Beta Phi Alpha
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Beta Phi Alpha () was a national collegiate
sorority In North America, fraternities and sororities ( and ) are social clubs at colleges and universities. They are sometimes collectively referred to as Greek life or Greek-letter organizations, as well as collegiate fraternities or collegiate sorori ...
operating under that name in the United States from 1919 until 1941. It was absorbed by
Delta Zeta Delta Zeta (, also known as DZ) is an international college Fraternities and sororities in North America, sorority founded on October 24, 1902, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Delta Zeta has 163 collegiate chapters in the United States and C ...
sorority.


History

The group had a succession of names. Founded on the campus of the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
on , Beta Phi Alpha began as Bid-A-Wee, a group created to meet the needs of a "very difficult housing situation" (Miner, p. 144).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.
Through future name changes, the fraternity continued to count its Founders Day as 8 May 1909. The Founders were: *Edith May Harriman *Elsa Erva Meta Ludeke *Anna Belle Nelson *Hattie Belle Paul *Ida Luise Rinn *Lydia Maude TaylorFounders names, symbolism and early history according to a
online blog posting
accessed 29 Aug 2020.
In 1912, the name changed to Aldebaran, after the
star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...
. This change, and an expanded symbolism, mark the point where interest began among members for expansion to other campus groups. On 24 Nov, 1919, the group chose to rename themselves as a Greek letter organization with the name Kappa Phi Alpha (University of California Chronicle, p. 38). But within a year, discovering that a men's fraternity in Boston had been operating under those letters, in 1920, the sorority took on its final name, Beta Phi Alpha. The 1919 date appears to be the juncture where the group, now solidly interested in connecting with other campus organizations, began to establish structures that would aid such growth. This process was led by Mary Gordon Holway, who wrote the ritual and advocated for a Greek letter identity. The main archive URL i
The Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage
Beta Phi Alpha then began the process of nationalization and expansion. In 1923, it was granted membership in the
National Panhellenic Conference The National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) is an umbrella or trade association for 26 national and international women's sororities throughout the United States and Canada. '' Panhellenic'' () refers to the group's members being autonomous social ...
. Expansion was often effected by the absorption of local chapters or restless chapters of struggling non-NPC sororities. One of these was a five-year old local at the
University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...
called Zeta Alpha that became the ''Kappa chapter'' of Beta Phi Alpha in 1927. A total of thirty-five chapters were installed by 1936, but only a portion of them survived due to the economic downturn of the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
. For example, in 1936, two of the six chapters of a small national sorority called Phi Delta affiliated with Beta Phi Alpha, creating chapters at
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
and
George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...
.These joined Beta Phi Alpha, according to this article on NPC organizations that no longer exist
accessed 26 Aug 2020.
But it appears these did not survive, as five years later they were not reflected in the final chapter list at the time of merger with Delta Zeta. On 22 June 1941, Beta Phi Alpha joined in a friendly merger with Delta Zeta sorority (Miner, pp. 144– 145). gained eight undergraduate chapters from the merger.


Legacy

*Beta Phi Alpha's ''Convention Lights'' is still sung at the close of Delta Zeta national conventions. *The gavel which opens Delta Zeta's convention is an artifact of Beta Phi Alpha. It was given to Beta Phi Alpha by Founder Elsa Ludeke. The gavel is inscribed with the names of both sororities' founders and national presidents (Miner, pp. 144– 145).


Final Benedictory

The Final Benedictory (~blessing) was given by Julia Wells Bower at the last Beta Phi Alpha convention in 1941:
''"Sisters in Beta Phi Alpha, we have long traveled a star-lit road together. We have given loving service, have formed priceless friendships, and have learned true wisdom as we traveled that road. Now the warm glow of a brightly burning Lamp joins the soft radiance of our star to light our path. May we be worthy bearers of the Lamp as we are faithful followers of the star!" (Miner, p. 144)''


Creed

The Creed of Beta Phi Alpha was:
We believe in service, the keynote of our daily lives, the foundation of our Fraternity and its power to reveal the worth of woman. We believe in knowledge and its broadening influence, in understanding and unselfish love as the creators of our happiness. We pray for grace to meet success with humility, for strength and courage to rise above failure with spirit renewed, for wisdom to judge man by the spiritual values he may possess. We strive to keep faith in ourselves. We believe in the brotherhood of man and in our kinship to God, our Creator. (Miner, p. 145)


Symbols

Delta Zeta's history book (1983) described the insignia as follows: Its badge "was a pearled with Greek letters and embossed on a field of black enamel at either side of the 's stem". Its colors were Kelly green and gold. Its flower was the yellow tea rose.The fraternity's open motto was "''Scientia, Virtus, Amicitia"'' or "Knowledge, Virtue, Friendship" Its publication was ''Aldebaran.'' Baird's Manual is also available online, here
The Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage


Chapters

Baird's Manual (1940) notes that more than thirty chapters had been established "with a total membership of 3,295." Active chapters at the time of the merger are noted in bold, inactive chapters at the time of merger are listed in ''italics''. Delta Zeta's history (1983) notes that a total of eight new chapters were gained in the merger, with other groups combined and one released.


See also

*
List of social sororities and women's fraternities Social, traditional, or collegiate sororities, in the North American fraternal system, are those that do not promote a particular profession, as professional fraternities do, or discipline, such as service fraternities and sororities. Instead, ...


References

*
Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities ''Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities'' was a compendium of fraternities and sororities in the United States and Canada, published between 1879 and 1991. One modern writer notes, "''Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities'', ...
(multiple volumes, with an online article here
The Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage
) *Miner, Florence Hood (1983). Delta Zeta Sorority 1902- 1982: Building on Yesterday, Reaching for Tomorrow. Delta Zeta Sorority, Comploith Graphics, Muary Boyd and Associates, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana. *University of California, University of California Chronicle, University of California Press, 1920, v. 22. {{National Panhellenic Conference Delta Zeta Merged fraternities and sororities Defunct former members of the National Panhellenic Conference 1919 establishments in California Student organizations established in 1919 Women's organizations based in the United States Sororities