with the wording: 

SIGMA PHI DELTA FRATERNITY
Grand President's Award for Expansion
Presented to
ACTIVE CHAPTER
YEAR

This Convention honored Brothers Joseph Bowers, John Ellis, John Gray and C. J. Robinson for their contributions to the Fraternity. The Grand President had made suitable certificates for presentation to the individuals. The Fraternity had long considered designs for the Fraternity flag. The Convention adopted the design shown elsewhere in this Manual, to be the Official flag of the Fraternity. The flag was designed by Grand President Beals. A Chapter jewelry display, in the form of a color photograph of the official jewelry, was supplied to each active chapter to assist them in their rushing. The Fraternity voted to invest a large portion of its monies so that they could be profit-making. This Convention made no changes in the Constitution and Statutory Code, which had been printed after the extensive revision by the previous Convention. One of the saddening features of this Convention was the news that Mu Chapter had become inactive due to a lack of membership. A Ritual for the Installation of Officers, which had been adopted by the Twelfth General Convention, was reaffirmed by the Thirteenth.

In being elected to a fifth consecutive term of office as Grand President, Robert J. Beals became the first Chief Executive to be elected to more than four terms, a record then held by William A. Rundquist, who served as Grand President for a total of sixteen years. Robert J. Beals was born in Decatur, Illinois, on November 12, 1923, and was initiated by Delta Chapter on February 14, 1943, in Urbana, Illinois. He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1947 with the baccalaureate degree in Chemical Engineering. Later, in 1950, he received the Master of Science Degree in Ceramic Engineering and, in 1955, the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Ceramic Engineering, both from the University of Illinois.

Early in the summer of 1960, correspondence between Larry Rowley, representing a group of students at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Institute in Miami, Florida, and the Grand President, was begun. On September 10, 1960, Grand President Beals and Executive Secretary William M. Jermain, Jr., installed Pi Chapter at that School. The well-laid installation plans were blown awry by the fury of Hurricane Donna, but fifteen charter members were initiated. A group of five officers, including charter Chief Engineer Larry C. Rowley and Chapter Secretary Robert J. Liddiard, had been initiated on the previous evening so that they could participate in the installation of the remainder of the Chapter or could conduct the final initiations if the National Officers could not stay because of the hurricane. Seldom has a Chapter had its beginnings under such stormy conditions. 

1939-1952

The Sixth General Convention met in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1939, with Epsilon Active and Minneapolis Alumni Chapters as Hosts. The Usual problems, problems that come up before every Convention, were discussed. The Ritual was reviewed and slight changes were made to conform more closely to the new Crest. The Chapters were presented with charter Certificates, signed by the Grand President and General Manager. The long-awaited song book was distributed at this time and the members introduced to the songs. In electing two members to the Board of Trustees, the Convention violated the Constitution by electing Brothers Strong and Ingbretson, both former Epsilon members (as was the Grand President) and none were resident in California where the Fraternity was supposedly chartered. (Not more than two members of the Board can be alumni of the same undergraduate chapter and two must be resident in California.) It is interesting to note, in reading the Minutes of the Sixth General Convention, that a colony had been organized on the University of California Campus at Berkeley, and "is only waiting sufficient numerical strength before petitioning us to for permission to affiliate with Sigma Phi Delta". This was to be the last General Convention of the Fraternity until after the troubled years of World War II.

The years of World War II saw most of the members inducted into the armed forces, the chapter houses vacant or rented to private sources or to the armed forces for use as dormitories, and the National officers occupied by other matters to the exclusion of the Fraternity. The Grand President, Brother Rundquist, was on active duty in the U. S. Army. The only National Officer who functioned during all of these trying years was the General Manager, Russell C. Smith. His interest in the welfare of the organization probably did more to keep the Fraternity in operation than any other single factor. Russ, as all of his friends called him, had been appointed General Manager in late 1933 or early 1934. There were indications of "money trouble" in the Fraternity, as alluded to earlier in this history. Russ was born on November 21, 1905, in Madison, Illinois. He was initiated in to Delta Chapter on April 19, 1929. He graduated in Mechanical Engineering in 1929 from the University of Illinois.

