Why was your org started?

[Optimist Prime]

Theta Chi was founded because our founders didn't like the hazing going on at Norwich University, a military academy in Vermont. The story is different but similar I think to that of Sigma Nu's.

[DeltaSigStan]

If a TKE could respond to this, I'd appreciate it.

I heard that TKE started out as a local that was going to petition Phi Delta Theta, but after several attempts and turn downs, TKE decided to form it's own National. Is that true?

[DeeGeePee]

cut & paste

On a Cold day in the realms of Western MD, an organization was created for those that are different, and aim to be different. Those who do not want to be chosen for their looks, race or style but their ability to be one, and to be above all an individual.

DGP was created for those that are true leaders, creative, open-minded, smart, and anything they want to be. DGP founders, three strong willed females of the New Generation, titled "Charlie's Angels". These three women wanted all of that and more in a sorority, so on that cold day in November. The 11th of 1998, DGP was born as a social and service organization. Letting the vows, of sisterhood, justice and honor take its stride in the Greek world.

**Delta Gamma Pi is a multi-cultural social and service Our duty is service first and social second. We honor and respect all before us and those after us. For we practice Greek harmony, unity, love and most of all respect! The DGP motto: “Sisterhood bound by Diversity, Unity and Friendship, while serving our Community!”


**DGP colors are Baby Blue, White and Pink. The Sorority flower is the Pink Rose. Our mascots are the White Siberian Tiger and the Teddy Bear.

**The Sorority Gems are the Sapphire and the dazzling White Diamond. Delta Gamma Pi Has many charities that we raise funds for as well as help raise awareness for many causes. Causes relating to Breast Cancer Awareness, Animal Humane Society, Homeless Shelters, Literacy fund and many more.

[justhey76]

I didn't see Delta Zeta in the posts. Any DZ's wanna post how they got started? I looked on some websites, but, the info was kinda incomplete or vague.

[phisigsigchic]

Alright to the Phi Sigs who posted! Since about two of you already posted, I won't go and say the same stuff everyone already read. But I have to say that I love the fact that from our founding, we were a place where any women of any faith por background can join. I think the same holds true. I can't say the same for some other sororities (I am not trying to diss anyone but at my campus, the other sororities can be extrememly selective to the point of snobiness and just being plain mean.) I like that we look at rushees for personality, not faith or looks or legacy or anything like that. Plus, we even take in grad students which I don't think other sororities do! Gotta say, Phi Sig is the best!

[OnePlus69Is70]

We started out trying to become a chapter of Sigma Pi. It didn't work out (pm me if you want details), but the colony refused to disband itself.

[TKEmz894]

Our founders didnt like the Fraternities at there College...Weselyn Illinois.... mainly because they where all about how much money you had or who your Daddy was...Our founders didnt fit that mold...from this comes "Not for wealth rank or honor, but personal worth and character".....from that comes us taking people other organizations would not look at, usually for monatary or lineage reasons... So they started the Knights of Classic Lore....They had planned on being their own Fraternity but, an Alumni of Phi Delta Theta contacted them about recolonizing Weselyn, he told them to pick letters in order to make them more appealing to the Phi Delts.....So they went along with it for a while, they petitioned four times and got turned down.....So from this came the "Oppurtunity out of Defeat" speach. The jist of that speach was that maybe it was a blessing in disguise....and that they should form their own national org and they should show up Phi Delta Theta for giving them the snub.........I think we took care of that goal......Other triumphs include going from almost bankrupt at the turn of the century to being the first fraternity to reach 300 chapters in the sixties, this has not been matched by any other Farternity since, even though many of our competiters where established 50 years earlier.....We know have around 270 and more being colonized this year.....I think the new ones are Oklahoma U. , Clarion, North Alabama, South Florida....soon to be this year are Colorado, and Umass Dartmouth, and Denver U. after that....and I heard rumors about College of Charleston, and Shippensburg....
So you better get ready, TKE is coming to your University next.....

