Service sororities at NYU/CCNY in the 1960s?

[aephi alum]

I recently learned from my father-in-law that the reason they first met was because of their greek affiliations. (!!!)

FIL started out at CCNY taking evening classes while working during the day. He transferred and earned his bachelor's from NYU. Somewhere along the line, he joined APO. His chapter was all-male, and he nearly fell over when I told him that APO is now coed and one of my chapter sisters is a brother. (Shows how involved he became as an alum. )

MIL started out at NYU and transferred to CCNY. She pledged a service sorority, but AFAIK, was never initiated as her parents were dead set against any GLOs. (Funny how GLOs suddenly became ok when GMIL joined Kappa Delta Pi ... but I digress.) Neither he nor she can recall the letters. I suggested that it might be Omega Phi Alpha, but a little googling tells me OPA was founded after their college years and has not had a chapter at NYU or CCNY.

I am hoping someone can shed some light on this...?

[AGDAlum]

Originally Posted by aephi alum

I recently learned from my father-in-law that the reason they first met was because of their greek affiliations. (!!!)

FIL started out at CCNY taking evening classes while working during the day. He transferred and earned his bachelor's from NYU. Somewhere along the line, he joined APO. His chapter was all-male, and he nearly fell over when I told him that APO is now coed and one of my chapter sisters is a brother. (Shows how involved he became as an alum. )

MIL started out at NYU and transferred to CCNY. She pledged a service sorority, but AFAIK, was never initiated as her parents were dead set against any GLOs. (Funny how GLOs suddenly became ok when GMIL joined Kappa Delta Pi ... but I digress.) Neither he nor she can recall the letters. I suggested that it might be Omega Phi Alpha, but a little googling tells me OPA was founded after their college years and has not had a chapter at NYU or CCNY.

I am hoping someone can shed some light on this...?

Some universities have digitized their yearbooks. Check the NYU website for library/archives. If the yearbook collection isn't online, you can email a librarian and pose the question.....that's what we librarians are here for!

[suebarton]

Gamma Sigma Sigma had a chapter (Pi) there that was chartered in 1957. Not sure when it went inactive.

[VandalSquirrel]

The first service sorority was Chi Lambda, founded in 1952, another sorority, Tau Alpha Phi was also mentioned that year. 1947 listed groups such as Lambda Sigma Phi and Phi Alpha Sigma. I found a Beta Lambda Phi in 1962, and mentions of Gamma Sigma Sigma as well.

ETA:
An Alpha Sigma Rho sorority was mentioned for 1969 alumnae. There was an Epsilon Gamma Phi in 1950.

Here is the link to the digital and searchable (yay OCR) archive for the CCNY newspaper The Campus, from the 1960s.

http://digital-archives.ccny.cuny.ed...y/?page_id=661

[Xidelt]

Are all of those sororities from CUNY? ^^

[aephi alum]

Thanks for the info.

VandalSquirrel, I opened up one of the issues of The Campus from what I believe to be late in my MIL's senior year. It's very telling that one of the more prominent ads was from a jeweler advertising diamond rings.

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by Xidelt

Are all of those sororities from CUNY? ^^

I only pulled info that came up in a search for CCNY that was either the digital newspaper or from a reunion website, so I'm not sure if that answers your question.

Originally Posted by aephi alum

Thanks for the info.

VandalSquirrel, I opened up one of the issues of The Campus from what I believe to be late in my MIL's senior year. It's very telling that one of the more prominent ads was from a jeweler advertising diamond rings.

There were some other groups that were possible, but I figure with the news papers in a digital format you could narrow the time frame and search at your leisure. Hope you solve the mystery!

My favorite ad mentioned if you attended the XYZ fraternity smoker you got excused from Friday classes. Took me a moment to realize that it couldn't have been held Friday evening since many of the students are Chosen and are busy after sundown on Friday.

[OPhiAGinger]

Originally Posted by aephi alum

...a little googling tells me OPA was founded after their college years and has not had a chapter at NYU or CCNY.

I'm delighted you thought of OPA when you heard "service sorority"! Our national birthday is a little misleading. We were actually founded as a local affiliate with an APO chapter in 1953. By the time we formed the national organization in 1967, we had three chapters (in Ohio, Michigan, and Connecticut) operating independently. However, it's true that we've never had a chapter at NYU or CCNY.