Category Archives: Women’s Fraternities

Bells on Bobtail Ring

Sometimes the most wonderful things have their roots in disappointment. Imagine three young women, Eva, her cousin Anna, and their schoolmate Mary, students at a women’s school in Oxford, Mississippi. The weather in Mississippi near Christmas of 1873 must have been fairly … Continue reading

Posted in Alpha Tau Omega, Chi Omega, Delta Gamma, Fran Favorite, Pi Beta Phi, The Eleusis of Chi Omega, Theta Xi | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Bells on Bobtail Ring

A Phi Gam Starts a National Tradition, Helped by His Pi Phi Wife

This year’s White House ornament honors the presidency of my favorite First Couple. It was during his administration that the White House Christmas tree tradition began. The White House Historical Association does a great job of telling the story of … Continue reading

Posted in Amherst College, First Ladies, Grace Coolidge, Phi Gamma Delta, Pi Beta Phi, University of Vermont | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on A Phi Gam Starts a National Tradition, Helped by His Pi Phi Wife

4Σ + 2Κ + 2Φ +Α + Δ + Λ + Π + Ρ + Υ = 5 Founders’ Days

Five GLOs were founded on December 10. The theme of the foundings is a common one in the history of Greek-letter organizations, “let’s found a society of our own.” The University of Virginia was the founding campus of the oldest … Continue reading

Posted in Chi Omega, Delta Sigma Phi, Fran Favorite, Kappa Sigma, Pi Kappa Phi | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on 4Σ + 2Κ + 2Φ +Α + Δ + Λ + Π + Ρ + Υ = 5 Founders’ Days

About Alpha Omicron Pi’s Second Chapter

Alpha Omicron Pi was founded on January 2, 1897 at the home of Helen St. Clair (Mullan). She and three of her Barnard College friends, Stella George Stern (Perry), Jessie Wallace Hughan, and Elizabeth Heywood Wyman had pledged themselves to … Continue reading

Posted in Alpha Omicron Pi, Barnard College | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on About Alpha Omicron Pi’s Second Chapter

December 7, 1941 and the GLO World

December 7, 1941, is a day that has lived in infamy. About a week earlier, fraternity men and women were meeting in New York City at the first joint meeting of the National Interfraternity Conference (NIC) and the National Panhellenic … Continue reading

Posted in Alpha Delta Pi, Fran Favorite, Kansas State University, Marine Corps, Phi Gamma Delta, Phi Mu, Sigma Chi, Sigma Nu, University of Maine | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on December 7, 1941 and the GLO World

In the Land of the Illini Thinking of the ‘Cuse

Syracuse has been on my mind lately. I’m not in Syracuse, but this view as I walked out the door yesterday morning reminded me of the quad at Syracuse. The school’s colors even involve orange. And for many years both … Continue reading

Posted in Fran Favorite, Gamma Phi Beta, Pi Beta Phi, Psi Upsilon, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Syracuse University, University of Illinois | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on In the Land of the Illini Thinking of the ‘Cuse

Syracuse on My Mind

I am writing this post on the Amtrak train grateful for the wifi. Last night as I was getting ready for this research trip, when I should have been packing, I was jumping down a rabbit hole, courtesy of a New … Continue reading

Posted in Alpha Tau Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Delta Upsilon, Fran Favorite, Phi Delta Theta, Pi Beta Phi, Syracuse University | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Syracuse on My Mind

GLO Musings on a Soggy Saturday

“We can conceive of no more fitting manner of honoring the early sacrifices of our Founders than to impress the new initiates with the deep meaning of fraternal duty and obligation through the inspiration of the initiation ceremony. In a … Continue reading

Posted in Alpha Kappa Alpha, Alpha Tau Omega, Beta Theta Pi, Chi Omega, Delta Sigma Theta, Dickinson College, Fran Favorite, Mary Love Collins, Sigma Kappa, Theta Chi | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on GLO Musings on a Soggy Saturday

On Thanksgiving Eve Tri Delta Celebrates

If I had a top ten list of the fraternity greats, living or dead, with whom I could have dinner, Sarah Ida Shaw Martin would be on that list. Tri Deltas know her as Sarah Ida Shaw; the rest of … Continue reading

Posted in Alpha Sigma Alpha, Boston University, Delta Delta Delta, Founders' Day, Fran Favorite, Ida Shaw Martin, Knox College, Simpson College, Sorority History | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on On Thanksgiving Eve Tri Delta Celebrates

Psi Upsilon, Sorrow at Washington State, and a Message from Cal

Today marks the 182nd anniversary of Psi Upsilon’s founding at Union College in Schenectady, New York. On November 24, 1833, Robert Barnard, Samuel Goodale, Sterling G. Hadley, George Washington Tuttle, Edward Martindale, Merwin Henry Stewart, and Charles Washington Harvey founded … Continue reading

Posted in Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Fran Favorite, Pi Beta Phi, Psi Upsilon, Syracuse University, Union College, Washington State University | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Psi Upsilon, Sorrow at Washington State, and a Message from Cal