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Delta Zeta

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Delta Zeta ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, also known as DZ) is an international college sorority founded on October 24, 1902, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Delta Zeta has 163 collegiate chapters in the United States and Canada, and over 180 alumnae chapters in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. As of 2013, there are over 300,400 college and alumnae members, making it the third largest sorority in the nation (after Alpha Delta Pi and Chi Omega).<ref name="Baird's Manual Online">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} The main archive URL is The Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage.</ref><ref name="utdallas">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 1954, the sorority adopted speech and hearing as its philanthropic cause, and is partnered with the Starkey Hearing Foundation and Gallaudet University. Throughout its history, it has absorbed several other smaller sororities and also opened its first Canadian chapter in 1992. Delta Zeta is one of 26 national sororities that are members under the umbrella organization of the National Panhellenic Conference; the sorority joined the Conference in 1910.

HistoryEdit

Delta Zeta Sorority was founded at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 1902, the same year that the university first allowed female students.<ref name="history">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Miami is dubbed the "Mother of Fraternities" because of the many prominent men's fraternities which were founded there.<ref name="Baird's Manual Online" />

Six of the newly admitted women consulted the university president Guy Potter Benton, regarding the founding of the first sorority chapter.<ref name="history" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Having been a leader in the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, he was familiar with the processes of a Greek organization and helped the women establish Delta Zeta, the first sorority at the campus. Benton aided in the preparation of the sorority's ritual, badge, and colors. For his contributions, he was named its Grand Patron.

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Delta Zeta's founders

The Delta Zeta Sorority was officially incorporated on October 24, 1902. Its founding members were Julia Lawrence Bishop, Mary Jane Collins, Alfa Lloyd Hayes, Anna Louise Keen, Mabelle May Minton, and Anne Dial Simmons.<ref name="Baird's Manual Online" />

The first National Assembly, with Lloyd as the national president, was held in 1907.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref> In 1910, Delta Zeta published the first issue of its national magazine, The LAMP, now issued three times a year.<ref name=":1" /> That same year, the sorority joined the National Panhellenic Conference.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref>

Throughout the middle of the century, Delta Zeta absorbed four other sororities: Beta Phi Alpha in 1941, Phi Omega Pi in 1946, Delta Sigma Epsilon in 1956, and Theta Upsilon in 1962; most of these sororities had previously absorbed other, smaller sororities as well.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Spring1995Lamp">The Spring 1995 edition of The Lamp of Delta Zeta, p.10, has an article about the sorority's several mergers. Accessed 25 Aug 2020.</ref><ref name="Baird's Manual Online" /> In 1992, Delta Zeta chartered its first Canadian chapter at the University of Windsor, marking the beginning of the sorority's international expansion.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="Baird's Manual Online" />

SymbolsEdit

Delta Zeta's gold badge consists of a Roman lamp on top of a Ionic column, with the three wings of Mercury on each side.<ref name=":02">Template:Cite news</ref> The Greek letters {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} are inscribed on the lamp in black enamel.<ref name=":02" /> There is a diamond set at the spout of the lamp and four pearls inset on the capital of the column.<ref name=":3">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web

}}</ref> The original badge did not include pearls, which were added a few years later.<ref name=":1" />

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Delta Zeta headquarters in Oxford, Ohio

The new member pin is a black enamel diamond decorated with a Roman lamp in gold.<ref name=":02" /> The Roman lamp is the sorority's symbol.<ref name=":2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Delta Zeta's flower is the pink Killarney rose.<ref name=":02" /> Its stone is the diamond. The turtle is its mascot. The sorority's official colors are rose and green.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":02" /> (The 1905 Baird's Manual lists the colors as old rose and Nile green.) Delta Zeta is one of the first sororities to have had a Lilly Pulitzer print made with its symbols.<ref name=":1" />

Its publication is The LAMP of Delta Zeta.<ref name=":02" />

GovernanceEdit

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The Delta Zeta chapter house at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio
File:DeltaZeta Urbana Illinois 4426.jpg
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign chapter house

The National Council of Delta Zeta is an alumnae board tasked with the governance of the organization.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The Delta Zeta Foundation is a not-for-profit entity within the organization that provides various scholarships for members of the sorority as well as funding leadership, philanthropy, and education programs. There is a national philanthropic organization for active members of Delta Zeta known as the 1902 Loyalty Society, and members join by donating $19.02.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

ChaptersEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Delta Zeta has 165 collegiate chapters in the United States and Canada and over 200 alumnae chapters in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.<ref name="Baird's Manual Online" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Notable membersEdit

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  • Nanette Fabray (Xi Omicron), actress, worked to bring sign language and captioning to television<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Tina Fey (Lambda Delta), actress, Primetime Emmy Award winner, Golden Globe Award winner
  • Lisa Franchetti (Alpha Alpha) former United States Navy admiral who served as the 33rd chief of naval operations from 2 November 2023 to 21 February 2025. First woman to be chief of naval operations, and the first woman to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Edith Head (Alumna Initiate, Mu), Emmy Award-winning designer; seven-time Oscar winner in costume design<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Florence Henderson (Alpha Chi, honorary alumnae initiate), actress<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Helen Johnston, physician<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
  • Princess Märtha of Sweden (Alumna Initiate, Upsilon), princess of Sweden and crown princess of Norway.<ref>Brewer, Nancy, and Rochelle Mackey. A Century of Sisterhood: The Story of Delta Zeta Sorority 1902–2002. Phoenix: Heritage, Inc., AZ.</ref>
  • Miriam E. Mason (Epsilon), Notable children's author<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Mary Jo West (Alpha Sigma), First primetime anchorwoman in Phoenix, member of the Arizona Women's Hall of Fame<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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ControversiesEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} At the end of 2006, the Delta chapter of Delta Zeta at DePauw University became enmeshed in a controversy that would eventually make national headlines and result in the chapter's closure.<ref name="MSNBC">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Delta Zeta national leadership was criticized after The New York Times published an article accusing the national office of moving certain members of the Delta chapter at DePauw University to alumnae status based on their perceived attractiveness. Founded in 1909, the Delta chapter was the sorority's second-oldest active chapter and its fourth-oldest chapter overall (a "single letter" chapter). Despite its long history at DePauw, the chapter struggled with declining membership and had acquired a negative reputation on campus. As a result, Delta chapter members voted to request Delta Zeta Sorority to close the chapter due to falling numbers and a lack of interest in recruitment. When notified of the chapter decision, Delta Zeta Sorority arranged a chapter membership review and chapter reorganization rather than closing the chapter completely. Several of the members who were moved to alumnae status, and therefore required to move out of the Delta Zeta house at DePauw, argued that they were moved to alumnae status due to their perceived unattractiveness, weight, or ethnicity and contacted the media.<ref name="NYTimes">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

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