Why was your org founded?

[MaggieXi]

ALPHA XIDELTA

In the 1890s, Lombard College in Galesburg, Illinois, admitted women students, but provided little for them other than academic programming. Physical facilities for women were limited and only a few cultural and spiritual programs were offered to them. In 1873, a local sorority named I.C. Sorosis had become a chapter of Pi Beta Phi National Fraternity, becoming the only organized women’s group on campus. Chapters of Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Nu provided fraternal life for the men on campus. Social activities and a nucleus of friendship were available to their members.

Harriet Luella McCollum had attended Lombard Preparatory School for two years, and in 1893 was a student at the college. Along with Cora Bollinger, she wanted to form a local sorority to encourage personal friendships, promote friendlier contacts with the entire student body, and be of active service to the college. Harriet and Cora shared rooms, one of them a sitting room sparsely furnished with a few straight backed chairs, two low rockers and a small table.

Harriet and Cora met in these rooms behind drawn shades with Lucy Gilmer, Eliza Curtis, and Frances and Almira Cheney. Before long, Bertha Cook, Julia Maude Foster, and Lewie Strong joined them and their secret planning became intense. Alice Bartlett, the youngest at only 15, completed the circle of ten. Attempts by other groups to organize societies had failed, and so secrecy was vital until the official announcement of their plans was to be made. Never more than two girls at a time would arrive at the rooms for a meeting, spacing their arrivals to avoid suspicion. When they saw each other on campus, they were very casual. Lucy Gilmer and Lewie Strong lived in rooms at Mrs. Hadley’s Boarding Hall. Most of the other girls living there were Pi Phis, so Lucy and Lewie ignored each other for fear of giving away their plans. Years later, Lucy and Lewie talked about ducking below the windows of the trolley on their way to planning sessions so that no Pi Phis would see them.

THE SIGMA NU CONNECTION
Since the Pi Phis and Phi Delts had been closely aligned, the idea of another women’s group was enthusiastically welcomed by the Sigma Nus. Several Sigma Nus assisted the fledgling group with organizational ideas. The Constitution and Bylaws were drafted and signed in Julia Maude Foster’s room because it was far from the campus and thought to be safe. A service had been written and a song, whistle and yell composed. Inspired by the familiar quote, “The pen is mightier than the sword,” Lewie Strong had designed the badge, a Quill. The design was given to a local jeweler in anticipation that the Quills would be ready for the girls to wear when they made their first public appearance and announcement. In case the sorority chose to affiliate with Kappa Kappa Gamma when it “went national,” the colors chosen were double blue. Cora and Lucy chose the pink rose as a complement to the white rose of Sigma Nu.

A committee chaired by Cora Bollinger called upon Professor John C. Lee, acting president of Lombard College, to present their plans. They received not only approval but also assurances that the faculty would be pleased to have a second women’s fraternity on the campus. Richard Brown, a leader of independent students, was told of the plans and also lent encouragement to their cause.

Although their badges were not ready, they set the date of April 17 to make their new Fraternity public. A few minutes before chapel time, the Founders met in the room of the Zetecalian Literary Society to pin on knots of double blue ribbon and pink roses, which had been smuggled into the room. With sparkling eyes, flushed cheeks, and proud postures, the ten young women entered the chapel after the faculty and students had been seated. They quietly sat near the back of the room. After a moment of startled silence, the Sigma Nus led congratulatory applause.

After chapel, the girls showed their spirit with the yell they had composed, with emphasis on the last two lines.

Delta! Delta! Alpha Xi Delta!

Anig Banan geefen way! (A collection of Anglo-Saxon syllables, not a sentence, pronounce as it looks.)

Sprechen sie wohl, Alpha Xi Delta! (German,meaning “You say well.” Pronounce spreck’en zie vohl.)

Avons L’intention rester! (French, indicating the intention of being a long-lasting group. Pronounce ah-vohn’ laan-tawn’see-ohn’ ress-tay’.)