[pinkyphimu]

"On January 4, 1852, Mary Ann DuPont (Lines), Mary Elizabeth Myrick (Daniel) and Martha Bibb Hardaway (Redding) founded an organization called the Philomathean Society at Wesleyan Female College in Macon, Georgia. Wesleyan was the first institution to grant college degrees to women.

For the next two months the Founders were busy gathering additional members, creating a constitution, devising an initiation service and adopting a secret and an open motto. On March 4, 1852, the members announced the formation of their new society, which became the Alpha Chapter of Phi Mu Fraternity. Since that time, March 4 has been observed as Founders' Day.
By the turn of the century, the Philomathean Society had developed a strong body of alumnae, a history rich in tradition and the confidence to expand into a national organization. On August 1, 1904, the Philomathean Society was chartered by the State of Georgia as a national organization with the exclusive use of the Greek letters FM and the right to establish additional chapters on other campuses.

Today Phi Mu has grown to encompass a diverse membership of more than 140,000 women nationwide."


And to add another interesting fact....one of our founders was roomates with one of the founders of Alpha Delta Pi.

[moe.ron]

Richmond College, where Sigma Phi Epsilon was founded in the early 20th century, was at the time attended by a mere 200 students, and perhaps between a third and a half of this number belonged to five fraternities. Kappa Alpha Order had come there in 1870, Phi Kappa Sigma in 1873, Phi Gamma Delta in 1890, Pi Kappa Alpha in 1891, and Kappa Sigma in 1898. Phi Delta Theta, Sigma Chi, and Sigma Alpha Epsilon also had established chapters there, which had expired. The little Baptist college was founded in 1830, and many of its graduates became Baptist ministers.

Most of the national fraternities, as their histories show, have been established simply because they were needed. The desire for brotherhood was in young men's souls. Sigma Phi Epsilon was founded because twelve young collegians hungered for a campus fellowship based on Judeo/Christian ideals that neither the college community nor the fraternity system at the time could offer. Sigma Phi Epsilon was needed.

Sigma Phi Epsilon Founded

Carter Ashton Jenkens, the 18-year-old son of a minister, had been a student at Rutgers University, New Jersey, where he had joined Chi Phi Fraternity. When he transferred to Richmond College in the fall of 1900, he sought companions to take the place of the Chi Phi brothers he had left behind at Rutgers. During the course of the term, he found five men who had already been drawn into a bond of informal fellowship, and he urged them to join him in applying for a charter of Chi Phi at Richmond College. They agreed, and the request for a charter was forwarded to Chi Phi only to meet with refusal because Chi Phi felt that Richmond College, as any college with less than 300 students was too small for the establishment of a Chi Phi chapter.

Wanting to maintain their fellowship, the six men, Jenkens, Benjamin Gaw, William Carter, William Wallace, Thomas Wright, and William Phillips, decided to form their own local fraternity.

The First Meeting

While in the formative stages, the six original members found six others who were also searching for a campus fellowship that neither the college campus nor the existing fraternity system could offer. The six new members were Lucian Cox, Richard Owens, Edgar Allen, Robert McFarland, Franklin Kerfoot, and Thomas McCaul.

The twelve met one day in October 1901, in Gaw and Wallace's room on the third floor of Ryland Hall to discuss organization of the fraternity they would call "Sigma Phi". The exact date of this meeting is not known, and if any minutes were kept, they have been lost. However, the meeting was probably held before the middle of the month, because the twelve founders are named as members on November 1, 1901, in the first printed roster of the Fraternity. Jenkens is listed as the first member.

Fraternity Recognized

A committee of Jenkens, Gaw, and Phillips was appointed to discuss plans for recognition with the administration of the college. These men met with a faculty committee, where they were requested to present their case. The faculty committee requested that the new group explain:

The need for a new fraternity since chapters of five national fraternities were on the campus and the enrollment at Richmond College was less than 300.
The wisdom of this attempt to organize a new fraternity, with twelve members, of whom seven were seniors.
The right to name the new fraternity Sigma Phi, the name of an already established national fraternity.
Jenkens, Gaw, and Phillips answered along this line:

"This fraternity will be different, it will be based on the love of God and the principle of peace through brotherhood. The number of members will be increased from the undergraduate classes. We will change the name to Sigma Phi Epsilon."

