Wake Forest Locals
 

I work with a woman who was a member of a local, Laurels, at Wake Forest. She was wondering which national they affiliated with when the locals all went national. I checked the Wake website but no group had anything about Laurels. (I only know that Strings went Pi Phi) Does anybody knw the answer to this?

I tried, but no luck so far, carnation. Found out about some others, but not Laurels. What I did find was from an "archived" article that was in the student paper a few years ago.

http://ogb.wfu.edu/?id=590_0_9_0_C

When the University first began, in place of nationally organized sororities, girls rushed local societies: Lynks, which became Kappa Delta; SOPH, which became Kappa Kappa Gamma; Strings, which became Pi Beta Phi; Delphi, which became Delta Gamma; Thymes, which became the now-disbanded Kappa Alpha Thetas; and Fideles, which became Chi Omega.

(If anyone reads the entire article, please be assured that the situation mentioned in the article has been successfully resolved. Several years ago. It was discussed on GC then. Extensively.)

Well, thank you! I googled all over the place with no luck. She was in Laurels in the early seventies.

She also said that many groups wanted to go national before the mass nationalization but they had this dean who wanted to be able to control everything she could, thus the locals were preserved for some time and the minute the woman retired, the drive for nationals started.

FWIW, there used to be an ADPi chapter there, so maybe they were the Laurels?

Oooh! I bet that's it because I remember her naming all the other locals that were there back then and exlurker covered them all with his article. Thank you!

carnation and honeychile ---

Oh golly. I dunno. I just read your posts and so I checked a copy of ADPi's book Sisters: Celebrating Alpha Delta Pi Sisterhood. In the section on chapter histories that book says the Wake Forest chapter "grew out of the local Phoenix Society which had requested to become a chapter of Alpha Delta Pi." The ADPi chapter was there from 1992 to 1995.

Anyway, other possibilities? Perhaps Phi Mu or Tri Delta at Wake forest? Have they been "accounted for'?

According to the 1991 Baird's Manual, there was a Tri Delta chapter at Wake Forest in 1989, but no mention of Phi Mu being at Wake Forest.

Interestingly, when you look up Wake Forest, Tri Delta is the only NPC sorority mentioned, active or inactive, in Baird's!

That's because the other NPCs didn't come on campus until after 1991. Phi Mu chartered in 1998.

Works for me. Is there anyone here from Wake Forest?

Does anyone know if the alumnae of the locals were initiated into their respective inter/national organizations?

According to a WF friend of mine who graduated in '80 and was a member of one of the locals, there were no Laurels when she was there (76-80). According to one of my daughter's coworkers (WFU '04) who looked in her old pledge manual, no Laurels were absorbed into a NPC organization in 96.

This gets more and more mysterious. She's older than I am so she could have gotten out a few years before 1976...maybe they folded before then but she doesn't know if it's so.

I remember when the locals all went Inter/National in 1992. It was quite a competitive situation -- kinda a giant "bid matching" between the locals & the national HQs. I do not recall any group called the "Laurels" at that time.

I just found this thread.

Tri-Delta colonized before the other social clubs became NPCs. In the late 80s (perhaps partially based on the example of Tri Delt) the school realized the benefits that national affiliation could have and basically forced them all to colonize.

Phi Mu came later, as noted.

I have never heard of Laurels, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything.

Yes there was an ADPi chapter, because my best friend was the chapter advisor. I don't remember what society they were.