Once the members were released from military service following the War, chapter houses were reclaimed and a drive undertaken to build up the small memberships. When the call for expansion came from the National Office, Brother LeRoy Horpedahl (Epsilon), then serving on the faculty at Tri-State college, Angola, Indiana, saw the need for an engineering fraternity on that campus and proposed the establishment of a Sigma Phi Delta chapter. On February 5, 1947, his ideas were presented to a small group of students. Each student resolved to bring a friend to the next meeting. By February 19, 1947, the group had grown to thirty-five members. On May 25, 1947, thirty-nine undergraduates were installed as Kappa Chapter of Sigma Phi Delta, our first post-War Chapter. The installation team included General Manager Smith and Brother Horpedahl. Charter Chief Engineer of Kappa Chapter was Lyle D. Oleson; Chapter Secretary was Arthur J. Hanna.

This new Chapter sparked the Seventh General Convention as it met during the first four days of January, 1948, in Chicago, Illinois. After a lapse of eight years, the National organization needed considerable attention. Sweeping changes were made in the Constitution and Statutory Code of the Fraternity. The neverused Supreme Court was abolished and the judicial powers given to the General Convention, the Supreme Council and the individual active chapters. The Editor of the CASTLE was once again made an elective office and the Editor was returned to a position on the Supreme Council. Funds for the publication of the CASTLE and the STAR were reviewed. The STAR was returned to the editorship of the Grand President. Initiation fees were raised from $16.00 to $25.00 for an undergraduate member. The Class of membership of Associate Member was once again deleted. The position of Chapter Councilor was created to provide more continuity to the chapter. It was also hoped that this Office would take some of the burden off the National Officers. The Chapter Councilor was made Deputy Province Councilor and was given the right to approve initiation requests. He was made a member of the Province Convention of the Active Chapter he represented.

The Provinces were reorganized along north-south boundaries into the Western, Central and Eastern Provinces, dividing the United States and Canada roughly into thirds. Kappa Chapter was the lone Chapter in the Eastern Province. Vancouver Alumni Chapter petitioned for Charter. Work was continued on a Fraternity flag, the original design for which had been submitted by the Fourth General Convention. The Convention Minutes do not specify the design for this flag.

A Fraternity grateful for the work in chartering the first post-War Chapter elected as Grand President LeRoy C. Horpedahl (Epsilon). LeRoy was born in Glyndon, Minnesota, on April 13, 1924. He was initiated by Epsilon Chapter on March 28, 1943. He graduated from North Dakota State University (then North Dakota Agricultural College) in 1946 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He was later to serve a term as Grand Vice-President of the Fraternity. The extensive changes made in the Constitution and Statutory Code by this Convention were submitted to the individual Chapters for consideration, review and approval. The new Laws of the Fraternity were approved by the Chapters on November 1, 1948, and went into affect at that time.

The elimination of the racial and religious restrictive clause from our constitution was the most far-reaching change in the Fraternity Laws made during the Eighth General Convention in Los Angeles, California, in September 1949. Prior to this time, membership in Sigma Phi Delta had been restricted to Christian Caucasians and North American Indians. It was brought to the attention of the Convention that there were other organizations bearing the name Sigma Phi Delta and that our Fraternity had no legal claim to the name or the insignia. Only the badge design had been copyrighted. The banner, 61 x 61, of black felt, with the Fraternity Crest, the name "Sigma Phi Delta" and the Chapter designation, was adopted. Every Chapter was required to purchase this banner, with the National Office paying half the cost of the banner. Plans for a Pledge Manual, a Manual of Procedure, a Song Book and a Fraternity Flag were again discussed. It was brought out that the Fraternity was not incorporated in the State of California, or anywhere else, as had long been reported. "Temporarily", Province boundaries between the Central and Eastern Provinces, which went along the Illinois-Indiana borders, were "looped" so that Delta Active Chapter in Urbana, Illinois, was included in the Eastern Province to strengthen that organization. They were to remain this way until 1990.

This General Convention helped Brother Russell C. Smith to realize his highest Fraternity ambition when it elected him to be fifth Grand President of the Fraternity. He had served since 1934 as General Manager under two Grand Presidents. Coming into National prominence at this time also were John Gray (Iota) and John G. Ellis (Alpha), both of whom gave many years of dedication to the Fraternity.

