In 1863 at the Convention in Schenectady, New York a petition was presented by Brothers of the Yale Chapter recommending the founding of a Chapter of Alpha Delta Phi at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. Fred T. Crane, Princeton 1864, also presented introductory letters to the Convention.

The societal environment at Princeton was one of hatred of secret societies. The administration had established a “zero-tolerance” rule earlier in the century strictly forbidding students to become members of these societies. This, of course, did nothing to stop the students from becoming members of the societies, and by 1863 Delta Phi, Phi Kappa Sigma, and other fraternities had established “secret” chapters at Princeton.

Alpha Delta Phi’s opinion of the ban matched the student’s, and immediately granted the petition. That night, July 21, 1863, under the auspices of the Union Chapter, Fred T. Crane, Princeton 1864, was initiated as the first Brother of the Princeton Chapter of the Alpha Delta Phi.

Unfortunately for the Brothers of the Princeton Chapter, Alpha Delta Phi’s opinion soon changed. At the 1864 Convention a motion was passed that allowed the existence of the Chapter as long as the Brothers were willing to “swing the badge”, thus taking the Chapter and Alpha Delta Phi into the public’s and University’s view. Unable and/or unwilling to do so, the fraternity was of the opinion that the group was no longer worthy of a charter and thus ended the tenure of Alpha Delta Phi at Princeton in 1867.