Because the Sigma Nus wanted to do something nice for their new Greek sisters to mark this special occasion, two of them outraced two Phi Delts to buy up the box seats for a performance of “Othello,” being presented at the auditorium on April 25. The Alphas and the Sigs enjoyed the play immensely. The Quills were finally ready on April 26, and one of the Founders noted on the card to which these stickpin badges were attached, “too late for ‘Othello’.” Bertha Cook Evans recalled years later that the badges cost $1.25 each, dues were 25 cents a term, and each girl paid an equal share of expenses for parties. The parties were usually held at Alice Bartlett’s home because she was the only town girl in the group.

Bertha also told about a serenade at a Sigma Nu meeting, which was after 6 o’clock one evening. Young ladies were not permitted to be on campus at this hour. The next morning, telltale footprints made by the Alpha Xis in a patch of bare ground were noticed by a member looking out from the window of a classroom. A friendly Sig enlisted a kindly janitor to rake the ground before the footprints could be discovered by a faculty member. The Alpha Xis’ terrible crime remained a secret.

The ages of the Founders ranged from 15 to 26 years. It may be this diversity that explains the youthful enthusiasm coupled with mature wisdom displayed in the development of the enduring purpose, goals and organization of Alpha Xi Delta. In later years, Almira Cheney wrote that the Founders felt that the Universalist-Unitarian philosophy which seven of them embraced, and which stressed the individual worth of each human being, including women, had great bearing on the formation of the fraternity ideals, which have been enduring with the passage of time.

Only seven members returned to Lombard in the fall of 1893. Discussions were held about adding to their members and all agreed that they must choose carefully to assure that the ideals of the group would be maintained. Three new members were initiated that fall. Chapter growth was slow, with the chapter reaching a membership of only 23 even years later. The relationships of the young women were intense, primarily a sharing of friendship and pride. At the beginning of each school year, the Alpha Xi Deltas sponsored a party for all students at the college so that everyone could get acquainted, but especially to help the freshmen become comfortable in their new environment. The idea of joining a national organization was considered, but the members felt that they wanted to perpetuate the name of Alpha Xi Delta and the qualities that they felt were important for its members.

GOING NATIONAL

During the next several years, the chapter continued to grow in membership. Then in 1902, several women did the extraordinary thing of transforming a small local sorority into a national fraternity that would one day be known from coast to coast. Edna Epperson Brinkman and Marion Wrigley Fischer had the vision and the ability to succeed in nationalizing Alpha Xi Delta. During these early years, there always were a few members who thought that the group should join an existing national fraternity. But Marion Wrigley, who had come to Lombard from Chicago, believed that the Alpha Xis had so much to give girls that they should share it by becoming a national organization. In September 1901, she returned to school determined that Alpha Xi Delta should nationalize. As president of the group, Edna Epperson was startled by Marion’s stand and frequently asked her how the nationalization was to be accomplished. Marion wasn’t sure about the “how,” but continued to press for action.

Edna Epperson realized that plans should be kept under cover if they were to be successful. She asked her father who among his group of attorney friends could be trusted to help. He referred her to J.J. Welsh, a Sigma Nu. Alice Bartlett was chosen to assist in the effort. During the fall, winter and spring of 1901-1902, the two young women visited Mr. Welsh about ten times to build the plans and write the preliminary constitution.

In February, Edna and Alice submitted their plans. Later, contracts began with the girls in the PEO chapter in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. They had indicated they were interested in becoming the second chapter in a new women’s Greek letter organization. Marion recalled the thrill that she felt when she learned that Iowa Wesleyan had decided to become Alpha Xi Delta’s Beta Chapter. “What a lucky break that was for us! This group was one of a widely known organization, and had the experiences we sadly lacked. Their enthusiasm was unbounded and their loyalty unquestionable.” It was with the addition of Beta Chapter that a gold ribbon was added to the double blue.

Gamma Chapter at Mt. Union College soon followed, holding their own with the other groups on their campus and having the respect and support of faculty members. With the cooperation of these two new chapters, the young women from Lombard felt that nothing could prevent even further growth.