Though the discussion lasted some time, the faculty committee was friendly, and permission was granted for the organization of the new fraternity to proceed, provided full responsibility for the consequences would rest on the group of twelve students.

Immediately at the close of the meeting with the faculty committee, the fraternity committee rushed to Jenkens' room to borrow Hugh Carter's Greek-English Lexicon, convinced themselves that Epsilon had a desirable meaning, and then telegraphed jeweler Eaton in Goldsboro, North Carolina, to add an E at the point of each of the twelve badges which were manufactured and ready for shipment. Before the job of adding an E on the badges was complete, eight other students were invited to join SigEp. The purchase order was then increased to twenty badges at $8 each, with the initials of each man engraved on the back of his badge.

These twenty original heart-shaped badges were of yellow gold, with alternating rubies and garnets around the edge of the heart, with the Greek characters S f and the skull and crossbones in gold and black enamel in the center and a black E in gold at the point. (William Hugh Carter's and Thomas V. "Uncle Tom" McCaul's original badges are on display at Zollinger House.)

Founder Lucian Cox reflected on the "Brotherhood that had inspired him and his brothers" when he wrote in the Sigma Phi Epsilon Journal, Vol. 1 No. 1, March 1904:

"As a member of an ideal fraternity, the resources of every member of that body are my resources, the product of their lives is my daily life. The fraternity is a common storehouse for experience, moral rectitude, and spirituality; the larger and purer the contribution of the individual, the greater the resources of each member."

Five men were invited to join before Christmas and became members in January, 1902. Three more of the first group of 21 joined February 1, 1902.

Find out more: http://www.sigep.org/history_new/default.asp

[ZZ-kai-]

Miami University (Oxford, OH):
Beta Theta Pi - 1839
Phi Delta Theta - 1848
Sigma Chi - 1855
Delta Zeta - 1902
Phi Kappa Tau - 1906

Beta Theta Pi was founded to create a bond of brotherhood without the "evils" that the Alpha Delta Phi's had. There were a few literary societies back in that day, in which Pater Knox was President of. He was asked to join Alpha Delta Phi several times, but decided to start his own fraternity. He did not like what he saw in the Alpha Delt's and was not satisfied with their ideals....hence, Beta Theta Pi was formed on August 8, 1839.

The Snowball Rebellion about killed Alpha Delta Phi and Beta Theta Pi....but thats a whole new topic. Would Phi Delta Theta exist today, if the Snowball Rebellion would not have happened? Who knows?

*Sigma Chi fromed when six members of DKE disbanded.
*TKE was an interest group that was denied colony status from Phi Delta Theta....now look at them, 8,000,000 chapters.

[roselampturtle]

First off we were found at Miami University in Oxford, OH, with the Miami Triad!


Delta Zeta is turning 100 this year!!!!!!! October 24, 2002


This is from our New Member handbook:

Soon after college opened, these alert young women decided that they would organize a YWCA to offer them the kind of friendshio and activity whey the existing YMCA provided the men. The new organization announced itseld with an all-campus party, successful and kindly praised in the Miami Student. Talking it over afterward, several girls expressed a wish for continued enjoymeny of social affairs, and some with friends or relatives on the fraternities commented a bit envious of the advantages those societies could offer. Miami had not provided any dormitory living for its recruited women, and they in boarding houses ot with friends in town. Presently Alfa Lloyd, a coed whose home was in Oxford, entertained a small group of friends with a Welsh rarebit party, popular just then. Here some more seious talk too place, and led to a metting, three days later, in which their wishes crystallized into the decision to form into a sorority. (though obviously these girls did not know much of the women's Greek-letter groups on othese Ohio campuses, they DID know that the word "Sorority" which had been coined for the name of Gamma Phi Beta, when it was formed some years earlier at Syracuse University). "It shall be Alpha Delta Zeta", they decided, and went on to ponder flowers, colors, and suitable emblem, all the features they know the fraternities bethought themselves to keep! Their favored flowere was a new hybrid rose, becoming very popular, the Killarney rose. Logical colors would be those of rose, but in fairness, they did try a number of combinations with "baby ribbon" in the Oxford store. Rose and green won, however, and were adopted.

