Editing Alpha Delta Pi

{{Short description|North American collegiate sorority}}
{{Confusion|Alpha Delta Phi}}{{Infobox Sorority
| name = Alpha Delta Pi
| letters = {{lang|grc|ΑΔΠ}}
| crest = Alpha_Delta_Pi_crest.png
| image_size = 170px
| founded = {{start date and age|1851|05|15}}
| birthplace = [[Wesleyan College]] ([[Macon, Georgia]])
| affiliation = NPC
| status = Active
| type = Social sorority
| emphasis = <!--Not typically used by general fraternities and sororities.-->
| scope = International
| mission = 
| vision = 
| motto = ''We Live For Each Other''
| member badge = [[File:Alpha Delta Pi badge.png|90px]]
| colors = {{color box|#007FFF}} [[Azure (color)|Azure]] and {{color box|#FFFFFF}} [[White]] <!--This first color swatch is standard "Azure", while the crest exhibits more of a Turquoise.  Turquoise has a range of variants. If the crest color is preferable over the officially-named color of Azure, here is the hex code of the bluish color on the crest: 86CFD8 -->
| flower = Woodland [[Violet (plant)|Violet]]
| jewel = [[Diamond]]
| mascot = "Alphie" The Lion
| publication = ''The Adelphean''
| philanthropy = [[Ronald McDonald House Charities]]
| chapters = 161
| members = <!--Optional; this should be the average number of active members during any given year.-->
| lifetime = 260,000+
| address = 1386 Ponce de Leon Ave., NE
| city = [[Atlanta]]
| state = [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]
| ZIP code = 30306
| country = United States
| homepage = {{URL|http://www.alphadeltapi.org/}}
}}
[[File:AlphaDeltaPiHouse Urbana Illinois 4547.jpg|thumb|right|[[University of Illinois]] chapter house, listed in the [[National Register of Historic Places|NRHP]]]]

'''Alpha Delta Pi''' ('''{{lang|grc|ΑΔΠ}}'''), commonly known as '''ADPi''' (pronounced "ay-dee-pye"), is an International Panhellenic [[Fraternities and sororities in North America|sorority]] founded on May 15, 1851, at [[Wesleyan College]] in [[Macon, Georgia]]. It is the oldest [[secret society]] for women.<ref name="Baird's">{{cite book |editor1-first=Jack L. |editor1-last=Anson |editor2-first=Robert F. |editor2-last=Marchenasi |title=Baird's Manual of American Fraternities |edition=20th |year=1991 <!--|origyear=1879--> |publisher=Baird's Manual Foundation, Inc. |location=Indianapolis, IN |isbn=978-0963715906 |page=IV-4–8}}</ref>

Alpha Delta Pi is a member of the [[National Panhellenic Conference]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Our Member Organizations |url=https://npcwomen.org/about/our-member-organizations/ |access-date=2023-06-22 |website=National Panhellenic Conference |language=en-US}}</ref> The sorority's national philanthropic partner is the [[Ronald McDonald House Charities]]. Its executive office is located in [[Atlanta]], Georgia.

== History ==
Alpha Delta Pi was first founded as the '''Adelphean Society''' on May 15, 1851, at [[Wesleyan College|Wesleyan Female College]] in [[Macon, Georgia]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Baird's" /> The six founders included Eugenia Tucker Fitzgerald, Elizabeth Williams Mitchell, Sophronia Woodruff Dews, Octavia Andrew Rush, Mary Evans Glass, and Ella Pierce Turner.

In 1904, a committee of three, led by Jewel Davis, contacted Attorney Dupont Guerry, the college's president, about to the procedure to become a national organization. They secured a charter of incorporation from the state of Georgia. In 1905, the Adelphean Society changed its name to '''Alpha Delta Phi'''.<ref>Thus briefly, the women's group had a name identical to [[Alpha Delta Phi]] fraternity, which had formed as a men's organization in 1832. As explained in the body text, this coincidental naming was again changed, eight years later, to its present form.</ref> At the time of nationalization, Alpha Delta Phi, as a ''women's fraternity'', had sixty active members and 3,000 alumnae.

In 1905, the ''Beta chapter'' was established at [[Salem College]] in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, by two members of the ''Alpha chapter''. The chapter had seven members and fifteen new initiates until the administration abolished sororities three years later. In 1906 its ''Gamma chapter'' was founded at [[Mary Baldwin University|Mary Baldwin Seminary]]. Visitors were not allowed at the school, so the chapter charter and special instructions were delivered to the new group by mail.