Taken from alphaxidelta.org

[AlwaysSAI]

SAI is dicussed earlier in the thread, so here's Phi Sig's story:

The Founders
The story of Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity actually begins well over
100 years ago. In 1892, the Missouri Beta Chapter of Phi Lambda Epsilon
was organized as the first fraternity at the State Teachers College at Warrensburg, Missouri (known today as Central Missouri State University). In the spring of 1914, the chapter was disbanded, but from its ashes rose a new group; an organization focused on strong academic achievement, service to mankind, and a celebration of fellowship. Several members of Phi Lambda Epsilon, along with other male students, took their plans for this new fraternity to the faculty.
At first, the faculty did not look favorably on this endeavor, mostly because of the recent closing of Phi Lambda Epsilon. However, three influential men gave their support and encouragement to this fledgling group. The faculty was swayed by these three men into granting the establishment of the new fraternity, and on February 14, 1916, Phi Sigma Pi was born. These three men were the fraternity’s founders, Dr. Eldo L. Hendricks, Dr. Claude A. Phillips, and Dr. C. H. McClure.

The Birth of Phi Sigma Pi
On February 14, 1916, Phi Sigma Pi was founded and originally named Phi
Sigma Pi Honorary Professional Fraternity. The three founders decided that
Phi Sigma Pi would stress not only scholarship, leadership, and fellowship, but
do so in a concept of an equal tripod dedicated to these three ideals. Dr.
Hendricks, the leading force behind the creation of Phi Sigma Pi, was the first
person to sign a Phi Sigma Pi roll book and is therefore known as Alpha 1. He
was followed by Dean Phillips and Professor McClure. In addition to the three
faculty members, the first chapter included ten undergraduate and honorary members.

Phi Sigma Pi Goes Co-Ed (1976 – 1979)
Late in 1975, East Carolina University contacted the Tau Chapter to inform
them they were in violation of Final Title IX Regulation Implementing Education
Amendments of 1972 Prohibiting Sex Discrimination in Education (hereafter
referred to as Title IX). After consulting with the United States Department of
Health, Education and Welfare, it was concluded that the national organization must allow Tau Chapter to admit eligible women or the chapter would cease to exist by July 1, 1976. Under Title IX guidelines, Phi Sigma Pi, as an honor
fraternity, would be required to become coeducational since remaining an allmale organization would have a discriminatory effect upon the future career
opportunities of eligible women (social fraternal organizations are exempt from
Title IX). At the October 7, 1977, National Convention in Washington, D. C., under the leadership of President Richard J. Donald, Iota 800, the National Constitution was amended to admit eligible women, thus ensuring that Phi Sigma Pi would remain an honor fraternity. Women were admitted into Phi Sigma Pi beginning in the fall semester of 1977. Alpha Chapter was reactivated coeducational and Brother Laura Abney became the first woman to be inducted. Tau Chapter was the first existing chapter to induct a female Honorary Brother, Clauda Pennock Todd, Tau 879. The other chapters gradually went coeducational, with Sigma Chapter being the last all-male chapter to admit women in the autumn of 1989. The word, “Brother,” would now come to mean both men and women. The decision to admit females had an enormous impact on Phi Sigma Pi, both in the 1970’s and today. This decision was not welcomed with open arms by the majority of the Phi Sigma Pi Brotherhood. In an excerpt from a letter to the National Office written by a chapter president, it was said “…we are signing our own bill of execution and are baring our necks to the axe. We foresee a fast-approaching end to a fine, outstanding sixty year tradition which has, on our campus, designated a body of exemplary men.” Barry Mitsch, Tau 826, was the initiate advisor when “Sweetheart” was inducted as an Honorary Brother into Tau Chapter. “We were entering the unknown, and it was a challenging time. The fraternity broke into two camps, one that did not want to admit women and was even willing to lose university recognition, and one that understood the need to change. I think the induction of Sweetheart was part of the healing process. I remember it as a joyous occasion. She was quite a remarkable lady in her own respect but usually stayed in the background. Dr. Todd had such big energy, and Sweetheart was the perfect sidekick.”
Today, of course, history tells us that admitting females had an overwhelmingly positive impact on the growth and development
of Phi Sigma Pi. But in the late 1970’s, this seemingly radical change
was difficult for many Brothers to accept. Many Brothers left the fold, and by
1980, only eight chapters remained; Theta, Iota, Pi, Sigma, Tau, Phi, Alpha Alpha and Beta Gamma Chapters.

