Alpha Chi Omega and Zeta Tau Alpha Share a Founders’ Day

Posted on October 15, 2021 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Alpha Chi Omega and Zeta Tau Alpha celebrate Founders’ Day on October 15. How amazing is it that the first organization and the last organization on the alphabetical listing of National Panhellenic Conference members share the same Founders’ Day?

On Thursday, October 15 1885, Alpha Chi Omega was founded at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. Thirteen years later, on Saturday, October 15, 1898, Zeta Tau Alpha was founded at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia.

Alpha Chi Omega’s seven founders are Anna Allen, Olive Burnett, Bertha Deniston, Amy DuBois, Nellie Gamble, Bessie Grooms and Estelle Leonard. They were students in the DePauw School of Music and at the beginning insisted its members possess some musical culture. With guidance and support from James Hamilton Howe, Dean of the School of Music, they created an organization. James Campbell, a member of Beta Theta Pi, offered advice in the creation of a constitution and by-laws.

Alpha Chi Omega’s first appearance was in Meharry Hall of East College. The seven women wore scarlet and olive ribbon streamers attached to their dresses to display the organization’s colors.

Zeta Tau Alpha‘s founders are Alice Maud Jones Horner, Frances Yancey Smith, Alice Bland Coleman, Ethel Coleman Van Name, Ruby Bland Leigh Orgain, Mary Campbell Jones Batte, Helen May Crafford, Della Lewis Hundley, and Alice Grey Welsh. For a short time, the group was known on the Farmville campus as ???.  An invitation sent to the two groups then on the campus read “The ??? will be delighted to receive the Kappa Delta and Sigma Sigma Sigma fraternities in the end room in Nursey Hall at 8:30 P.M.”

Both organizations installed chapters at Purdue University within a few years of one another. Mary L. Matthews, who spent most of her career at Purdue University where she served as Dean of the School of Home Economics. There were 40 females enrolled at Purdue when Matthews was hired in 1912. Nineteen men’s fraternities established chapters before the first National Panhellenic Conference organization, Kappa Alpha Theta, was chartered in 1915.

Alpha Beta of Alpha Chi Omega, 1920

Alpha Chi Omega’s Alpha Beta Chapter was installed on April 26, 1918 at Purdue University. It had been the Alpha Beta Club and it began in 1916 with four women.  The women rented a home at 115 Andrew Place. Three of Alpha Chi Omega’s founders, Olive Burnett, Estelle Leonard and Annie Allen Smith, attended the installation banquet at the  Fowler Hotel. They told of the early days of Alpha Chi.

Zeta Tau Alpha’s Alpha Theta Chapter at Purdue was installed on September 10, 1921. It had been the Phi Zeta local organization. Twenty women were initiated as members of Zeta Tau Alpha, nine of whom were alumnae and ex-students.

The charter member of the Zeta Tau Alpha chapter at Purdue University

 

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Aryness Joy Wickens on Kappa Kappa Gamma’s Founders’ Day #NotableSororityWomen

Posted on October 13, 2021 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

On October 13, 1870, Kappa Kappa Gamma made its debut at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois. Kappa Kappa Gamma’s founders are Mary Moore “Minnie” Stewart, Anna Elizabeth Willits, Susan Burley Walker, Hanna Jeanette “Jennie” Boyd, Mary Louise “Lou” Bennett,  and Martha Louisa “Lou” Stevenson. Some of the founders recalled that the organization was founded in March, 1870, but that the appearance was delayed until fall, because the badges had been difficult to procure.  Willet’s mother was the one who came up with the idea of using a key as the badge.  The first badges were made by the Bennett’s family jeweler who was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  In order to have the badges made, 12 had to be ordered at a price of $5 each. Since the 1876 Convention, October 13 has been celebrated as Founders’ Day.

The Monmouth College Courier noted the fraternity’s debut in an October 1870 issue, “They wear a little golden key, sometimes on their foreheads, sometimes on their little blue or red jackets. . . . It has three letters on it, KKG. . . We have been able to count only six of them.”

Having walked the Monmouth campus and downtown many times, I always try to envision what life was like for those 1870 coeds. It never fails to amaze me that Kappa and its Monmouth Duo partner, Pi Beta Phi, are here today. Both were forced to cease operations when the college banned all fraternal organizations in the late 1870s. In those days, the Alpha Chapter, the Mother Chapter, was typically the head of governance of the organization. It issued charters and ran the show. Lucky for both Kappa and Pi Phi that the women who joined the other young chapters of the organizations took charge of things and continued without their respective Alpha chapters. Those who follow the founders often don’t have their status or glory, but their work as “builders” is of vital importance to the organization.

One of the young women who joined the University of Washington chapter during the 1918-19 academic year would have a hand in the creation of the Consumer Price Index. In the fall of 1918 “As soon as we were nicely registered for the first quarter’s work, word came from the authorities that the university was to close on account of the Spanish influenza which had suddenly spread to the Northwest.”

The news of the closure came “right in the middle of the two weeks planned for the entertainment of freshmen girls, the fraternities were thrown into confusion over the problem of pledging, and had to rise to the occasion by making totally different plans.  As a result, the Panhellenic Association decided to do away with all informal gatherings, and pledge immediately, this being to the best advantage of the freshmen.”

