Sigma Delta Chi, an honorary journalistic society, was founded at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, on April 17, 1909. According to its bylaws, the group sought to "associate journalists of talent, truth, and energy into a more intimately organized unit of good fellowship, and in order to assist the members in acquiring the noblest principles of journalism and to cooperate with them in this field."

The University of North Dakota Chapter was founded October 23, 1921, expressly for the purpose of joining Sigma Delta Chi. The group, first known as Gridiron, was installed by Sigma Delta Chi on April 7, 1922. Early activities of the club included publication of the Dacotah on an annual basis, changing publication of the Student to biweekly, special efforts in establishing journalism as a full professional major, and the creation of an autonomous Department of Journalism. The group was also responsible for the creation of the Flickertail Follies, a student variety show, which became a spring tradition on campus into the 1960s. Today Sigma Delta Chi is known as the Society of Professional Journalists.