The above taken from the "Scholar's Province"--the official pledge manual of the fraternity.

Long story short--In the years to follow, under the guidance of many dedicated brothers the fraternity saw many dormant chapters reactivated. And, by the 1990's we were growing by an average of 8 chapters a year.

[Wolfman]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

Ok.

This goes to pet peeve of mine:facile explanations about the origins of BGLOs. Usually, it goes something like this: They were founded as a response to exclusion by white GLOs--an awkward half-truth. If tis was the case, it could be argued that only APhiA, KAPsi and SGRho had reason to exist, and even then that would not be an accurate accounting of the rise of these groups.

Even in the first Omega history book by Dr. Herman Dreer the fact that there was a fraternity on Howard's campus when Omega was formed is not even mentioned; and the second by Dr. Robert Gill briefly,in passing, mentions the founding of Beta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha and the social differences which occasioned the founding of Omega. This story (as the stories of all NPHC groups) have not been fully told, which is important, not for polemical purposes but to understand this movement in the context of the social history of the African American and Greek-Letter communities. I have a question which I can't answer: Why did Omega Psi Phi have such a difficult time with Howard's administration in getting recognition? From what I know--please correct me if I'm wrong!--neither APhiA, AKA, DST, PBS nor ZPhiB ran into any significant resistance from the powers that be at Howard. Bishop Love says that the three undergraduate Founders were threatened with expulsion at one point. History is about the 411--the story behind the story!

[ladygreek]

Originally Posted by Wolfman

Why did Omega Psi Phi have such a difficult time with Howard's administration in getting recognition? From what I know--please correct me if I'm wrong!--neither APhiA, AKA, DST, PBS nor ZPhiB ran into any significant resistance from the powers that be at Howard.

And you would be wrong. But maybe in your case it had something to do with Bishop Love's verbal "wrecking."

[PrettyBoy]

Why were we founded? Because greek life needed something smooth.

[Wolfman]

Originally Posted by ladygreek

And you would be wrong. But maybe in your case it had something to do with Bishop Love's verbal "wrecking."

Please elaborate with evidence;enquiring minds want to know. Bishop Love was a real character. With the same verve, idealism and forthrightness he and his friends had in founding Omega they also supported and egged on some of their disaffected/disgruntled AKA friends who also wanted to do something different at Howard.

[ladygreek]

Originally Posted by Wolfman

Please elaborate with evidence;enquiring minds want to know. Bishop Love was a real character. With the same verve, idealism and forthrightness he and his friends had in founding Omega they also supported and egged on some of their disaffected/disgruntled AKA friends who also wanted to do something different at Howard.

Since you know "this", then you should also know the problems we had in getting recognized, too. Oh and his "friends" were not disaffected nor disgruntled. After all they were the only collegiate members of the sorority. So how can they be disaffected from or disgruntled with themselves? Could it have just been that two of your four were merely supporting their girlfriends' visions of the future?

Please don't make it sound as if the Omegas were knights in shining armour, who after going through great turmoil to get recognized came to the defense of ladies in distress. Trust, those 22 didn't need egging on from anyone. And as a result of what they did and what the alumnae AKAs did there became two highly impactful sororities (growing to four) serving our community.

And I am just speculating that maybe your hard time was because of how the administration was approached. Your were the one who brought up Bishop Love's penchant for verbally "wrecking."