Aryness Joy (Wickens) was one of the freshmen women who accepted Kappa’s invitation. As a junior, she was chairman for the Women’s League Concert committee and planned an event that netted $600 (more than $9,000 in 2021 funds) for the cause. Wickens went on to serve as president of the Women’s League and attended  a convention of women who were serving in that capacity in colleges and universities across the country. She was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Wickens earned a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Chicago. She spent four years teaching at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. In 1928 she took a job as a research assistant with the Federal Reserve Board and she spent the next 42 years working for the Federal government.  

A statistician and economist, she served as president of the American Statistical Association. Wickens helped develop the Consumer Price Index and was an acting commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. At the 1958 National Convention, Kappa Kappa Gamma bestowed upon her an Alumnae Achievement Award. In addition she was also honored with a Dept. of Labor Distinguished Service Award and the Achievement Award of the District of Columbia Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Club. Wickens died in 1991.

Aryness Joy Wickens at the 1958 Kappa Kappa Gamma convention

 

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Ina Gittings, Alpha Phi, #NotableSororityWomen

Posted on October 10, 2021 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Alpha Phi is the oldest of the Syracuse Triad, the three women’s National Panhellenic Conference organizations founded at Syracuse University in upstate New York. The triad consists of Alpha Phi, Gamma Phi Beta and Alpha Gamma Delta. A chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon was established at Syracuse University in 1871.  In September of 1872,  Martha Foote (Crowe), Clara Sittser (Williams) and Kate Hogoboom (Gilbert) discussed  the situation. Foote led the charge and pondered the thought of women  having fraternal organizations comparable to the ones the men enjoyed.  They  invited all the college women to discuss the possibility.

In September 1872, 10 women – the original three and Jane Higham, Clara Bradley (Burdette), Louise Shepherd (Hancock), Florence Chidester (Lukens), Ida Gilbert (Houghton), Elizabeth Grace (Hubbell), and Rena  Michaels (Atchinson) met and pledged allegiance to the sisterhood.  Minutes from the first meeting noted that Michaels was chosen president, plans were  made for weekly meetings at which literary exercises would be part of the  program, and a 25¢ tax was levied for the purchase of a secretary’s book.  The  first debate was “Resolved – that women have their rights.” Founders’ Day is celebrated on October 10.

On January 14, 1885, Ina (pronounced E-nah) Gittings was born in Wilbur Nebraska. While a student at the University of Nebraska she became a charter member of the Nu Chapter of Alpha Phi.

Ina Gittings pole vaulting in 1905 as a student at the University of Nebraska.

Gittings served as an instructor at Reed College in Oregon and took training at the Reed College Reconstruction Clinic to be a reconstructive aide. A report in the Alpha Phi Quarterly quoted a newspaper article,  “(Gittings) goes to the task with the highest technical fitness. More than that she has the charm of character, the poise and the courage that will endear her to those who are privy to come to her after the shock of battle.” After serving as a reconstructive aide in France she went to Tarsus, Turkey to do relief work. 

Ina Gittings in her World War I uniform

She joined the faculty at the University of Montana in 1917 and was instrumental in helping the local Delta Phi Zeta become the Chi Chapter of Alpha Phi. She played a major role in the installation of the chapter. A report in the Quarterly gave this account:

It was in the midst of the great excitement over the baseball finals when Delta Phi Zeta was to play Delta Gamma to decide who should carry off the honors, that Miss Gittings drew one of the girls aside and, with that characteristic gleam of mirth in her eyes, as she pointed to her pocket, said, ‘Call a meeting at the house at one o’clock to hear the contents of this telegram.’ The message flew from ear to ear like lightning. Promptly at one o’clock a more restless, eager, curious, excitable group of girls than that gathered at the Zeta house could not be conceived of.

Miss Gittings drew the telegram from her pocket asking, ‘Can you keep a secret?’ ‘Yes!’ we gasped, all in one breath. Then she calmly unfolded the telegram, while we almost ceased breathing for fear we should miss one word of its contents. She read just one line and the girls burst forth in shouts of joy. Fancy keeping such thrilling news for a whole week. Why! it was written in every smile and in every glean of the eye.

Gittings joined the faculty at the University of Arizona in 1920. In 1925, she earned a Master’s degree from the university and did graduate work at Columbia University. In 1926, the Delta Delta local became the Beta Epsilon chapter of Alpha Phi. Again Gittings played an integral role and she served as toastmistress at the banquet to celebrate the instillation of the chapter.

Ina Gittings

She retired in 1955 and spent retirement being just as busy as she had when she was teaching. Gittings died on March 11, 1966. A dance studio and the women’s physical education building at the University of Arizona are named in her honor.

***

It’s also Founders’ Day for these Greek-letter organizations:

October 10, 1904 – Alpha Gamma Rho, founded at Ohio State University. 

October 10, 1910 – Tau Epsilon Phi, founded at Columbia University.

October 10, 1924 – Alpha Delta Gamma, founded at Loyola University, Chicago.

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P.E.O.’s 2001 Convention of International Chapter, Nine Days After 9/11

Posted on September 20, 2021 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

The 75th Biennial Convention of International Chapter (CIC) of the P.E.O. Sisterhood begins this week. Instead of taking place in Portland, Oregon, as scheduled years ago, the convention will be virtual. It’s historic. I suspect the seven P.E.O. Founders could not envision of a convention that one attended without leaving home, buying a new outfit or two, or giving hugs to friends from far and away.

