Delphic Society (Rochester)

[2] Before adjourning, they had taken the initial steps toward the formation of the Delphic Literary Society for the "promotion of the literary improvement of its members.” The five founders of the first student society at the University of Rochester were Stephen Haskins Carpenter, Nathaniel Judson Clark, Andrew Longyear Freeman, John Buttrick Jones, and Franklin Smith Lyon.

On Friday evening, May 9, 1851, the Delphic Literary Society held its first public exercises.

[4] There were two societies at Rochester, Delphic, and Pithonian, which fostered debates and other activities aimed at increasing their members' writing and public speaking skills.

"[5] The college literary societies of this period have sometimes been compared to our modern collegiate social fraternities, and, indeed, the competition for new members of rival societies like the Delphic and Pithonian was in some respects comparable to present-day rushing practices.

Due to the drop in enrollment and to the competition of the secret fraternities, which were exclusive, smaller, and afforded more social enjoyment, the Delphic and Pithonian societies ceased to exist soon after the American Civil War.