On June 1, 1950, the idea of the formation of a new fraternity was presented by Vernon J. Basore to a group of students at Indiana Technical College in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The work started was halted, however, when Basore and his co-workers, Roger Fitzgerald and Richard Fischer were recalled to active duty in the armed forces of the United States. When, in the Fall of 1950, Basore returned to that campus, a local group calling themselves the Indiana Technical College Engineering Fraternity, was established. On March 11, 1951, a representative from Sigma Phi Delta, Central Province Councilor John Gray, met with the group and a petition for Charter as Lambda Chapter was submitted to the General Convention on March 18, 1951. Thirty-two members, including one Faculty Member, were installed by Grand President Russell C. Smith, Central Province Councilor John Gray, and Eastern Province Councilor Robert J. Beals (Delta) on May 11, 1951. Charter Chief Engineer Vernon J. Basore and Chapter Secretary Donald L. Grise led the new Chapter.

On the opposite side of the country, plans were being made for another Chapter. Ken Jonas and Richard Frankian of the University of California at Los Angeles, Santa Monica, California, were contacted by Bill Fowler and Ray Ericksen of Alpha Chapter. The organization was continued and a group of twelve men were initiated into the local organization at the Alpha Chapter house on the USC campus on April 6, 1951. This local group petitioned for Charter as Mu Chapter of Sigma Phi Delta, and was installed in the Alpha Chapter house on the USC campus on July 14, 1951, by Grand President Smith and Western Province Councilor John G. Ellis, now on the faculty of the California Maritime Academy near Vallejo, California. Twenty men were initiated, led by Charter Chief Engineer Kenneth L. Jonas and Chapter Secretary Alvin B. Smee.

Although the Constitution had long provided for Province Conventions and for other Province activities, there had been no effort to provide any such activities within the Fraternity. Central Province Councilor John Gray and Eastern Province Councilor Robert J. Beals organized their respective Provinces and held the first Province Conventions on September 9 and 10, 1950, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and on December 2 and 3, 1950, in Urbana, Illinois, respectively. The first Western Province Convention was not held until two years later.

1931-1939

Sigma Phi had its inception in 1919, when a group of students in the College of Applied Science and Engineering at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, decided to discuss the organization of an engineering fraternity. The group adopted a badge, a Ritual and all other organization necessary for operation. In the Fall of 1927, to avoid conflict with Sigma Phi, a general fraternity, the group changed its name to Omega Sigma Phi. Grand President Maurice Nelles installed this group as Eta Chapter of Sigma Phi Delta on May 23, 1931. Fifty-four members (39 active, 11 alumni and 4 faculty members) were initiated at this ceremony. William J. Urban was Charter Chief Engineer; John J. Dunphy was Chapter Secretary.

Epsilon Chapter acted as Host to the Third General Convention in Fargo, North Dakota, on September 1 and 2, 1931. This Convention attempted to give the Province Councilors more power in the Fraternity. To enhance the position of an Honorary Member, it was decided that Honorary membership would be conferred by the General Convention. The Editor of the CASTLE replaced the Member-at-Large as a member of the Supreme Council. The Constitution and the Statutory Code were revised. The Statutory Code had been established by order of the Second General Convention. It is interesting to note that no further changes were made in the Laws of the Fraternity until the overall revision of the Fraternity in 1948. Elected as third Grand President of the Fraternity was Epsilon Chapter's Charter Chief Engineer, William A. Rundquist.

Early in 1929, Jack Cummings and Frank Gordon discussed the Possibility of forming a local social engineering fraternity on the campus of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia. They interested several others and the first meeting of Tau Lambda Fraternity was held on February 21, 1929. An official badge was adopted and the fraternity completely organized. Through the efforts of A. Dacre Scott, Alpha alumnus, this fraternity contacted Sigma Phi Delta and petitioned for Charter. On April 24, 1932, twenty-four active and one Honorary Member were installed as Theta Chapter of Sigma Phi Delta by Walter E. Nelson (Epsilon), General Manager of the Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity, and A. Dacre Scott. Arthur J. Saunders, as Charter chapter President, and William L. Cunningham, as Chapter Secretary, lead the Chapter that made the Sigma Phi Delta international in scope.

Gamma Chapter experienced financial and pledging difficulties and on January 1, 1932, was granted permission by the Supreme Council to become inactive. A New York Alumni Chapter was established late in 1930 or early in 1931. Delta Alumni Chapter was organized in Chicago, Illinois, and was chartered on May 16, 1930.