[rhoyaltempest]

From www.sgrho1922.org:

Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. was organized on November 12, 1922 in Indianapolis, Indiana by seven young educators: Mary Lou Allison Little, Dorothy Hanley Whiteside, Vivian White Marbury, Nannie Mae Gahn Johnson, Hattie Mae Dulin Redford, Bessie M. Downey Martin and Cubena McClure. The group became an incorporated national collegiate sorority on December 30, 1929, when a charter was granted to Alpha chapter at Butler University.

In a time when education for African Americans was difficult to attain, the founders of Sigma Gamma Rho became educators. They believed that the self-respect, knowledge and discipline gained through study would help individuals to recognize their duty and responsibility for their society. Thus, Sigma Gamma Rho was founded on the precept of education and continues to promote and encourage high scholastic attainment.

From seven young educators, Sigma Gamma Rho has become an international service organization comprised of women from every profession. Sigma Gamma Rho offers its members opportunities to develop their unique talents through leadership training and involvement in sorority activities. Sorority activities provide an atmosphere where friendships and professional contacts are developed which often lead to bonds that last a lifetime.

Sigma Gamma Rho's commitment to service is expressed in its slogan, "Greater Service, Greater Progress." The sorority has a proud history of offering service wherever chapters exist, including OPERATION BigBookBag, a program designed to address the needs, challenges and issues that face school-aged children who are educationally at-risk in local homeless shelters and extended care hospitals. The objective is for chapters to provide their local homeless shelters and children hospitals with educational materials, equipment and supplies. Other national projects include Wee Savers, Project Reassurance and Habitat for Humanity, Sigma Gamma Rho built seven homes across the United States in Florida, District of Columbia, Wisconsin, California, and Texas.

The service of Sigma Gamma Rho from a global perspective includes Project Africa and Project Mwanamugimu. Through active participation in programs and through networking with other organizations such as the National Council of Negro Women, Urban League and the NAACP, Sigma's legacy of service to improve the quality of life for all mankind continues.

[emb021]

ALPHA PHI OMEGA

The Story Behind the Founding
by Frank Reed Horton, Founder

During the first world war, I served as an ensign in the United States Navy aboard a minesweeper in the North Sea. Our ship and its partner exploded more than 1,000 magnetic mines. My law school background at Boston University led to my appointment to try court martial cases in our Division. When we reached ports some of the sailors ran wild. Many court martial cases resulted. I saw young boys in their teens getting into trouble.

Because of these experiences, I made a firm resolution within myself that if I returned alive, I would try to do two things and do them with all my power. First, do my best to help young people get the right start in life by holding up before them a "standard of manhood" that would withstand the test of time! Second and just as important, try to help the nations of the world settle their disputes in a more sensible and legal manner than by war.

After the war, I became a student at Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania. One evening, while attending an American Legion banquet during my sophomore year, I sat next to an inspiring man named Herbert G. Horton. We were not related but we became fast friends. He, too, had been a naval officer but was now serving as the local Scout Executive. He helped me to become a Deputy Scout Commissioner. One of the troops needed a leader, so I became a Scoutmaster as well.

Through these experiences, I found that the Scout Oath and Law were what I had been seeking - a standard of manhood that would withstand the test of time and a code of ideals created and accepted by some of the greatest leaders the world has ever known.

The summer of my junior year was spent as an Associate Camp Director at the Easton Scout Reservation. Here I was impressed with the religious tolerance in the hearts of the boys. This I have not found so easily among older people. Scouts of the Catholic, Jewish, and Protestant faiths worked together in everything at camp, and everyone had an opportunity to worship on his Sabbath in his own way.

My Brothers in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity house, where I lived, who were outstanding for high ideals and clean living, were all former Scouts. I felt a college organization should be formed that would strengthen men in these ideals, and give them an opportunity for Leadership experience and for Service to others.

As a senior at Lafayette College, I talked to some of the men with a Scouting background and the response was good. These men would join an organization based on the ideals of Scouting. I created the name Alpha Phi Omega, the motto and the Greek words and their meaning and wrote the Ritual. Everett W. Probst designed the pin and drew the Coat-of-Arms. Thane S. Cooley suggested the handclasp. Ellsworth S. Dobson and Gordon M. Looney helped write the Constitution and Bylaws.

