The University of Minnesota was established February 13, 1851, under a charter from the territory of Minnesota. It was reorganized under a state charter on February 18, 1868.
Although there was faculty opposition to coeducation, the cause was heralded by Jane Grey Sisshelm, the feminist editor of the St. Cloud Visiter. As part of her defense of coeducation, she supported the idea that in order for boys to become good citizens of the future, it was necessary for them to be educated with their sisters and future wives (Gray, 1951).
When Kappa Kappa Gamma was founded in 1880, there were 97 women and 211 men enrolled in the university. Members of the Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter at Indiana University asked a recent Minnesota alumnus, who was also a member of the men’s fraternity Chi Psi, for the names of female Minnesota students who might be interested in forming a chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at the university. The woman he recommended to head up the task had already been contacted by Kappa Alpha Theta, according to Walker (1903) but chose to follow the path laid forth before her by the Indiana University Kappa Kappa Gammas. The chapter was installed on April 21, 1880. The chapter would acquire some institutional fame years later when, in 1892, during a play organized by the chapter as a fund-raiser for new university tennis courts, flames came from the footlight. The president of the university ordered everyone out and no harm was done except to the cupola of Old Main (Gray, 1951).
A Delta Gamma chapter was installed three years later. Like the Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter, it owed its existence in part to a fraternity man. A Phi Delta Theta was contacted by a Delta Gamma alumna asking for the name of a woman who might be interested in forming a chapter. The quest was successful and a charter was granted December 18, 1883 (Stevenson, Carvill & Shepard, 1973).
Kappa Alpha Theta installed a chapter at the University of Minnesota on February 6, 1889. The chapter was inactive from July 30, 1891, until February 1892 (Wilson, 1956).
Shortly after the Kappa Alpha Theta chapter became a reality, a chapter of Alpha Phi made its appearance. The Alpha Phi chapter had its roots in the efforts put forth by an alumna of the Northwestern chapter who was teaching at Minneapolis Central High School. She selected a group of her high school students and imbued them with the idea of being charter members of an Alpha Phi chapter at the University of Minnesota. McElroy (1913) noted that these high school students were pledged and became “initiated into Alpha Phi after their college matriculation” (p. 141). Simultaneously, the teacher acquainted herself with female students at the university in order to have a mix of classes within the chapter. The chapter was installed in September 1890.
The Pi Beta Phi chapter owes it existence to the chance meeting of a Minnesota sophomore and a University of Michigan Pi Beta Phi alumna. On May 30, 1890, six women were initiated into Pi Beta Phi. Due to the effects of the economic panic of 1893, the charter was withdrawn in November 1896. The chapter was dormant for 10 years (Helmick, 1915).
As early as 1890, there were inquiries regarding a Delta Delta Delta chapter at the University of Minnesota. However, since the fraternity required nine charter members, the first attempt to secure charter was unsuccessful. The six students who had sought Delta Delta Delta charter, ultimately aligned themselves with another national organization, most likely Pi Beta Phi. In 1892, another female student took on the task of attempting to acquire a Delta Delta Delta charter. She was successful and the chapter was installed on February 21, 1894 (Priddy, 1932).
The Gamma Phi Beta chapter was installed on May 23, 1902. A local organization formed by 10 women formally petitioned Gamma Phi Beta for a charter. The formal petition included recommendations and letters, printed and bound with a copy sent to each chapter of the fraternity (Jones, 1913).
Company Q, University of Minnesota, 1888-89
For more information on Company Q, visit https://www.franbecque.com/2012/05/25/the-panhellenic-patriots-of-company-q/
This is the section about the University of Minnesota taken from my dissertation, Coeducation and the History of Women’s Fraternities, 1867-1902, and covers only those years. All rights reserved.
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