Twenty years ago, the 65th CIC began on September 20, 2001, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The 9/11 attacks of nine days prior stopped us all in our tracks and disrupted plane travel. One can imagine the discussions that took place via phone, maybe email and likely fax, between the Executive Office in Des Moines and the Executive Board regarding the convention. I suspect there was talk of cancelling it, but ultimately the Board led by President Jane Burtis Smith,* made the decision to proceed as planned.

Of the 50 or so state, provincial and district chapters, only 11 arrived without a change in itinerary. The others scrambled to revise transportation plans. The Washington State delegation had a hard pivot when all their flights were cancelled. They had planned to fly to Kansas City first and tour Cottey College, the college in Nevada, Missouri, owned by the Sisterhood. Instead, they spent three 15-hour days aboard a bus. The 4,000 mile trip gave the delegates and officers time to become well acquainted.

The convention proceeded, but according to an attendee, it “brought us to a new level of sharing. P.E.O. hugs were firmer, and many felt that the opportunity to be together had a healing and reassuring effect at a time when were all reminded of our vulnerability.”

Approximately 1,350 delegates, 700 visitors, 250 BILs (husbands/significant others), and 1,000 volunteers from Wisconsin chapters were in attendance.  “Numerous hotel and convention center employees expressed their gratitude that the convention took place as scheduled, “according to The P.E.O. Record post-CIC article.

Convention attire usually consists of stars, P.E.O.’s symbol, and daisies (its flower is the marguerite). The 2001 CIC also featured a plethora of red, white and blue attire as well as U.S. flags and patriotic jewelry.

At the opening session, two officers from state, province and district chapters carry in their flag. When the New York State Chapter president and organizer came down the center aisle, the assembly stood in tribute. Although I was not there, I’ve heard stories about this from many who were. The next day, a  resolution of concern and support for the victims and their families was adopted.

The Washington delegation in front of the bus they road on for three days. (Photo courtesy of The P.E.O. Record)

A year ago, this article was in The P.E.O. Record. I suspect Carol Ashley wasn’t the only P.E.O. whose life was drastically changed on that ninth day of September in 2001. I thank her for honoring her daughter’s memory with this gift to the P.E.O. Foundation. It will help women who are in needs of low-cost educational loans and funds to return to college.

September-October 2020 P.E.O. Record

*Jane Burtis Smith is a Pi Beta Phi. Current President of International Chapter is Brenda Atchison, an Alpha Gamma Delta. The affiliations of Presidents of International Chapter are here.

 

 

 

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September 11, 2001 and the Fraternity and Sorority Members Who Perished

Posted on September 5, 2021 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

It seems like a long time ago and 2001 was a long time ago, especially to someone who is in college today. A newborn then is a full fledged adult now. Fashions that were spot on in 2001 seem very outdated. The 2001 composite in any random fraternity or sorority house probably has been rotated into the basement or attic or to the landfill. Do today’s college freshman have any sense of how earth shattering that day was? In the blink of an eye, lives were cut short and hearts were broken. Plans were crushed and futures changed.

I put together a list of the members of Greek-letter organizations who perished in the events of September 11, 2001 with some help from others. Information was cross-checked to determine the proper spelling of names; I noted college affiliations when they were available. If there are additional names, corrections, etc., please let me know.

Let us not forget their names. As Oscar Hammerstein wrote in Carousel “As long as there is one person on earth who remembers you, it isn’t over.” Please let us not forget their names.

I’ve listed the men’s social organizations alphabetically by fraternity name. The women’s organizations follow after that. The list closes with honorary and professional Greek-letter organizations and local fraternities.

Men’s Social Organizations

Alpha Delta Phi

Jeremy Glick, University of Rochester

Patrick S. Murphy, University of Virginia

Alpha Epsilon Pi

Morton H. Frank, Syracuse University

Barry Glick, Randolph Macon College

Steven Goldstein, University of Michigan

Joshua Rosenblum

Andrew Zucker

Alpha Phi Delta

Christopher Mozzillo, St. John’s University

Robert Tipaldi

Alpha Tau Omega

Robert “Rob” Lenoir, Duke University

Craig Lilore, Muhlenberg College

Donald Peterson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Beta Theta Pi