Fourteen undergraduates signed as charter Members. Scouting advisors were Dr. Ray O. Wyland and Herbert G. Horton.

The Lafayette College Faculty approved the petition for recognition. On December 16, 1925, I conducted the Ritual Initiation at Brainerd Hall, second floor, and Alpha Phi Omega was born.

My purpose was to make Alpha Phi Omega an organization for college men who cooperated with all youth movements, especially Scouting. I also anticipated that our Service program would expand to help people in need everywhere and to do service on the campus of each Chapter.

As Scouting is worldwide, so should Alpha Phi Omega be worldwide, gradually in the colleges and universities of all the nations. Alpha Phi Omega can help bring about, through the future statesmen of the world, that standard of manhood and international understanding and friendship that will lead to a better, more peaceful world in which to live and in which to make a living and a life.


The above is on our website here: http://www.apo.org/show/About_Us/His...d_the_Founding

It is included in our Pledge Manual. Its based on a more complete write up on our Founding that is available in a booklet from our Fraternity called "In the Begining" by Frank Reed Horton.

[Cane94G8r97]

Thanks to all of you who have shared your organization's story so far. This has to be one of my favorite threads.

[Wolfman]

Originally Posted by ladygreek

Since you know "this", then you should also know the problems we had in getting recognized, too. Oh and his "friends" were not disaffected nor disgruntled. After all they were the only collegiate members of the sorority. So how can they be disaffected from or disgruntled with themselves? Could it have just been that two of your four were merely supporting their girlfriends' visions of the future?

Please don't make it sound as if the Omegas were knights in shining armour, who after going through great turmoil to get recognized came to the defense of ladies in distress. Trust, those 22 didn't need egging on from anyone. And as a result of what they did and what the alumnae AKAs did there became two highly impactful sororities (growing to four) serving our community.

And I am just speculating that maybe your hard time was because of how the administration was approached. Your were the one who brought up Bishop Love's penchant for verbally "wrecking."

I was merely paraphrasing Paula Giddings' assessment of what occurred, as I remember reading it, which is basically in concert with your assertion, if you read what is written instead of reading between the lines. I'm make no value judgement on what they did;the results speak for themselves. The purpose of historical reconstruction is not necessarily for validation or disproval but simply understanding. The version of the Omega founding I related is not the "official" one; but it represents an important perspective by a Founder (and not the only one by any means!) to understand fully why the movement arose and its basic values, historically speaking, which transcends the "PR" material you'll find on any organizational website--which I pasted also.

The fact is this: for whatever reason the Delta founders were not satisfied with what AKA represented at the time; and presumably the graduate AKA members had a different assessment of the situation--along with later AKA historians? That's what I meant. And you may be right about why the Omega founders encountered such resistance--but I'm not interested in speculation, just evidence, historical evidence. I'm not an attorney; I don't ask rhetorical questions!

[Fleur de Lis]

Kappa Kappa Gamma was founded in 1870 at Monmouth College. The founding members of Kappa Kappa Gamma were Hannah Jeannette Boyd, Mary Moore Stewart (Nelson, Field), Anna Elizabeth Willits (Pattee), Mary Louise Bennett (Boyd), Martha Louisa Stevenson (Miller), Susan Burley Walker (Vincent).

As collegiates at Monmouth College, they were determined to form a Greek letter organization for women. Founders Minnie Stewart, Jeannette Boyd, and Louise Bennett first met around 1869-1870 in the Amateurs des Belles Lettres Hall, a literary society of which the women were active members when they first decided to form a new society. They determined that nothing short of a Greek letter fraternity, equal to men’s fraternities, would satisfy them. Since chapel exercises were required for all students, the founding members announced the formation of the new group by wearing their golden key pins to the Chapel service on October, 13, 1870; hanging back so that they would have to sit in front after the other students were seated.