Early in their discussion they realized that they needed expert, friendly council, and had no hesitancy about going directly to President Benton about this. A member of Phi Delta Theta hiself, he was immediately sympathetic, full of wise inspriration and practical giudance. Wasting no time, the group of six congenial friends made a public debut by marching in the parade of Street Fair which was a traditional Fall event in Oxford. The University students were expected to participate, and this year the public had its first view of "the Miami women" when our little group, obviously enjoyed this experience, marched in the parade carrying not only the red, white, and blue canes where were standard Fair equipment, but long streamers of rose and green breezing from each one. Our founders day is on Alfa Lloyds B-day as a tribute to her, October 24, 1902. Her home was the scene of an elaborate "Rose Reception" which was the formal announcment to the student body and the town of the new organization.

The purpose for which said corporation is formed is as follows:

To build up the character and cultivate truest and seepest friendship among its members. To stimulate one another in the pursuit of knowledge and the attainment of high standard of morality; to inculcate elevated sentiments and noble principles and to afford each other every possible assistance and to incite all the attainment of a memorable fame.

Our founders: Alfa Lloyd, Mary Collins, Anna Keen, Julia Bishop, Mabelle Minton, and Anne Simmons.

Dr Guy Potter Benton aided in the preparation of a ritual and was names Grand Parton, the ONLY man ever privileged to wear the Delta Zeta badge. Elizabeth Coulter was the first pledge to be initiated under the new ritual.

We are starting 3 NEW chapters this year! Pi Alpha, Pi Beta, and Pi Gamma!!!!!

At last count we have 165 awsome college chapters are distributed from coast to coast! !

FYI: I don't know when the Alpha was dropped and
just became Delta Zeta...

Nikki
Iota Iota Chapter
Middle Tennessee State University

[phikappapsiman]

Originally posted by MysticCat81


Well, aside from the Farmville Four and others mentioned above, there are:

The Union College Triad: Delta Phi, Kappa Alpha Society and Sigma Phi

The Miami College Triad: Beta Theta Pi, Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Chi

The Lexington (Virginia) Triad: Sigma Nu and Alpha Tau Omega (at VMI) and Kappa Alpha Order (at Washington and Lee next door)

The Wesleyan (Georgia) Duo: Alpha Delta Pi and Phi Mu

The Monmouth Illinois Duo: Pi Beta Phi and Kappa Kappa Gamma

The University of Virginia Duo: Pi Kappa Alpha and Kappa Sigma

Don't forget the "Jefferson Duo" (Washington and Jefferson College in Canonsburg, PA) where Phi Kappa Psi and Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) were founded!

[kappakracker]

My sorority was found on the base of sisterhood. Sisterhood goes beyond just pledging with someone. Sisterhood is when you stay up all night because your soror needs someone to talk to. Sisterhood is laughing at something your soror says and you are the only one who gets it. Sisterhood is getting together and remebering the good and bad times. Sisterhood is something no money could ever buy! That is why I am a Kappa Pi Omega!

[XOMichelle]

Chi Omega was founded at the University of Arkansas in 1895. A few girls wanted to be a part of a greek letter fraternity, and decided to make their own (instead of join another previously formed group) with the help of a nice dentist :-)

The rest is history!

[Eupolis]

I don't have the whole story with me, but here's the short story of Phi Kappa Tau's beginnings. The organization now known as Phi Kappa Tau was founded by four men at Miami (Oxford, OH) on March 17, 1906. It's a little amusing that they originally called their group the "Non-Fraternity Association," to distinguish themselves from the groups that already existed on campus. As they expanded, though, they took on Greek qualities, changing their name to Phrenocon in 1909. In March 1916, amidst what must have been a bit of controversy, Miami chapter withdrew and named itself Phi Kappa Tau. Nine months later, the rest of the organization followed it, reunifying the fraternity as Phi Kappa Tau.