Ryan A. Kohart, University of North Carolina

Frederick Kuo, Jr., Carnegie Mellon University

Jon A. Perconti, Rutgers University

Lt. Colonel Karl W. Teepe, University of Illinois

Todd C. Weaver, Miami University 

Chi Phi

Timothy “T.J.” Hargrave, Stevens Institute of Technology

Michael Horn, Binghamton University

Eric Thorpe, Lafayette College

Chi Psi

Mark K. Bingham, University of California – Berkeley

Commander Robert A. Schlegel, Washington and Lee University

Michael A. Tanner, Cornell University

Adam S. White, University of Colorado

Delta Chi

Jayceryll M. DeChavez, Rutgers University

M. Blake Wallens, Cornell University

Delta Sigma Phi

Bart Ruggiere, University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh

Delta Kappa Epsilon

David O. Campbell, Rutgers University

Delta Phi

Edward R. Pykon, Lehigh University

Delta Tau Delta

Brian Cummins, University of Colorado

Kevin D. Marlo, University of Pittsburgh

Christopher Todd Pitman, Duke University

Delta Upsilon

Thomas Duffy, Union College

Ron Fazio

Aaron Jeremy Jacobs, Colgate University

Charles Zion

Kappa Alpha Order

Robert Maxwell, University of Texas at Arlington

Christopher D. Mello, Princeton University

David Suarez, Pennsylvania State University

Kappa Alpha Psi

James D. Debeuneure, Johnson C. Smith College

Eddie Dillard, Bishop College

Kappa Delta Rho

Bradley Fetchet, Bucknell University

Mark Ryan McGinley, Bucknell University

Kappa Sigma

Fredric Gabler, Cornell University

Jeffrey Brian Gardner, Rutgers University

Andrew H. Golkin, Hobart College

Richard B. Madden, Denison University

James Robert Paul, University of Kentucky

William P. Tselepis, Jr., University of Illinois

Lambda Chi Alpha

Donald A. Delapenha, Baldwin-Wallace College

Chris Dincuff, Villanova University

Robert Higley II, University of Connecticut

Todd R. Hill, University of Massachusetts

Robert Hymel, University of Louisiana, Lafayette

Justin J. Molisani, Jr., Lycoming College

Jarrold Paskins, University of Nebraska – Omaha

Dean Thomas, University of Pittsburgh

Ken Walsh, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania

Phi Delta Theta

Swede Chevalier, Cornell University

Thomas R. Clark, University of Richmond

Terence Gazzani, Bentley College

Donald T. Jones, University of Richmond

Mike LaForte, Syracuse University

Edward “Ted” H. Luckett, Ohio Wesleyan University

Sean P. Lynch, Cornell University

A. Todd Rancke, Duke University

Robert  Andrew “Andy” Spencer, University of Maryland

Phi Gamma Delta

Steve Glick, Northwestern University

William Godshalk, University of Alabama 

Rajesh Mirpuri, University of Vermont 

Charles Murphy, Syracuse University

Michael Pescherine, Penn State University 

Michael San Phillip, University of Pennsylvania

Phi Kappa Psi

Douglas M. Cherry, Ohio Wesleyan University

Michael “Desi” McCarthy, University of Buffalo

Phi Kappa Sigma

Kevin Reilly, SUNY Oneonta

Stephen G. Ward, University of Maine

Brent Woodall, University of California – Berkeley

Phi Kappa Tau

Peter Mardikian, Ohio State University

Philip Parker, Muhlenberg College

Phi Kappa Theta

William Otto Casper, Kansas State University

Robert J. Ferris, Ohio State University

Phi Mu Delta

Robert LeBlanc, University of New Hampshire

Phi Sigma Kappa

Andrew Fredericks, Union College

Pi Kappa Alpha

John Grazioso, Florida Institute of Technology

James Brian Reilly, College of William and Mary

Joshua Rosenblum, University of Colorado

Davis G. “Deeg” Sezna Jr., Vanderbilt University

John “Eddie” Willett, University of Missouri

Pi Kappa Phi

Joseph Peter Anchundia, Longwood University

Peter Apollo, University of South Carolina

Edward Thomas Keane, New Jersey Institute of Technology

Leo Russell Keene, III, University of Tampa

Pi Lambda Phi

James Lee “Jimmy” Connor, II, College of William and Mary

Michael Hardy Edwards, College of William and Mary

Mark Ludvigsen, College of William and Mary

John A. Ogonowski, Lowell Technical Institute

Scott Vassel, Fairleigh Dickinson University

Psi Upsilon

Lee Adler, Kenyon College

Brandon Dolan, University of Rochester

Alexander Steinman, Union College

Richard Woodwell, Dartmouth College

Sigma Alpha Epsilon

Dennis Cook, Villanova University

Michael Davidson, Rutgers University

Michael B. Finnegan, University of Richmond

Major Wallace C. Hogan, Valdosta State University

Eamon McEneaney, Cornell University

James Andrew O’Grady, University of California – Los Angeles

Robert A. Rasmussen, North Dakota State University

Sigma Alpha Mu

Nicholas C. Lassman

Laurance M. Polatsch, University of Michigan

Gregory D. Richards, University of Michigan

Scott H. Saber, SUNY Lehigh

Brian J. Terrenzi, SUNY Oneonta

Scott J. Weingard, University of Michigan

Brian P. Williams, Columbia University

Sigma Chi

Don Adams, Fairleigh Dickinson University

Terence E. “Ted” Adderley, Jr.,  Vanderbilt University

Kevin Cleary, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Keith Eugene Coleman, Bucknell University

John Hart, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Aram Iskenderian, Jr., University of Rochester

Glenn D. Kirwin, University of Virginia

Stephen LaMantia, Roanoke College

Todd Douglas Pelino, Colgate University

David Eliot Retik, Colgate University

Sigma Nu

Peter Christopher Frank, University of Delaware

James Andrew Gadiel, Washington and Lee University

Lt. Michael Scott Lamana, Louisiana State University

Karl Trumbull Smith, Sr., University of Delaware

Sigma Phi

Ceasar Augusto Murillo, University of Vermont

Sigma Phi Epsilon

Paul Acquaviva, Rutgers University

Daniel Afflitto, St. Joseph’s University

Thomas W. Hohlweck, Jr., Kentucky Wesleyan College

Montgomery “Monte” McCullough Hord, University of Nebraska

Christopher Larabee, University of Arizona

Terry M. Lynch, Youngstown State University

Gregory Malone, Lehigh University

Gregory Milanowyicz, St. Joseph’s University

Joshua S. Reiss, University of South Carolina

Tau Delta Phi

George John Stauch

Tau Epsilon Phi

Todd Reubin

Tau Kappa Epsilon

Douglas A. Gowell, University of Lowell

Steven D. Jacoby, Shippensburg University

Michael J. Mullin, SUNY Oneonta

Sgt. Major Larry L. Strickland, University of Washington

John C. Willett, Rockhurst University

Theta Chi

Craig M. Blass, James Madison University

Mark A. Brisman, SUNY Albany

Scott T. Coleman, Colgate University

John W. Farrell, West Virginia Wesleyan College

J. Nicholas Humber, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Gary F. Lutnick, Rider University

Mark E. Schurmeier, Wake Forest University

William C. Sugra, Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Jon C. Vandevander, Lycoming College

Patrick A. Versage, Wagner College (He was a first responder and assisted with recovery efforts.  He died October 5, 2014.)

