Theta Chi was founded as the Theta Chi Society on April 10, 1856 at Norwich University by two military cadets: Frederick Norton Freeman and Arthur Chase.

 

Freeman and Chase met in Freeman's room of the university's Old South Barracks and after taking oaths and declaring each other "true and accepted members" of the Society, Chase was elected President and Freeman Secretary. The next evening, Freeman and Chase initiated two more cadets: Edward Bancroft Williston and Lorenzo Potter.

 

Although Theta Chi is regarded as Norwich's first fraternity, it is believed that Freeman and Chase may also have been members of a secret society called the Regulators prior to founding Theta Chi. However, whether there was any connection between the Regulators and Theta Chi is still open for debate today.