In August 1911, on the campus of the then young Stanford University, a group of men united in forming the Cardinal Club for the purpose of eventually petitioning for the Stanford Chapter of Alpha Delta Phi.
Leading the group were three seniors of the class of 1912 who expressed as their objective the development of those qualities of character, scholarship, and literary ability that would be worthy of Alpha Delta Phi.
By the year 1913, the members of the club considered that their organization had shown its caliber and vigor and was in the strategic position to carry its plea for membership to the Alpha Delta Phi. In October, the petition was drawn up. At that time there were twenty-two men in the club, all prominent on the local campus.
Helping with the organization of the club were two Brothers of Alpha Delta Phi, who lived in the house and helped in the general organization of the business of the chapter. The California Chapter sent a committee of three men each week to advise and instruct the petitioning body.
Other sponsors were the Pacific Graduate Chapter of Alpha Delta Phi, and the three members of Alpha Delta Phi on the faculty of the University.
It was not until 1915, when the Alpha Delta Phi Convention was held in San Francisco during the Panama Pacific Exposition that the petition of the Cardinal Club was formally presented to the Chapters of Alpha Delta Phi. Many of the delegates to the Convention visited the Cardinal Club at Palo Alto and met individual members of the Cardinal Club. On April 17, 1916, the Cardinal Club first learned that it had been granted a Charter. The formal installation of the new Stanford Chapter was held in May at the California Chapter House.
The Chapter was inactive for approximately three years during World War II, the house along with all other fraternity houses being rented by the University and used as a dormitory unit. The Chapter was reactivated in the fall of 1946 and has resumed its position among the leading fraternities at Stanford.
In 1963 the Chapter moved into new quarters, which could house fifty-two men, giving it the finest fraternity facilities on the campus. However, membership waned dramatically in the years following the Vietnam conflict, reaching a low of only 14 active Brothers in 1977. Alarmed by increasing financial problems, the Stanford Chapter rallied under the helpful counsel of the Alumni Corporation and a deputation from the International. By 1980, the Chapter could claim over sixty active members and renewed prominence in the campus community.
Unfortunately, problems continued to plague the Chapter, and in 1989 the University took away the Chapter House for use as a dormitory.
The Fraternity made the Chapter inactive in 1992.