Theta Delta Chi

James Brian Reilly, College of William and Mary

Michael J. Simon, Hobart College

Triangle

Alok Metha, Colorado State University

Zeta Beta Tau

Joseph Aron

Joseph A. Della Pietra

Jason Jacobs, Syracuse University

Zeta Psi

Dennis Cook, Villanova University

Michael Davidson, Rutgers University

Gopal Varadhan, New York University

 

At each Chi Psi Convention, there is a Mark Bingham Memorial 5k. It honors the memory of Bingham, passenger onboard United Airlines flight 93 on September 11, 2001. He and three other passengers attempted to retake the plane from the hijackers which resulted in the plane crashing into a field near Shanksville, PA, thwarting the hijackers plan to crash the plane into a building in Washington D.C.

This bench near Murkland Hall at the University of New Hampshire where Robert LeBlanc, Phi Mu Delta, taught geography.

 Women’s Social Organizations

Alpha Chi Omega

Kathy Nicosia, Bowling Green State University

Alpha Kappa Alpha

Sarah Clark

Alpha Delta Pi

Lynn Edwards Angell, Auburn University

Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas, University of Texas

Cathy Salter, University of Cincinnati

Alpha Phi

Kristy Irvine Ryan, University of Dayton

Delta Delta Delta

Alysia Burton Basmajian, College of William and Mary

Kirsten Thompson Christophe, Michigan State University

Jeannine Damiani-Jones, Villanova University

Mary Lou Hague, University of North Carolina

Ann Campana Judge, Ohio Wesleyan University

Bonnie Shihadeh Smithwick, Bucknell University

Delta Gamma

Melissa Candida Doi, Northwestern University

Delta Phi Epsilon

Shari Kandell, Syracuse University

Gabriela Waisman, Queens College

Delta Sigma Theta

LTC Karen Wagner

Delta Zeta

Alicia Titus, Miami University

Melissa Vincent, SUNY Oswego

Kappa Delta

Kelly Ann Booms, Miami University

Colleen Monica Supinski, Susquehanna University

Kappa Kappa Gamma

Jen Kane, Villanova University

Jean Roger, Penn State University

Kaleen Pezzutti, Cornell University

Norma Lang Steurle, Carnegie Mellon University

Phi Mu

Sneha Philip, Johns Hopkins University

Pi Beta Phi

Melissa Harrington Hughes, Dickinson College

Catherine MacRae, Princeton University

Mary Alice Shehan Wahlstrom, Ohio State University

Sigma Delta Tau

Michelle Renee Bratton, SUNY Oswego

Sigma Sigma Sigma

Alisha Levin, Hofstra University

Alpha Kappa Alpha jacket which belonged to Sarah Clark. It is in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History Culture. Photo courtesy of NMAAHC.

Photo by Ann Dahne, a Phi Mu, who was honoring the memory of her Phi Mu sister Sneha Anne Philip. The quatrefoil was placed there for the picture and is not part of the 9/11 memorial.

Honorary, Service and Professional Fraternities

I am almost certain there are more than these few who belonged to these organizations. These are the ones I found while looking for other information. If you have knowledge of others, please let me know.

Alpha Kappa Psi (Coeducational Business Fraternity)

Tom Burnett, University of Minnesota

Alpha Phi Omega

Shawn E. Bowman, Jr. SUNY Albany

Delta Sigma Pi  (Coeducational Business Fraternity)

Kelly Booms, Miami University (Ohio)

Marni Pont-O’Doherty, New York University

Sandra Teague, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Amy Toyen, Bentley College

Omicron Delta Kappa Society

Paul Ambrose, Marshall University

Phi Beta Kappa

Christopher Ciafardini, University of Colorado

Local fraternities

James Patrick Berger, Zeta Rho, Villanova University. Zeta Rho became the Kappa Zeta Chapter of Sigma Nu.

James J. Kelly, Delta Kappa Tau, SUNY Geneseo

Jeff LeVeen, Phoenix House, Dartmouth. Phoenix House had been Phi Gamma Delta.

Charles Margiotta, Delta Tau, Brown University

David Pruim, Emersonian, Hope College

Francis J. Skidmore, Jr., Kappa Sigma Phi, Duquesne University

(This list was put together using the lists of September 11, 2001 victims information as well as the information on Hank Nuwer’s www.stophazing.org website which was compiled in the days immediately after the tragedy,  Jon Williamson’s list published in the Summer 2002 Kleos of Alpha Phi Delta, and the list currently on the NIC website. I thank them all.)

 

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Theta Phi Alpha’s Michigan Roots

Posted on August 30, 2021 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Theta Phi Alpha was founded at the University of Michigan on August 30, 1912. However Founders’ Day is celebrated on April 30, it was the feast day of St. Catherine of Siena when the decision was made. (The Catholic Church has since changed the feast day but Theta Phi Alpha kept the original day.) St. Catherine is the patroness of the organization and her motto, “Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring, ” is Theta Phi Alpha’s motto as well.