[sigtau305]

From: http://www.sigmataugamma.org

Our Principles


Sigma Tau Gamma was founded with the understanding that all men are social creatures and that friendships made in college days are lasting ones. Believing that a social Fraternity must be dedicated to the highest ideals of manhood and brotherhood; to congeniality, the development of good personal characteristics and social poise; to good scholarship, mature thinking and action; to good citizenship, democratic principles and acceptance of responsibility; and, to loyalty and service to college, community, country and Fraternity; Founder Edward H. McCune authored a set of Principles. Embraced by our Founders and early members, these Principles have become our guide.

[BlueNYC2]

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C., January 9, 1914, by three young African-American male students. The founders, Honorable A. Langston Taylor, Honorable Leonard F. Morse, and Honorable Charles I. Brown, wanted to organize a Greek letter fraternity that would truly exemplify the ideals of brotherhood, scholarship, and service.

The founders deeply wished to create an organization that viewed itself as "a part of" the general community rather than "apart from" the general community. They believed that each potential member should be judged by his own merits rather than his family background or affluence...without regard of race, nationality, skin tone or texture of hair. They wished and wanted their fraternity to exist as part of even a greater brotherhood which would be devoted to the "inclusive we" rather than the "exclusive we".

From its inception, the Founders also conceived Phi Beta Sigma as a mechanism to deliver services to the general community. Rather than gaining skills to be utilized exclusively for themselves and their immediate families, the founders of Phi Beta Sigma held a deep conviction that they should return their newly acquired skills to the communities from which they had come. This deep conviction was mirrored in the Fraternity's motto, "Culture For Service and Service For Humanity".

Today, 93 years later, Phi Beta Sigma has blossomed into an international organization of leaders. No longer a single entity, the Fraternity has now established the Phi Beta Sigma Educational Foundation, the Phi Beta Sigma Housing Foundation, the Phi Beta Sigma Federal Credit Union, and the Phi Beta Sigma Charitable Outreach Foundation. Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., founded in 1920 with the assistance of Phi Beta Sigma, is the sister organization. No other fraternity and sorority is constitutionally bound as Sigma and Zeta. We both enjoy and foster a mutually supportive relationship.

[Ilaria Ame]

off the website:

Lambda Psi Delta Sorority, Inc. was founded on March 9, 1997 in Connecticut by Nine Strong Women formerly part of a Latina sorority. These women originally pledged seeking to fulfill several key goals: bonds of sisterhood, opportunities for service in all communities, a chance to help empower women through their actions, and a support network through which they could achieve personal and academic excellence. As their time in that organization grew, however, they found that sorority to be lacking in its internal structure, constricting in its outlets for service, limiting in its definitions of sisterhood and cultural identity and fraught with internal and external strife. After numerous years of struggling to work through these many issues, they realized their vision of a sisterhood was in direct contradiction with that of the original organization.

So they took a long look around at other Greek-Letter organizations, the changing scope of society and their campus communities and noted several issues, one of which was of dire importance to the Founders: more and more women on college campuses were falling into the crevices of the collegiate community because there existed no one place, no one community which was broad enough to understand, appreciate and embrace all cultures equally, one community which truly supported and promoted the empowerment of women, which allowed for women leaders from all communities to come together, grow together, and proclaim excellence, service and sisterhood. Most existing organizations seemed too oriented towards one specific community, leaving other cultures along the sidelines, not allowing women to get to know other women from other cultures and communities. Many other organizations seemed to lose their original ideals of commitment to community behind a mirage of organizational symbolism, the campus social scene and internal bureaucratic hierarchy.

So they saw what was their mission: to create an organization whose primary goal was the upliftment and empowerment of women and their communities through intellectual and leadership development and cultural awareness. They sought to create an organization where each woman could fight for her own cause in her own community, at the same time uniting all other communities to support and aid in the struggle through the works of the sorority. And so, Lambda Psi Delta, a multi-ethnic, service based organization, for women by women and about women, was formed to give all women a chance to experience true sisterhood.