History

International History

Brave hearts filled with a noble purpose whose eyes saw

clearly into the future...

At a time when society looked upon women only as daughters, wives, and mothers—and therefore not in need of higher education—our ten Founders were pioneers of the coeducational system. Attending school with the handicap of implied, if not open, opposition, our Founders sought support from each other. There was a need for a social center, a place of conference, a tie which should unite, a circle of friends who could sympathize with one another in their perplexities. They formed Alpha Phi in 1872 at Syracuse University. Today, Alpha Phi continues to provide a "tie which unites, a circle of friends" for women young and old all around the world. From hand to hand and heart to heart, we are all grateful and proud of the legacy left to us by our Founders.

Chapter History

Our chapter, Zeta Pi, was founded on November 19th, 1980, after a group of enthusiastic young women banded together in the spring of 1980, calling themselves the LGN (Let's Go National). With the help of the then International Extension Director, our local founders successfully petitioned the Fraternity in the fall and pledged as a colony. We were proudly installed on March 27th, 1982, becoming the first women's fraternity of the National Panhellenic Council (NPC) on Case Western Reserve's campus. Since then, we have grown to become a diverse group of leaders and scholars, holding ourselves to a standard of academic and social excellence, proud to call ourselves sisters of Alpha Phi and productive members of Case's great Greek community.

Our Founders

Top Row: Clara Bradley Wheeler Baker Burdette, Hattie Florence Chidester Lukens, Martha Emily Foote Crow, Ida Arabella Gilbert DeLamanter Houghton

Middle Row: Jane Sara Higham, Kate Elizabeth Hogoboom Gilbert, Elizabeth Grace Hubbell Shults

Bottom Row: Rena A. Michaels Atchison, Louise Viola Shepard Hancock, Clara Sittser Williams

Photo above: Six of our founders attending Alpha Phi's first convention in Syracuse, NY in 1882.

Photo to the left: Our chapter's installation at Case Western Reserve University in 1982, presided over by Nancy DeVoe (Gamma - DePauw) and Mary Carr Boyd (Omicron - Missouri).

Aphi Firsts

1886

Became the first women's fraternity in America to build and occupy its own chapter house.

1894

Became the first women's fraternity to use "traveling delegates," now known as Educational Leadership Consultants.

1902

Called the inter-sorority meeting that resulted in the formation of the association now known as the National Panhellenic Conference, which then included Pi Beta Phi, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Gamma, Gamma Phi Beta, and Delta Delta Delta. This was the first intergroup organization on college campuses.

1906

Became an "International" fraternity when Xi chapter was chartered at the University of Toronto and has maintained the longest continuous presence in Canada of any sorority.

1956

Became the first sorority to establish a foundation, The Alpha Phi Foundation.

1995

Became the first NPC inter/national member to have a site on the World Wide Web.

2006

Became the first women's fraternity to develop a values-based leadership institute for emerging leaders based on women's developmental leadership theories.