
Theta Eta Chapter of Theta Chi Fraternity received its Colony on April 22,
1987. On May 13, 1989, a little over two years later we received our charter.
The installation ceremony took place at the First Baptist Church in Huntsville.
From our humble beginnings our chapter rose from the grave to become the strongest
chapter in our region, and one of the strongest in the nation.
Back in 1986, there were a group of guys who came together to form a group
known as Sigma Nu. They were led by a Sigma Nu from the University of Houston.
They walked around campus saying that they were Brothers. However, they had
never been recognized by the Sigma Nu National Fraternity. In the Fall of
1986, Sigma Nu National Fraternity sent a representative of their fraternity
down to Huntsville to talk to this group who claimed to be Sigma Nu's. He
told these guys which consisted of 24 members, that if they wanted to become
a colony that they needed to increase their numbers a sustain their numbers
at 40 men. After this meeting, there was a division among the group. Half
wanted to continue as Sigma Nu's and the other half wanted something different.
The half that wanted something different
were the founders of our chapter.
Shortly after the meeting with the representative, Brian Hall, Tim English,
and Steve Shore all went to the library and found a book called Greek Life.
In this book it gave a listing of all the different fraternities and a brief
history. In this book, they found Theta Chi. The next day, they wrote to International
Headquarters to inquire about the requirements to become a Colony. IHQ sent
them back a personalized letter giving them the requirements and also inviting
them to Arkansas Tech University for a Mid-Year Leadership Conference. Theta
Chi never set a number on on the amount of people you had to have to be a
chapter. Their standard said, "You need to have a strong organization."
Our guys liked this fact a lot. In March of 1987, several guys went up to
Arkansas Tech University to attend the convention. They were so impressed
with Theta Chi from that one weekend that there was no doubt in their minds,
THEY WERE GOING TO BE THETA CHI'S. On April 22, 1987 their dream became a
reality and we were granted a Colony.
When school let out for the summer some of the members went home for the summer,
while the rest stayed in Huntsville. The guys that stayed were required to
go up to Texas A&M to receive their New Member Education from our Big
Brother Chapter, which has since become and inactive chapter. The education
consisted of six education sessions, at the end the group