Theta Phi Alpha’s roots can be traced to the 1909 establishment of a local organization, Omega Upsilon, at the University of Michigan. Father Edward D. Kelly, a Catholic priest and the pastor of the student chapel at Michigan, felt that there should be an organization that could provide the Catholic women at Michigan with an environment that “resembled the Catholic homes from which they came.” This was in a time and place when Catholics were not always welcome in the other fraternal organizations on campus. I find it fitting that an organization founded by a Catholic Bishop for Catholic women began at a state institution that was co-founded by a Catholic priest, Father Gabriel Richard.
By 1912, after Father Kelly left campus and became the Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit, Omega Upsilon was struggling, likely because there were no alumnae to guide the organization. Even without him being in Ann Arbor, Bishop Kelly’s vision that the Catholic women at Michigan should have a place to call their own was still alive. 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 was founded on August 30, 1912 at the University of Michigan. The ten founders were seven Omega Upsilon alumnae, two Omega Upsilon undergraduates and McSwenney.
Today, just as other organizations have accepted Catholic women, Theta Phi Alpha is open to women from all religious backgrounds. Since most colleges and universities are not in session on August 30, Founders’ Day is celebrated on April 30, the feast day of St. Catherine of Siena.* Her motto, “Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring,” is also the motto of Theta Phi Alpha.
The Theta Phi Alpha Founders
Hill Auditorium, now a fixture on the University of Michigan campus, was just being built in 1912. Fielding Yost was the football coach and he led the team to a 14-0 win over Ohio State University. More than 10,000 football fans attended that game.
According to a 1912 University of Michigan catalog, all Catholic students were “expected to become members of the Students’ Catholic Club, which meets twice a month in St. Thomas Parish Hall. The society is under the personal supervision of the pastor of St. Thomas Church. Its object is both social and religious. A fund is being collected with which to erect a Catholic Club building.”
In 1912, women were also under strict rules as to where they could live and what they could do. They could not live in the same rooming houses as men and their housing choices were to be approved by Myra B. Jordan, Dean of Women. A matriculation fee of $10 for legal Michigan residents and $25 for all others was required before a student could enter the University. An outdoor physical education fee of $5 was assessed to each student on a yearly basis. Locker rentals were $2 per year and the graduation fee was $10.
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 1921, Pi Lambda Sigma was founded as a Catholic sorority at Boston University. On June 28, 1952, Pi Lambda Sigma merged with Theta Phi Alpha. Its members at Boston University and the University of Cincinnati became members of the Theta Phi Alpha chapters on the two campuses. The chapter at Creighton University became the Chi Chapter of Theta Phi Alpha in the fall of 1952 and the Quincy College chapter became the Psi Chapter of Theta Phi Alpha in 1954.
I first heard of Theta Phi Alpha when on a Homecoming weekend in the late 1970s, I was sitting on the porch of the Pi Phi house at Syracuse University. Several alumnae stopped by to chat. With them was a Theta Phi Alpha who said that the chapter had closed and her house was no longer standing. Indeed, the Lambda Chapter of Theta Phi Alpha, installed in 1923, closed in 1968. The chapter assets were turned over to the Catholic Newman Center. The Alibrandi Center is located upon the site of the former Theta Phi Alpha house. There is a plaque inside the center thanking the Theta Phi Alphas for their generosity.
Theta Phi Alpha’s Silver Jubilee convention was held in Ann Arbor in 1937 and its Centennial Convention took place there in July 2012. Happy Founders’ Day, Theta Phi Alpha!
*Saint Catherine of Siena was canonized in 1461. From 1597 until 1628, the feast of Saint Catherine of Siena was celebrated on April 29, the date she died. In 1628, due to a conflict with the feast of Saint Peter of Verona, hers was moved to April 30. In 1969, it was changed back to April 29.
© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2016. All Rights Reserved. If you enjoyed this post, please sign up for updates. Also follow me on twitter @GLOHistory and Pinterest www.pinterest.com/glohistory.