In 1906, Jewel Davis entered the [[University of Texas at Austin]] as a graduate student, organized a group, and installed them as ''Delta chapter'', the fourth chapter of Alpha Delta Phi. Jewel Davis is listed as a charter member as there was no precedent for affiliation. Today, the ''Delta chapter'' at The University of Texas at Austin is the oldest surviving chapter of Alpha Delta Pi. Between 1906 and 1912, eight more chapters were founded at various universities.

In 1913, Alpha Delta Phi officially changed its name to '''Alpha Delta Pi'''. The deliberations over this change remain largely unknown aside from the impetus of the discovery of a pre-existing men's fraternity using those exact letters and which pre-dated the original Adelphean Society's inception by almost 20 years. There seems to be little to no speculation as to why "Pi" was specifically chosen as a replacement letter, and or why it took so long to hear of the pre-existing [[Alpha Delta Phi]] fraternity.<ref>Many years later, in 1992, some of Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity's chapters withdrew to form the co-ed [[Alpha Delta Phi Society]] which came to include several of ''that'' fraternity's oldest chapters (ex: its Columbia chapter, formed as a men's chapter in 1836.) But this later creation of the ADPhi ''Society'' (in 1992) had no bearing on the decision (in 1913) to rename what had started as the Adelphean Society as Alpha Delta '''Pi'''.</ref> Thus in 1913, the Adelphean Society, through Convention legislation, changed the name of the organization, adopted a recognition pin, and appointed a standardization committee.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.alphadeltapi.org/Page/History|title=Alpha Delta Pi – History|agency=Alpha Delta Pi Executive Office}}</ref> The trustees at Wesleyan Female College voted to abolish sororities, leading to the closure of ''Alpha chapter'' in 1915.<ref name="phi">{{cite web|url=https://www.alphadeltapi.org/Page/History|title=History of Alpha Delta Pi|last1=Pi|first1=Alpha Delta|website=Alpha Delta Pi|publisher=Alpha Delta Pi Executive Office|access-date=4 August 2016}}</ref> ''Chi chapter'', at [[Wittenberg University]], was the first chapter to bear the new name at installation. In 1948, Mrs. Carolee Strock Stanard retired as Grand President and part of her keynote address became ''The Creed of Alpha Delta Pi''. In 1960, Alpha Delta Pi's 100th chapter, ''Delta Omicron'', was installed at [[East Carolina University]].

In 1979, Alpha Delta Pi adopted [[Ronald McDonald House Charities|Ronald McDonald Houses]] as the National Philanthropy. In 1983, Alpha Delta Pi Foundation was established. In 2001, Alpha Delta Pi celebrated its 150th anniversary in Atlanta, Georgia, and in 2006, the ''Delta chapter'', the oldest open chapter of ADPi, celebrated its 100th anniversary at The University of Texas at Austin. In 2009, ''Theta Theta chapter'' at [[Quinnipiac University]] was installed. ''Theta Theta'' was the 200th chapter of ADPi to be installed. Chapters continue to be installed and anniversaries are celebrated at numerous university campuses.<ref name="Baird's Manual Online">{{cite web|editor1=William Raimond Baird |editor2=Carroll Lurding |title=Almanac of Fraternities and Sororities (Baird's Manual Online Archive), section showing Alpha Delta Pi |url=https://uofi.app.box.com/v/womens-pdf-folder/file/459803154069 |website=Student Life and Culture Archives |publisher=University of Illinois Archives |access-date=24 Aug 2021 |location=University of Illinois |language=English}} The main archive URL is [https://www.library.illinois.edu/slc/welcome/fraternity-sorority-almanac/ The Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage].</ref>

