October is a busy month for Founders’ Day celebrations. Seven of the 26 National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) organizations will be a year older before Halloween gets here. Although I try to write a post for each of the NPC groups on their respective Founders’ Day, I might not be able to this year. I’m presenting the info here, along with a fun fact off the top of my head, in case this is the only opportunity I have this year to wish them well on another year!
Alpha Phi
On October 10, 1872, Alpha Phi was founded at Syracuse University in New York. Alpha Phi’s original birthday is September 18, as recorded in the minutes of the November 4, 1872, meeting. However, Founders’ Day is celebrated on October 10. Alpha Phi is the oldest of the Syracuse Triad and it is the first women’s fraternity to build its own home.
The Alpha Phi chapter house on University Avenue in Syracuse. It was the first house built and owned by a women’s fraternity. The house was sold in 1902 and the chapter moved to its current home on Walnut Place.
Kappa Kappa Gamma
On October 13, 1870, Kappa Kappa Gamma was founded at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois. Kappa Kappa Gamma and Pi Beta Phi are known as the Monmouth Duo. The amazing thing about the pair is that their Alpha chapters were forced to close by the college authorities and by the 1880s both chapters ceased to exist. Luckily, expansion had taken place and those chapters kept the organizations going despite the loss of the mother chapters.
Alpha Chi Omega
On October 15, 1885, Alpha Chi Omega was founded at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, home to Kappa Alpha Theta’s Alpha chapter. At first membership in Alpha Chi was limited to music students, and its badge is the lyre. In those days, music and art students were often called “special students” and early documentation from many colleges have that distinct category of students. After a while, the distinction dissolved and in time Alpha Chi dropped the music requirement and other organizations welcomed fine arts students, too.
Zeta Tau Alpha
On October 15, 1898, Zeta Tau Alpha was founded at the Female Normal School (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia. In 1903, Themis was chosen as the patron goddess. It is also the name of the Zeta magazine.
Kappa Delta
On October 23, 1897, Kappa Delta was founded at the Female Normal School (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia. It is the oldest of the Farmville Four, the sororities founded there. Interestingly, the two Farmville Four members founded in October are the ones which chose to close their Alpha chapters in order to join the National Panhellenic Conference.
Delta Zeta
On October 24, 1902, Delta Zeta was founded at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Today, its headquarters is in Oxford, Ohio. One of my favorite fun facts about Delta Zeta is about founder Julia Bishop Coleman; she was also the first president of the Ohio State Chapter of P.E.O.
Alpha Epsilon Phi
On October 24, 1909, Alpha Epsilon Phi was founded at Barnard College in New York City. Its seven founders were Jewish and they created the organization because Jewish women were not invited to join the established sororities. Judith Resnick, Ph.D., the second woman in space, was the first American astronaut to be a member of a National Panhellenic Conference organization. Resnick, an Alpha Epsilon Phi from the Carnegie Mellon University chapter, was also the first Jewish-American in space. She perished in the January 28, 1986 Challenger disaster. Alpha Epsilon Phi’s Foundation established the Judith Resnick Memorial Scholarship as a tribute to her.
undefined
