Bairds is not always correct, but for a lose, they are the best we have!

They like a Lot Of Greek Organizations or Greek Sites are only as good as the Information given to them.:(

As far as I know, most Greek Organizatins are understaffed and this is where information comes from in this day in an age of Cyber!
:)

but, if you have enuff, of them, they do also change, they just do not keep everything!:(

They are a great reference book but not all omnipresent!

Thanks guys!!! :D

Question: I can understand that the Great Depression and WWII probably caused many of the mergers that took place from 1928 through the early 1940s.

However, the majority of the other mergers listed took place in the late 50s and early 60s. What happened to cause these mergers?

I think this is a good question for wptw or our other resident GLO scholars.

A lot of them were swallowed up by other nationals; other simply died out. Here's some information on those mentioned above:

Beta Phi Alpha: founded 1909 at California-Berkeley, admitted to the NPC 1926, merged with Delta Zeta in 1941.

Alpha Delta Theta: founded 1919 at Transylvania, admitted to the NPC 1926; from looking at their badge, one of their symbols appears to have been the key. They merged with Phi Mu in 1939.

Theta Upsilon: founded 1914 at California, admitted to the NPC 1928, merged with Delta Zeta in 1962. Sarah Ida Shaw, one of the Tri Delta founders, helped them to write their ritual.

Phi Omega Pi: founded in 1910 at Nebraska, originally affilated with the Order of the Eastern Star. They dropped the Masonic requirement in order to be admitted into the NPC in 1933. Later, in 1946 merged with Delta Zeta.

Delta Sigma Epsilon: founded in 1914 at Miami University in Ohio. They were originally a member of the education sorority governing organization (I forget the name). They joined the NPC in 1947, merging with DZ in 1956.

and associate NPC members:

Sigma Phi Beta: founded at the "University of New York" (I'm not sure what the modern-day equivalent would be) in 1920. They later merged with Phi Omega Pi and then into Delta Zeta. From looking at their badge one of their symbols appears to have been the compass.

Beta Sigma Omicron: went down to twelve chapters by 1962 and merged with ZTA in 1964.

Lambda Omega: founded at California-Berkeley in 1923, later in 1933 merged with Theta Upsilon which merged with Delta Zeta. Their symbols and motto were founded around a Norse theme.

Some of the associates might have been NPC members, I believe, but I'm not sure which or when. The sources I have list them as associate members.

In addition to these I know there was another member, possibly historically Jewish, that died out later. My details on them are sketchy but I remember their name started with Iota (maybe Iota Phi Alpha or Iota Pi Alpha?) and I think they died out in the 1970s.

If you can get your hands on a copy of Baird's, it often describes their expansion, tells how many chapters they have and what happened to them, and sometimes tells what their colors and symbols were. Your organization's written history might include some NPC history. And there is more information here:

http://www.dzalphaeta.org/history.html

ZTA was the first and only women's fraternity to have the backing of the Virginia legislature which granted the charter on 3/15/1902.

ZTA was also the first women's fraternity to be established in VA.

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Actually, Phi Kappa Psi has been non-sectarian since our founding in 1852. That wasn't our reason for being founded, so we don't often promote that fact, but we were founded as a non-sectarian fraternity.

Sigma Tau Gamma: was the first National Fraternity to Start a Leadership Program for Chapter Presidents.

SAI was the first international music fraternity for women. :D

Kappa Alpha Theta
 

Not sure if these have been mentioned yet, but:

The first women admitted to Phi Beta Kappa were Thetas.


The first women's fraternity to establish a chapter in Canada was Kappa Alpha Theta.


The first woman elected to the U.S. Senate in her own right was a Theta.

I'll let you know if I come up with any more...what are you collecting this information for?

Nah, Union College in Schenectady, New York gave birth to six (Inter)National fraternities:

Kappa Alpha (1825)
Sigma Phi (1827)
Delta Phi (1827)
Psi Upsilon (1833)
Chi Psi (1841)
Theta Delta Chi (1847)

bump

Lambda Theta Nu Sorority, Inc. is the first Latina sorority to be founded on the West Coast (1986 at CSU Chico). :)

Miami is actually known as The Cradle of Fraternities. Union College would be the The Mother of Fraternities.

The "Cradle of" that you're thinking of for Miami is the Cradle of Coaches. And according to the Miami Greek Affairs webiste is is in fact known as the Mother of all Fraternities, so if you disagree, I suggest you take it up with them.

I would venture to say that Tau Delta Sorority is the first sorority to use Japanese characters on their coat of arms and have a japanese chapter designation (Tomo Dachi for undergraduate membership).

OH! And I live 15 minutes from DG's Exec offices.

I don't know who aquired four first, but Kappa Delta has:

Girl Scouts of America
Prevent Child Abuse America
Children's Hospital of Richmond Virginia
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons


Also, We were the first sorority to be founded in Virginia (October 23, 1897)

Pi Delta Psi is the first and ONLY Asian Cultural Fraternity. Also, we are the first fraternity of primary Asian membership on the East Coast.

Additionally, Binghamton University is also a haven for Multicultural Greek Foundings:

Multicultural Greeks:
Sigma Lambda Upsilon - Alpha Chapter
Pi Delta Psi - Alpha Chapter
Iota Nu Delta - Alpha Chapter
Kappa Phi Lambda - Alpha Chapter
Phi Theta Chi - Alpha Chapter
Sigma Beta Rho - Beta Chapter
Lambda Upsilon Lambda - Beta Chapter
Sigma Psi Zeta - Beta Chapter

IFC:
Tau Alpha Upsilon - Alpha Chapter