In 1932, the Fraternity adopted an Efficiency Contest, modeled along the lines of the Contests of other fraternities. Provided were sections for a professional program; for fraternity, professional, or civic research; for service to the school of Engineering; for chapter scholarship; for individual scholarship; and for chapter history. This contest was adopted and remained in effect, without change, until 1953. A large bronze plaque was awarded to the Chapter winning the annual contest. If awarded to one chapter three times, the plaque became the permanent possession of that Chapter. Alpha and Epsilon Chapters were so honored. Plans were set up for a Manual of Procedure and a Pledge Manual to assist the Chapters in their operation. The first Manual of Procedure for the Fraternity had been edited in 1927 by Gilbert H. Dunstan, as was the second edition.

In an apparent economy move, the Engineering College of the University of South Dakota at Vermillion was continued with the consolidation of the Engineering Schools of South Dakota and the School of Mines and State College, Brookings. With the consolidation, the Charter of Beta Chapter of Sigma Phi Delta was recalled by the Fraternity late in 1934 and Beta Chapter became in-active. The new school did not permit fraternities.

The Fourth General Convention, meeting in Urbana, Illinois, in 1933, with Delta Chapter as Host, made few changes in the organization of the Fraternity. The two Provinces, Northern and Southern, were expanded to three: Northern, Southern and Western, adding one more Province Councilor to the Supreme Council. Probably the most outstanding and far-reaching decision was made in the revision of the Fraternity Crest, or coat-of-arms. The business portion of this Convention was held in Urbana, Illinois. The Convention recessed to Chicago, Illinois, on Saturday for attendance at the World's Fair and for the Convention Dinner Dance. This appears to be the only General Convention held in two different cities.

The question of a Crest revision had been brought up at almost every Convention. The Crest adopted in the very early days of the Fraternity did not conform to the Laws of Heraldry. The design, which had been submitted to the Third General Convention, was considered to be too dead and lifeless, as well as too complicated. A Committee, composed of E. Fuhrmann (Zeta) and Murvan M. Maxwell (Zeta) drew up a revised Crest in April 1934. The Fourth General Convention ruled that the undergraduate members must wear the official badge, which was at that time reduced in size somewhat from the previous badge. Its size has not changed since this Convention. There was considerable opposition to allowing only the chased border badge since it was felt that the pearls were there to represent the original charter Members of the Fraternity. This action (of only the official badge) was reversed by a later Convention due to the continued violation, which this Law experienced. The Convention attempted to provide a Nominating Committee for National Officers, but there was too much opposition to this idea.

The Fourth General Convention elected to a second term of office as Grand President the Brother who had been Epsilon Chapter's Charter Chief Engineer, William A. Rundquist. Bill was born on January 3, 1906, in Billings, Montana. He graduated from North Dakota State College (then North Dakota Agricultural College) in 1929 as a Mechanical Engineer.

In 1909, a group of young men wished to bind themselves together not by the bond of casual friendship but with the ties of good fellowship and brotherly love, and so organized the first fraternity at the Chicago Technical College, Chicago, Illinois, to be known as Sigma Beta Epsilon. Through the efforts of A. A. Wells (Delta) and Russell C. Smith (Delta), General Manager of the Fraternity, a petition for Charter was submitted to the General Convention in December 1934. Because of its college location, there was some difficulty in interpretation of the Constitution and Statutory Code. It was finally decided that the prospective Chapter fulfilled the requirements of being at a "technical school of recognized standing, offering at least a four year course leading to a degree in one or more recognized branches of engineering". On October 1, 1935, nine undergraduate and two faculty members were initiated as Iota Chapter of Sigma Phi Delta. Installing officers were Cornelius E. Hogeboom, Northern Province Councilor; A. A. Wells, Grand Vice President; Russell C. Smith, General Manager; and Brothers E. Horning, G. W. Brown, R. L. Gougler and D. R. Groff, Delta alumni. Charter Chief Engineer was Peter M . Roumeliotis; Chapter Secretary was Russell H. Hanson. An interesting sidelight is the fact that when Russell C. Smith was appointed General Manager of the Fraternity in 1934 to succeed Walter E. Nelson, the entire National Office treasury consisted of around thirty-eight dollars.

