Rest in Peace, Sandra Day O’Connor

Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve as a U.S. Supreme Court justice, died on December 1, 2023, at the age of 93. Although there are rumors to the contrary, O’Connor was not a sorority woman. She attended Stanford University when there were no NPC chapters on campus. A few of my archivist friends and I share common experiences searching for Sandra Day O’Connor connections, in pre-internet days, to our organization because our alumnae were absolutely certain she was a member of our respective organizations. It was funny when we all compared notes on this!) O’Connor’s mother Ada Wilkey Day was a member of the University of Arizona chapter of Gamma Phi Beta. I was asked about Sandra Day O’Connor and her sorority affiliation because someone remembered her speaking at the 1979 Pi Beta Phi convention in Phoenix, Arizona. I checked the convention coverage in the fall 1979 Arrow. Not a word. But Sandra Day O’Connor was not appointed to the Supreme Court until 1981, so that might have had some bearing on the Arrow coverage. I then went to the convention file and looked at the program. O’Connor, who at the time was a Superior Court Judge, was part of a panel. (Do not ask me about Ed Sullivan moderating the discussion. I tend to think it was not the variety show host.) The funny thing is that the rumor that she is a sorority woman has been going around for more than half a century. Some think she is a Chi O; others say she’s a Theta, or maybe a Kappa. Some swear she is a Pi Phi. She was at Stanford University when there was not a women’s fraternity system there and she is not a member of any NPC group. Three other justices have been sorority woman. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was an initiate of the  Cornell University Alpha Epsilon Phi chapter. Amy Comey Barrett, an initiate of the Kappa Delta chapter at Rhodes College, was the second sorority woman appointed to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Barrett, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in English. She is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, Mortar Board and is in the Rhodes Student Hall of Fame. In June 2023, Ketanji Brown Jackson became an honorary initiate of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.  I am reminded of the quote from a post which was highlighted previously. In 1921, Mary Love Collins, Chi Omega , said “All women are lifted up by heights attained by one woman.”