At that time Theta Phi Alpha was founded, Catholics were not always welcome in the other fraternal organizations on campus. Moreover, the University of Michigan is likely the only state university which can count a Catholic priest among its founders. In 1817, Father Gabriel Richard was a co-founder of the Catholepistemiad of Michigania which later became known as the University of Michigan. He served as its Vice-President from 1817-21. In 1821 he was appointed to the Board of Trustees and served until his death in 1832. So, it is therefore interesting to note the Catholic connection between the Catholic sorority and the state university founded by a Catholic priest.  When Theta Phi Alpha was founded, the Catholic hierarchy was of the belief that Catholic women should be attending Catholic colleges and universities. Giving Catholic women the opportunity to join a Catholic sorority could provide an opportunity to keep them close to their Catholic roots at a secular institution.

In 1909, Father Edward D. Kelly, a Catholic priest and the pastor of the university’s student chapel organized Omega Upsilon. He believed that the Catholic women at the university should have the opportunity to belong to an organization  that “resembled the Catholic homes from which they came.”

After Father Kelly left campus and became the Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit, Omega Upsilon was struggling.  There were no alumnae to guide the organization. Bishop Kelly’s vision that the Catholic women at Michigan should have a place to call their own was still alive even though he was not on campus. He enlisted the assistance of Amelia McSweeney, a 1898 University of Michigan alumna. Together with seven Omega Upsilon alumnae, plans were made to establish a new organization, Theta Phi Alpha.

Theta Phi Alpha’s ten founders are Amelia McSweeney, Mildred M. Connely, May C. Ryan, Selma Gilday, Camilla Ryan Sutherland, Helen Ryan Quinlan, Katrina Caughey Ward, Dorothy Caughey Phalan, Otilia Leuchtweis O’Hara, and Eva Stroh Bauer Everson.  Seven of them were Omega Upsilon alumnae and two were undergraduate members of Omega Upsilon.

Detroit Free Press, November 20, 1912

In the spring of 1918, a spring luncheon took place at the Hotel Pontchartrain in Detroit. The chapter likely took the railroad from Ann Arbor to Detroit.

Detroit Free Press, June 2, 1918

 

Hotel Pontchartrain, Detroit, Michigan

During the fall 1919 semester, the members of Theta Phi Alpha provided clothing and holiday gifts for a young girl as mentioned in the article below..

Detroit Free Press, December 21, 1919

Detroit Free Press, June 12, 1920

The Cadillac Hotel as it was when the Theta Phi Alphas met in it. It was razed in 1923 and replaced with the Book Cadillac Hotel.

Theta Phi Alpha remained a local organization until 1919 when the Beta Chapter was formed at the University of Illinois. In addition, chapters at Ohio State University, Ohio University and the University of Cincinnati were chartered that year.

In 1924, the Alpha Chapter had a tea to introduce their new chaperon (the term house mother came later) to the other chaperons on campus.

Detroit Free Press. November 2, 1924

Founder Mildred Connoly’s name sometimes appears as Connolly. I’m sure it was exciting for the convention attendees to meet a founder.

Detroit Free Press, March 6, 1921

Newspapers once had society pages and news stories contained lots of details such as the effective and large Theta Phi Alpha seal constructed from lights. 

Detroit Free Press, November 9, 1924

Happy 109th, Theta Phi Alpha!

 

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Where’s an Updated Baird’s Manual of American College Fraternities When You Need It?

Posted on August 28, 2021 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

William Raimond Baird published the first edition of Baird’s Manual of American College Fraternities in 1879. After Baird’s death, others took on the job of editing Baird’s Manual.

The twentieth and last edition, edited by Jack Anson, Phi Kappa Tau, and Robert F. Marchesani, Jr., Phi Kappa Psi, was published in 1991. It’s a very large book (8.5 x 11 x 2.5) and if another edition were to be published, it would likely have to be twice the size, what with the changes that have taken place in ensuing three decades. Moreover, it would be outdated before publication. Carroll Lurding, Delta Upsilon, made his hobby the study of fraternities and sororities. For decades he painstakingly researched the local groups which became national organizations. He kept track of the changes that have happened in the fraternity and sorority world since the last edition of Baird’s was published in 1991. Lurding combed fraternities and sororities publications including histories, pledge manuals, magazines, and websites as well as available yearbooks. He also consulted the publications available at the University of Illinois Library’s Student Life & Culture Archives,  Indiana University’s Lurding Collection of Fraternity Material at the Lilly Library and the New York Public Library’s Baird Collection. He expanded on information offered, including the names of local organizations which became chapters of fraternities and sororities.

The Almanac of Fraternities and Sororities picks up where that 20th Edition of Baird’s Manual ended. And it includes much more! I hope you will take a look at it and use it regularly.

This from the “How to Use” section offers an overview of the Almanac as well as a listing of all the institutions where there is or once was a fraternity and sorority system:

This Almanac contains several sections. There are introductory files with the evolution of the fraternity and sorority system, founding dates, chronology, a list of the founding institutions, and largest organizations by decade.

The organizational listing is divided into three sections –Men’s, Women’s, and Co-ed, for organizations with more than three chapters. In each section, there is a listing of the manner in which an organization evolved. Information includes the name of a local if that is how it was founded, when it became a part of the organization and the chapter identifier, as well as any time the chapter may have been inactive. There is also a section dedicated to organizations which are no longer active.