Almost at the same time that the Fraternity gained Iota Chapter, it lost Zeta Chapter. In October 1935, due to financial and pledging difficulties, Zeta Chapter requested permission to go inactive. Due to poor chapter management and the Great Depression, Delta Chapter became inactive in 1934. This was to be the first Chapter to become inactive and to regain continued active status. On February 26, 1939, ten alumni and one Faculty Member of the former active chapter initiated six undergraduate members to reactivate Delta Chapter on the University of Illinois campus in Urbana, Illinois.

The Fifth General Convention, meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1936 with Eta Chapter as Host, adopted the Crest, which had been designed by Brothers Maxwell and Fuhrmann. The Ritual was revised to conform to the new Crest. D. J. McLaurin (Theta) drew up the revision in the Ritual. The Convention removed the Office of Editor of the CASTLE from membership on the Supreme Council and reinstated the Member-at-Large as a Council member. The Class of membership of Associate Member was reinstated. The Editor of the CASTLE was made an appointive office, handled similar to that of the General Manager. The Convention made plans for a song book and instructed that it be ready for the following Convention. Elected to a precedent-setting third term was Grand President William A. Rundquist.

1923-1931

In the Fall of 1923, a group of engineering students at the University of Southern California considered the idea of forming an engineering fraternity. The idea was considered and temporarily discarded due to the unsuccessful previous attempts. In the Spring of 1924, however, the group met to formulate their ideas into action. The first meeting of this group was held at the University YMCA, commonly called "The Red Barn" or "The Barn". For many years there has been confusion as to the exact date of the first meeting. From a recently discovered "Minute Book", the date of this first meeting was found to be on April 2, 1924. This Minute Book, a student composition pad, consists of the record of the activities of this student group for the first year of its life.

The Minutes of this first meeting are here recorded exactly as written for the interest they may have: 

April 2, 1924

Meeting called to order by C. J. Robinson, acting president. The object of forming a national professional engineering fraternity was discussed. It was decided that there would be no necessity for having a house

Plans were discussed for forming a local fraternity. Committees were formed to draw up the constitution and bylaw. Those named were: Payne, Black, Collins, Severence, Kahlert, Robinson and Wells.

The next subject in order was that of pins, a committee was chosen composed of Young, Foster, Clare, Black, these working in conjunction with the officers. This committee was also to work on the name of the fraternity.

The meeting was ajorned (sic) until Friday April 11, at 12:00 sharp.

Charles Kahlert acted as Secretary at this meeting at which C. J. Robinson presided as president. Albert B. Collins was chairman of the constitution and by-laws committee. As near as can be determined, the men present at this meeting were C. J. Robinson, Earl C. Payne, Archie Black, Albert B. Collins, W. Severns, Charles G. Kahlert, Addison E. Wells, C. J. Young, H. B. Foster, Monte Clare, George Shindler, H. B. Wilcox and Charles Fuller.

April 11, 1924, is considered to be the founding date of the Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity. At the meeting on this date, the discussion centered on the name for this new fraternity. First considered was Psi Delta Sigma, but this was rejected because of conflict with the name of another fraternity. Discussion on the name was then deferred until the meeting of April 21, 1924. The group adopted a constitution and by-laws and voted to increase the number of the charter membership to twenty. Actually, the eighteen men listed in this history are considered as the Charter Members of the Fraternity. Added to the list at this time were M. B. Pritchard, Harry H. Lembke, Ross Stoker and LeRoy Henzie.

The name "Sigma Delta Phi" was suggested at the meeting on April 21. At this time, the pin committee was given the added responsibility of choosing colors for the organization. A committee was chosen to draw up a formal petition to the Faculty Committee of the University of Southern California for recognition. Named to the Committee were Kahlert, Payne and Black. At the meeting on April 25, 1924, the name of this new fraternity was changed to "Sigma Phi Delta". Although a meeting was held on May 2, the Minutes record no progress on any pending issue.

The group adopted the colors Red and Black on May 9, 1924. The pin design established by the Committee was: "The badge shall consist of a triangle having concave corners on which are superimposed three smaller triangles having concave sides and having their vertices at the center of the badge in which is placed a ruby. The smaller triangles, which contain the letters Sigma, Phi and Delta are black, the background between them being white. The border is set with pearls, six on each side". At this meeting, the group elected to Faculty Membership Professors Robert M. Fox, Hugh C. Willett, Philip S. Biegler, Charles W. Lawrence, Clarence E. Guse and Allen E. Sedwick.

