Delta Theta Phi Law Fraternity, International Reorganized at U of A

Photo by Jackie Stites

From left, Jessica Fritts, Tina Adcock-Thomas, Jacob McElroy, Adrian Frank, Diana Rodriguez, Jeremy Wann and Tim Tarvin.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Robinson Senate of Delta Theta Phi Law Fraternity, International is renewing its presence at the University of Arkansas School of Law. Carol Goforth, University Professor and the Clayton N. Little Professor of Law, was initiated into the fraternity by the Robinson Senate in 1982 and serves as faculty sponsor and adviser. 

A ceremony to initiate new members and install officers was held Friday, Oct. 30, in the E.J. Ball Courtroom. Daina Rodriguez and Jeremy Wann, officers of the McClellan Senate at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Bowen School of Law, traveled to Fayetteville to preside. Tina Adcock-Thomas (J.D. ʼ07) and Tim Tarvin (J.D. '76) served as alumni representatives.

Law students Beth Carson, Jessica Fritts, Daveante Jones and Blake Speights are retuning members of the Robinson Senate. Students Adrian Frank and Jacob McElroy were initiated as new members. Frank, McElroy and Fritts were elected and installed as dean, vice dean and clerk of the exchequer, respectively. 

Delta Theta Phi Law Fraternity was created in 1913 when law fraternities Delta Phi Delta, Alpha Kappa Phi and Theta Lambda Phi agreed to merge. One letter was retained from each constituent fraternity to create the new name. The oldest of the fraternities, Delta Phi Delta, was organized at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1900. A fourth organization, Sigma Nu Phi, merged with Delta Theta Phi in 1989. The Robinson Senate was chartered at the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1941.

The fraternity became an international organization in the late 1960s when senates were organized in Australia, Canada and Iceland. It has initiated more than 136,000 members including Theodore Roosevelt, Lyndon Baines Johnson and University of Arkansas School of Law faculty members Dean Stacy Leeds and professors Angie Doss and Mary Beth Matthews in addition to Goforth, Tarvin and several adjunct faculty members.  Delta Theta Phi is the only law fraternity with an authoritatively recognized law review, The Adelphia Law Journal.

For membership information, please contact Adrian Frank at arfrank@uark.edu or Jacob McElroy at jam068@uark.edu.

About University of Arkansas School of Law: The University of Arkansas School of Law prepares students for success through a challenging curriculum taught by nationally recognized faculty, unique service opportunities and a close-knit community that puts students first. With alumni in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, two territories and 20 countries, it has been ranked among the top 10 "Values in Legal Education" by the National Jurist magazine for three consecutive years and is among the top 41 public law schools, according to U.S. News and World Report.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.