 

The institutional listing encompasses more than 1,000 North American higher education institutions, listed below for easy of finding in each pdf file. It includes information about the institution’s founding, the status of housing for fraternal organizations and the chronology of the chapters. The men’s groups are listed first, followed by the women’s groups and then the co-ed organizations. Organizations that are in bold-face type are currently active on campus. There is also a section for more than 100 institutions which no longer exist.

The founding dates for two of the women’s organizations give this institution away.

Please help publicize this important resource. Thank you!

 

 

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“But I Didn’t Get My First Choice in Sorority Recruitment”

Posted on August 19, 2021 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

#BamaRush TikTok is now a real thing. Like being caught up in a soap opera/daytime drama (are they even a thing anymore?) or going on a internet quest, it kept one occupied for a goodly amount of time. When I posted a link to a news story about the #BamaRush tik tok on the Focus on Fraternity History facebook page, there were comments that Alabama is untypical of most other recruitments. I agree. But that’s the one that just put a face to sorority recruitment for many who had no prior knowledge of sorority recruitment. The haters have come out of the woodwork. FYI, I suggest not reading the comments on the articles already published as it can be another huge time suck. Haters, especially haters of the fraternity and sorority system, will not be persuaded. Until the recent past, the numbers 20/20 indicated normal visual acuity. Those of us who lived through the year 2020 realize there was little normal about it. Covid-19 made life interesting, to say the least. Several of the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) organizations came up with a novel way of initiating women who were unable to become full members during the spring semester. Virtual initiation became an actual thing. I’m quite sure no one had that on their strategic planning bingo card 25 years ago. An Alpha Epsilon Phi chapter at Concordia University in Montréal was installed virtually and it started a trend. And many women went through sorority recruitment virtually or in a hybrid situation.

Primary sorority recruitment is a mutual selection process. Potential New Members (PNMs) rank their choices based on the Preference Parties they attended and then the PNMs are matched up with the chapter that offers them a bid, based on where the PNM appears on the chapter’s ranked bid list. It sounds like a complicated process and it is. Sometimes the PNM doesn’t get her first choice. Sometimes this causes much angst for the PNM (and perhaps her mother, grandmother, etcetera, etcetera).

Some PNMs are fine with whatever chapter appears on their bid card, but a few women decide not to accept the bid they are given and drop out of recruitment. It’s not always easy and while the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence, adjusting dreams is a good lesson for the rest of one’s life. Blooming where one is planted is a skill which can come in handy throughout life. This year we are all getting a booster shot for this skill.

It’s all hard to explain to a 17 or 18-year-old who feels like she is the only one in the situation. All 26 NPC organizations are essentially the same, and one will have a similar experience in any of the groups. While our colors, badges, flowers, songs, etc. are all a little different, at the core, we believe in the same values. We are all sorority women.

This heartwarming story was posted several years ago by my Zeta Tau Alpha friend Gabbie Rimmaudo. For a time, she worked at Pi Beta Phi HQ and I loved that she would stop by the Archives when I was there. She loves fraternity history. I showed her the letter we have which was signed by Dr. May Agness Hopkins, who served as ZTA President. Her thoughts on getting her second choice chapter brought tears to my eyes and I told her so. I hope Gabbie’s story can resonate with some women who accepted bids to their second or third choice chapters. I hope they will embrace the opportunities that may be in their future.

***

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John A. Logan on Memorial Day

Posted on May 31, 2021 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

I had no idea who John A. Logan was until I moved to Southern Illinois. An American soldier and politician, he was born in 1826. He died a little more than 60 years later. Logan was elected Illinois State Senator, Congressman, and U.S. Senator. He, on a ticket with James G. Blaine, ran an unsuccessful campaign for Vice-President of the United States. As a soldier he served in the Mexican-American War. He later became a General in the Union Army. Logan was the 3rd Commander in Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic. To him has been given much of the credit in the establishment of Memorial Day. The first observance of Decoration Day, as Memorial Day was known, has been claimed by many locales. Carbondale, Illinois is one of them.

Woodlawn

Woodlawn

General Order Number 11 of the Grand Army of the Republic was the document that established Decoration Day. It was signed on May 5, 1868 by General John A. Logan. 

I. The 30th day of May 1868 is designate for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades, who died in defense, of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every City, Village, and hamlet, church yard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but Posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.

We are organized, comrades, as our regulations tell us for the purpose, among other things ‘of preserving and strengthening those kind and fraternal feelings, which have bound together the soldiers, sailors and marines who united to suppress the late rebellion.’ What can aid more to assure this result than by cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead, who made their hearts a barricade between our country, and its foes, their soldier lives were the reveille of freedom, to a race in chains, and their deaths the tattoo of rebellious tyranny in arms. We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance, all that the consecrated wealth and toils of the nation can add to their adornment and security, is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders. Let no wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no vandalism of avarice, or neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present, or to the coming generations, that we have forgotten, as a people the cost of a free and undivided Republic.

Carrying

Carrying the flag of the 31st Illinois Volunteer Infantry

If other eyes grow dull, and other hands black, and other hearts cold, in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light, and warmth, of life remain to us. Let us, then, at the time appointed gather around their sacred remains, and garland the passionless mounds above them with the choicest flowers of Springtime: let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from dishonor. Let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us, a sacred charge upon a nation’s gratitude the soldiers and sailors widow and orphan.