== Symbols and publications ==
The open [[motto]] of ADPi is "We Live for Each Other,".  The sorority's colors are [[Azure (color)|azure]] blue and white.<ref name=":02">{{Cite news |date=January 2018 |title=Manual of Information |url=https://npcwomen.dynamic.omegafi.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2037/2018/01/manual-of-information-2018.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618075328/https://npcwomen.dynamic.omegafi.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2037/2018/01/manual-of-information-2018.pdf |archive-date=2018-06-18 |access-date=2018-06-17 |work=National Panhellenic Conference |page=16 |edition=23rd}}</ref> To the sorority, blue is symbolic of friendship, which the sorority cites as one of its founding values; white symbolizes sincerity and truth, which are two qualities the sorority states it looks for in its members.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.alphadeltapi.org/page/symbols/|title=Symbols – Alpha Delta Pi|website=www.alphadeltapi.org|access-date=2018-06-13}}</ref> The official flower is the woodland [[violet (plant)|violet]];<ref name=":02" /> however since woodland violets are found in the wild and not available for purchase, people often substitute the [[African violet]]. The official jewel and symbol is the [[diamond]], which the sorority uses as a symbol of "the enduring strength and value of friendship".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://nwmissouri.alphadeltapi.org/chapter-history|title=Alpha Delta Pi {{!}} Northwest Missouri State University|last=Pi|first=Northwest Missouri State University chapter of Alpha Delta|website=nwmissouri.alphadeltapi.org|access-date=2018-06-13|archive-date=2018-06-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613133937/http://nwmissouri.alphadeltapi.org/chapter-history|url-status=dead}}</ref> The mascot for Alpha Delta Pi is a [[lion]] with the nickname of Alphie.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alphadeltapi.org/contentmanager/page.asp?webpageid=198|title=Symbols|publisher=Alpha Delta Pi|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090607095146/http://www.alphadeltapi.org/contentmanager/page.asp?webpageid=198|archive-date=2009-06-07|url-status=dead|access-date=21 June 2009}}</ref> 

''The Adelphean'' is the sorority's quarterly magazine.<ref name=":02" /> Its first issue was published March 12, 1907.<ref name="Adelphean">{{cite news |last1=Phi |first1=Alpha Delta |date=12 March 1907 |title=The Adelphean of Alpha Delta Pi |url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=tdITAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&pg=GBS.PP3 |access-date=4 August 2016 |publisher=Alpha Delta Pi |issue=1 |agency=Alpha Delta Pi}}</ref>

=== Badge ===
The first diamond-shaped badge, also known as a [[Lozenge (heraldry)|lozenge]], was first worn by the Adelpheans in 1851. Stars were not included on this first badge, but it did have a monogram of the Wesleyan pin attached to the badge by a link chain, thus forming a guard. In 1854, the stars were added, but it was not until 1874 that the stars and the clasped hands were raised. This design remained with only slight modifications until 1906 when, at Alpha Delta Pi's first convention, Nanaline King presented a new design for the pin. Her design was a smaller gold badge with a black enamel center which pictured the clasped hands, the two stars, and the Greek letters, Alpha Delta Phi.<ref name=":02" /> This design was adopted by the convention and is still in use today, except for the Greek letter Phi being changed to Pi at the 1913 convention.

The new member badge is a gold pin emblazoned with a lion atop the Greek letters '''{{lang|grc|ΒΥΑ}}'''.<ref name=":02" />

=== Coat of Arms ===
Elizabeth Moseley Coles, who was elected national president at the first grand convention, was responsible for having Alpha Delta Pi's [[coat of arms]] designed. Another sister of the ''Alpha chapter'', Agnes Chapman, is given credit for the actual design of the coat of arms. Symbolism from the ritual and the Alpha pin were combined in the coat of arms, and the design originally had a background of violets. In 1919, the convention body voted to make changes and the present design was accepted.

==Philanthropy==
Since 1979, Alpha Delta Pi has been committed to serving Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC). Throughout their partnership, Alpha Delta Pi has contributed more than $16 million to RHMC. Local RMHC Chapters operate Ronald McDonald House, Ronald McDonald Care Mobile, and Ronald McDonald Family Room programs in local communities.<ref>{{cite web |title=Service and Philanthropy |url=https://www.alphadeltapi.org/page/serviceandphilanthropy/ |website=Alpha Delta Pi}}</ref>

== Chapters ==
{{Main|List of Alpha Delta Pi chapters}}

Alpha Delta Pi currently has 161 chapters in the [[United States]] and [[Canada]], with the majority concentrated in the southern United States, and over 150 alumnae associations.<ref name="Baird's Manual Online" /> 

== Notable members ==
{{Main|List of Alpha Delta Pi members}}

== See also ==
*[[List of social sororities and women's fraternities]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.alphadeltapi.org/ Alpha Delta Pi's Official International Website]
* [https://dlg.usg.edu/record/dlg_ghm_alpha-delta-pi-memorial-headquarters Alpha Delta Pi Memorial Headquarters] historical marker

{{National Panhellenic Conference}}
{{Fraternities and Sororities |collapsed}}

[[Category:Alpha Delta Pi| ]]
[[Category:Student organizations established in 1851]]
[[Category:National Panhellenic Conference]]
[[Category:Student societies in the United States]]
[[Category:Women's organizations based in the United States]]
[[Category:1851 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Organizations based in Atlanta]]
[[Category:Sororities]]