The Brunonian Chapter was formally instituted in 1836 when certain students of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, petitioned for a charter of the Alpha Delta Phi. A delegation consisting of three men from the Hamilton, Columbia, and Yale Chapters came to Providence in the autumn of 1836 and inducted a group of undergraduates into the Fraternity. Meetings were held weekly on Saturday mornings and members were chosen only from three upper classes in the University. It was adherence to the principle of selecting only outstanding upperclassmen that interrupted the continuity of the Chapter in 1838 when the other fraternities had established themselves at Brown and proceeded to initiate members of the freshmen class. The Alpha Delta Phi Chapter refused to accept freshmen for membership and was unwilling to choose men from classes already canvassed by rivals, and therefore during the period from 1838 to 1850 no initiations occurred.

The Chapter was reorganized in 1850 when a small fraternity at Brown, of which there was one other chapter in New England, namely at Williams College, sought to become affiliated with Alpha Delta Phi. This petition was granted due chiefly to the former reputation of the Brunonian Chapter and the hearty cooperation of its graduates. On the evening of April 15, 1851, William Wallace Crapo, Yale 1852, by authority of the Fraternity met in Providence and initiated as Brothers of Alpha Delta Phi seventeen students in Brown University of the classes of 1851-1854. The revived Chapter proceeded very much as though there had been no break in the line of succession.

For many years prior to 1904 chapter meetings were held Friday nights in a building as the foot of Waterman Street in Providence called the “Arnold Block”. In 1904 the property located at 54 College Street was purchased. The Chapter flourished in this house, with its handsome “Lodge,” from 1904-1952 at which time all of the fraternities at Brown abandoned their off campus houses and moved into quarters provided for them in the extensive new Wriston Quadrangle. Although accommodations for all fraternities are now similar in structure, the Brunonian Chapter house is unique in maintaining its former “lodge” interior within its building.

In 1971 Brown University became completely coeducational. Two years later the Brunonian Chapter became coeducational.

The Fraternity made the Chapter inactive in 1992.