The election of officers was held at a special meeting on May 15, 1924. Elected were: Ross Stoker, president; Charles Fuller, first vice president; Archie Black, second vice-president; Charles Young, secretary; and Addison E. Wells, treasurer. The Charter Members were presented their badges by President C. J. Robinson on May 26, 1924. Gus Tapley was admitted as a regular and Charter Member at this meeting.

At a supper meeting on June 3, at the Delta Phi Delta chapter house, three pledges were given their oaths. Included were Walter Scott, Gilbert H. Dunstan and Burdette Ives. The newly elected officers were installed. The group considered the possibility of becoming a national fraternity in 1925. The secretary was instructed to write to a number of colleges requesting information concerning the existence of professional engineering fraternities on the campuses. It was decided that Sigma Phi Delta should not take part in campus politics.

The first meeting of the fall term was held on September 23, 1924. The group discussed whether they should form a national fraternity of their own or merge with an existing fraternity. At a meeting an October 6, a Committee was appointed to write a Ritual. The first indication of a social program was the acceptance of an offer from Addison E. Wells to hold an informal reception at his father's home on December 19, 1924. To be invited were active members, faculty members, alumni and pledges.

The Pledge Pin, consisting of "the Castle on a triangle background", was adopted on October 16, 1924. This was suggested by a Committee composed of Kahlert, Lembke, and Young. At this same meeting, a Ritual for Initiation was adopted.

The first formal initiation, using the new Ritual, was held on Wednesday evening, November 12, 1924, at 6:15 p.m. Initiated in this first pledge class were Gilbert H. Dunstan, Walter Scott and Burdett Ives (a 100% pledge class!). It was on this date that future Grand President Robert J. Beals celebrated his first birthday - without a single thought of Sigma Phi Delta. A rushing smoker was held on Tuesday, January 13, 1925, to include "members, pledges and prospective pledges".

Officers for the spring semester were elected on January 19, 1925. These were M. B. Pritchard, president; Harry H. Lembke, first vice-president; Walter Scott, second vice-president; H. B. Faster, secretary; G. Sawyer, treasurer; and Albert B. Collins, national secretary. One of the outstanding items of business at the January 26 meeting was: It was moved and seconded that we advance enough money to the National Secretary to enable him to trade in his typewriter and purchase a new one. The money to be returned in installments. The motion carried. The spring semester officers were installed on February 4, 1925, and a pledge class of six men was initiated.

The motto For the good of the profession was adopted on March 6, 1925. The design for a Fraternity Crest was considered. Addison E. Wells was appointed a Committee of One to design the Crest. The death of Professor Lawrence on March 1, 1925, saddened the new Fraternity. On March 9, the idea of a cabin in the mountains was considered and committees were appointed to look into the availability of lumber and supplies.

The Crest of the Fraternity was adopted an March 16, 1925. This Crest was "a small shield, divided into four parts, horizontally and vertically. In the upper left quadrant is a circle, or target, also divided into quadrants, alternately colored white and black. This whole is on a white field. In the upper right corner, colored black, is a white bolt of lightning. In the lower left (black) quadrant is displayed a masoned castle. In the lower right (white) quadrant is displayed a condensing apparatus, or retort. Surmounting the shield is a small lion supporting the name of the Fraternity. The Motto Pro Bono Professionis is placed in scarfing around the bottom of the shield".

A membership certificate, to be presented to each member at the time of initiation was adopted on April 21, 1925. There was some discussion on presenting a pennant instead of a certificate, but this motion was tabled (apparently permanently). On May 26, the election of officers for the fall semester was held. Elected were Gilbert H. Dunstan, president; William Rose, first vice-president; H. Audermeulen, second vice-president; Darrell Diamond, secretary; Brother Kelly, treasurer; Charles G. Kahlert, national secretary; and Walter B. Baisch, business manager of the newly established engineering newspaper. These officers were installed on June 3, 1925, at an end-of term banquet. The newspaper was to be sold to students in the Engineering College at USC.