II- It is the purpose of the commander in chief to inaugurate this observance with the hope that it will be kept up from year, to year, while a survivor of the war remains, to honor the memory of his departed comrades. He earnestly desires the public press to call attention to this order, and lend its friendly aid in bringing it to the notice of comrades in all parts of the country in time for simultaneous compliance therewith.

III- Department commanders will use every effort to make this order effective.

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I offer thank to all who have served in the military and have given the ultimate sacrifice. One of my long term goals is to begin a honor roll of fraternity and sorority members who have served.

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Happy Founders’ Day, Alpha Gamma Delta!

Posted on May 30, 2021 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Quick. Name an Alpha Chapter of a National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) organization whose chapter house was designed by a founder of the organization. There’s only one. It’s the Alpha Chapter of Alpha Gamma Delta.

Alpha Gamma Delta was founded at Syracuse University on May 30, 1904 at the home of Dr. Wellesley Perry Coddington, a Syracuse University professor. Alpha Gamma Delta is the youngest of the Syracuse Triad, the three NPC organizations founded at Syracuse University. The other two, Alpha Phi and Gamma Phi Beta, were founded in 1872 and 1874, respectively.

By 1901, all seven of the founding National Panhellenic Conference organizations had chapters at Syracuse. Coddington, who had a hand in the early years of Alpha Phi, realized that the campus needed another women’s fraternity. He approached several young female students and discussions ensued. Though excitement started to grow, the women managed to keep the possibility of another organization on campus very quiet. Edith MacConnell was recovering from a serious accident and was a patient at the Homeopathic Hospital. Not even the nurses attending to her had any idea what was taking place, despite the steady stream of visitors to her room.

The announcement in the Daily Orange, the school’s newspaper, noted:

A new Greek-letter fraternity has been organized among the women of the university. The name is Alpha Gamma Delta and the members thus far are: Marguerite Shepard, ’05; Jennie C. Titus, ’05; Georgia Otis, ’06; Ethel E. Brown, ’06; Flora M. Knight, ’06, Estelle Shepard, ’06; Emily H. Butterfield, ’07; Edith MacConnell, ’07; Grace R. Mosher, ’07; Mary L. Snider, ’07.

Emily Helen Butterfield studied architecture at Syracuse University in a time when a female architect was an anomaly. After graduation she and her architect father established Butterfield and Butterfield, making her Michigan’s first licensed female architect. She was also an accomplished artist.

The Methodist Church in Farmington, Michigan, was designed by Butterfield and Butterfield. It was built in 1922. The Butterfields were members of the congregation. (Photo courtesy of the Farmington Community Library)

Her best known sketches are the ones she did of “Skiouros,” Alpha Gamma Delta’s squirrel mascot when she was editor of The Quarterly. To Skiouros was the name of the “secret edition” of The Quarterly. (FYI – the secret editions of GLO magazines contained membership numbers and information about chapter strengths and weaknesses and not anything having to do with ritual matters. These editions were not included in the exchange copies sent to the other GLOs. )

Butterfield also designed the organization’s Armorial Bearing, and wrote the Alpha Gamma Delta Purpose:

To gain understanding that wisdom may be vouchsafed to me; to develop and prize health and vigor of body; to cultivate acquaintance with many whom I meet, to cherish friendships but with a chosen few, and to study the perfecting of those friendships; to welcome the opportunity of contributing to the world’s work in the community where I am placed because of the joy of service thereby bestowed and the talent of leadership multiplied; to honor my home, my country, my religious faith; to hold faith inviolable, sincerity essential, kindness invaluable; to covet beauty in environment, manner, word and thought; to possess high ideals and to attain somewhat unto them; this shall be my Purpose that those who know me may esteem Alpha Gamma Delta for her attainments, revere her for her purposes, and love her for her Womanhood.

In the late 1920s, she designed the Alpha Chapter house at 709 Comstock Avenue. It was completed in the fall of 1928.

In the 1930’s when architecture commissions were scarce, Butterfield turned to writing  books, the Young People’s History of Architecture and College Fraternity Heraldry. After her father died, she moved from Farmington to Algonac, Michigan, where she continued painting and taught art classes. She also served as postmaster of Neebish Island, Michigan. Butterfield died in 1958, but her art and design skills live on.

If you want a real treat, visit oakewoodcottage.com and take a look at a house that Emily Butterfield designed. The house was commissioned by real estate developer Edward Beals of Farmington Hills, Michigan, in 1925. She designed it in the Storybook Tudor style which was used in California’s Hollywood Hills, but not often in the midwest. The Oaklands subdivision, where the home is located, was one of the first Detroit exurb developments. Beal, President of the Great Lakes Land Corporation, was in partnership with Issac Bond, a local farmer. By 1930, 11 homes were built in the subdivision but the Depression put an end to further building there. Vacant lots in the subdivision became farmland and stayed that way for the next 20 years. Beals lost the home in foreclosure by 1935.  It was a rental until the house became owner-occupied again in 1945.

 

In 1989, the home was placed on Farmington’s register of historic homes, which appears to have saved it from demolition. Ken and Melody Klemmer purchased it in 2013 and began the process of restoring the house to its original appearance.

Oakewood Cottage , 31805 Bond Boulevard, Farmington Hills as it appears today.

 

A watercolor by Emily Butterfield owned by the Klemmers

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