The following fall, with the organization on a firm footing, the nationalization secretary, Walter Baisch, began a determined effort to secure contacts that would nationalize Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity. This effort was rewarded with the receipt of a telegram on Sunday, April 11, 1926, from Delta Pi Sigma, founded at the University of South Dakota on April 29, 1922. This telegram announced their acceptance of the tentative plans to form Sigma Phi Delta into a national fraternity. The details were quickly worked out, a slight badge change was made, and the new National Constitution was approved on May 3, 1926. The Alpha Chapter of Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity was to be at the University of Southern California and the Beta Chapter at the University of South Dakota. Though May 3, 1926, is considered the Charter Date for Beta Chapter, the formal initiation of its Charter Members was held on May 8, 1926.

The government of the new Fraternity was vested in a Supreme Council of five members, with General Conventions to be held every two years. The first Supreme Council was composed of Gilbert H. Dunstan (Alpha), Grand President; H. R. Rosenow (Beta), Grand Vice-President; Frank E. Ridley (Alpha), Grand Secretary Treasurer; and Members Nathan E. Way (Beta) and M. B. Pritchard (Alpha). Ralph M. Sherick (Alpha) was appointed Assistant Grand Secretary soon thereafter, inasmuch as Brother Ridley went east and it was desired to keep the National office in Los Angeles for the time being. Gilbert H. Dunstan was president of Alpha Active Chapter and Grand President of the National Fraternity coincidentally for the short period until he graduated. No other man has held such dual office in this Fraternity and no other undergraduate has been Grand President.

The Charter President of Beta Chapter appears to have been Maurice Nelles; the Charter Secretary Albert Muchow. There were either fifteen or sixteen men initiated into Beta Chapter on May 8, 1926, but the records are not completely clear.

The Constitution provided for the issuance of a quarterly magazine, and the first issue appeared late in June 1926, in mimeographed form. The Grand President was the Editor of the publication. Eight mimeographed numbers were issued. Beginning with Volume III, the CASTLE became a printed publication.

The following year, on Friday and Saturday, April 15 and 16, 1927, the First General Convention was held in Los Angeles, with Alpha Active Chapter acting as Host, assisted by the Los Angeles Alumni Chapter, which had been chartered the previous summer. It is reported that the Convention was quite successful in spite of the fact that Alfred Gerber, representing Beta Chapter, was the only member at the Convention not from the Alpha Chapter. In order to promote the Chapter Expansion campaign, the Convention recommended that the two Members of the Supreme Council be given this work, with the title of Field Representative. The Code of Ethics was adopted at this time. General Numbers were set up for the Fraternity. Maurice Nelles, Charter President of Beta Chapter, was elected the second Grand President of the Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity.
Gilbert H. Dunstan, first Grand President of Sigma Phi Delta, first pledge, in the first class initiated, first CASTLE Editor, first General Manager, with General Number No. 1, was born near Santa Ana, California, on February 20, 1903. According to Fraternity records, he received the degree in Civil Engineering in 1926 and in Electrical Engineering (both from USC) in 1927. He died in Long Beach, California, on October 25, 1969. He had been a member of the Fraternity for almost 45 years. He devoted his life to engineering education, serving on the Faculty of several West Coast and Southern United States universities.

Maurice Nelles, second Grand President, was born on October 19, 1906, in Madison, South Dakota. He graduated from the University of South Dakota with a degree in Chemical Engineering in 1927.

On the Monday following the adjournment of the First General Convention, petitions from the University of Texas (Austin, Texas) arrived, being the result of work done there by R. J. McMahon, a member of Alpha Chapter who was then attending the University of Texas. The group was granted a Charter as Gamma Chapter of the Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity, which was formally installed on May 11, 1927, by Gilbert H. Dunstan. Twenty-three members were initiated at this time. John E. Hoff was Charter President and W. N. Patterson was Charter Secretary.

During the Fall, Albert A. Wells, brother of Addison E. Wells, a Charter Member of Alpha Chapter, was organizing a group of engineering students at the University of Illinois in Urbana, Illinois. J. K. Milligan, of Alpha Chapter, who was then attending the University of Illinois, assisted in the formation of this group. Petitions were sent out around the end of the year and this group of men, seventeen in number, were installed as Delta Chapter of Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity on January 25, 1928, by Gilbert H. Dunstan, then Field Representative, and J. K. Milligan. Albert A. Wells was Charter Chapter President and Gordon W. Brown was Charter Chapter Secretary.

Brother Dunstan had been working on a revision of the Constitution, which was adopted early in April 1928. Probably the most important change from the previous Laws was the creation of the Office of General Manager, an appointive position. With the adoption of this new Constitution, Brother Dunstan was appointed First General Manager of the Fraternity.

During the Spring Semester of 1928, the General Manager had correspondence with the Delta Pi Fraternity, organized at the North Dakota Agricultural College in Fargo, North Dakota, on May 13, 1913. This Fraternity had established a house in 1919, after reorganizing at the conclusion of World War I and had made rapid progress since that time. They petitioned for Charter as a Chapter of Sigma Phi Delta and Maurice Nelles, Grand President, installed them as Epsilon Chapter on May 21, 1928, with thirty-two initiates. Charter Chapter President was William A. Rundquist; Chapter Secretary was Walter E. Nelson. The Fraternity, which was four years old, had five active chapters, an Alumni Chapter in Los Angeles, and an informal club in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, composed of Members who were working for the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, this latter group having been organized in 1927.

Sometime in 1928, the Fraternity adopted a new publication, The STAR, which was to be an esoteric publication, meant to cover policy and to provide information of interest to and for members only. At this time, a separate Office of Grand Editor of the CASTLE was created. Naturally, Gilbert H. Dunstan was the first man to hold this Office.

On February 18, 1929, Gilbert H. Dunstan had spoken with J. E. Rogan and R. G. Werner concerning the formation of a Chapter of Sigma Phi Delta at Tulane University, where he was then teaching. These students were interested and immediately began contacting others. On April 26 and 27, 1929, the Zeta Chapter of Sigma Phi Delta was installed at Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, by Brother Dunstan. The Chapter Officers were initiated on the first day and the remainder of the Chapter on the following afternoon. Seventeen men were included as Charter Members, led by Charter President Robert G. Werner and Chapter Secretary Alfred J. Roth, Jr.

The Second General Convention was held in Austin, Texas, with Gamma Chapter as Host, on September 3 and 4, 1929. National dues were increased from $2 to $10 per year. The fees for Life Membership were abolished and the Endowment Funds were established. It was decided to reduce the number of pearls on the active badge from fifteen (changed from the original eighteen when Beta was installed) to twelve (with four on each side). The use of stones other than pearls was allowed by this Convention. The American Beauty Rose was adopted as the Official Flower of the Fraternity. The recognition button, a gold or silver CASTLE, to be worn on the lapel, was adopted at this time.

At this Second General Convention, the organization of the Fraternity was changed so that the General Convention became continuous and the sovereign body of the Fraternity. Prior to this time, any Convention action had to be referred back to the Active Chapters for approval. Two Provinces were established. The Supreme Council was changed to include the Grand President, Grand Vice-President, Province Directors, and one Member-at-Large. The Council held legislative and judicial powers. The Executive Powers of the Fraternity were vested in the Grand President and his Cabinet, composed of several members, each of whom would supervise some phase of Fraternity activity. Prior to this Convention, the Active Chapters elected such members to Honorary Membership as they deemed eligible, with the approval of the Supreme Council. The Honorary Members were members of the Active Chapter into which they were initiated. After the Convention, Honorary Members were Members-at Large, being elected by the Supreme Council. Dual membership, which had been permitted up to this time, was henceforth prohibited. From that date, only members of engineering curricula who were not members of any other fraternity, general or professional, were eligible for membership in Sigma Phi Delta.

The Second General Convention also established a Supreme Court, consisting of three members, each member being elected for a six-year term. So far as the Fraternity records show, the only men to hold these offices were Wilfred O. Morganthal (Epsilon), Chief Justice; Simeon V. Kemper (Alpha) and Albert Muchow (Beta). There is no record of their having functioned in any capacity. At the same time, the Convention established a Board of Trustees to administer the monies of the newly-created Endowment Funds. The Board became functional for the first time in 1952, however, when the Fraternity was incorporated in the State of California. The salary of the General Manager was increased to twenty-five dollars per month, at which figure it remained until this Office was abolished in 1957. Classes of Membership were changed to eliminate Associate Members and to create Faculty Members. All Associate Members were Faculty Members, so this change seemed to be a good idea.