Delta Gamma

      Delta Gamma offers to women of all ages a rich heritage based on principles of personal integrity, personal responsibility and intellectual honesty. Its primary purpose is to foster high ideals of friendship, promote educational and cultural interests, create a true sense of social responsibility, and develop the finest qualities of character.

 Delta Gamma was founded in 1873 in Oxford, Mississippi, at the Lewis School for Girls near the University of Mississippi. The three founders of Delta Gamma are Anna Boyd Ellington, Eva Webb Dodd, and Mary Comfort Leonard. Each of the three Founders was a woman of strong character and special talents.

During the Christmas of 1873, three women, Mary Comfort Leonard, Eva Webb Dodd, and Anna Boyd Ellington, were stranded at their boarding school, the Lewis School for Girls in Oxford, Mississippi by rains that halted the railroad lines. It was then that they decided to form a club. The club motto was "Do Good" and the purpose would be to solidify the friendship and sisterhood they already felt. Eight years later, the establishment of a Mississippi state college for women resulted in the closing of the Lewis School and similar institutions. By chance, however, a Phi Delta Theta from Indiana named George Banta decided to bring Delta Gamma to the co-educational universities of the North.

As the population moved West, so did Delta Gamma. What began as a club in the South soon became an international fraternity in both scope and thinking as Delta Gamma established itself not only in the United States, but also in Canada. Through the years, goals and achievements have grown as Delta Gammas continue to live by the motto set forth by the Founders, "Do Good."

Delta Gamma is among the oldest of Women's fraternities. More than 150,000 members have been initiated at the rate of 5,000 each year. Delta Gamma is established on nearly 140 college campuses across the United States and Canada.

 Symbols:

 The original badge of our Founders was the letter “H”. This symbolized Hope, which was our Founders’ watchword.

  Only initiated members wear the official badge of the Fraternity. In 1877 the “H” badge changed to an anchor, which is the traditional symbol for hope.

 

 

 Women who are pledged to join, but who are not yet initiated wear the new member pin. The white shield has the Greek letters Pi Alpha inscribed on it. This shield is the suggested Fraternity badge and will be exchanged for the badge upon initiation.  

 

 

 

The Fraternity flower is the cream-colored rose. The Fraternity colors are bronze, pink and blue.

 

 

 

The Fraternity seal is used on by Fraternity officers for the official papers of the Fraternity.

 

 

 

  The crest of Delta Gamma has special meaning to its members. The colors of the crest are cream for the rose at the apex of the crest; gold for the three, five five-pointed stars on the shield, the rope around the shield and outline of the scroll ribbon; burnt maize for the flanking ornaments of the rose and the Greek letters, Tau Delta Eta; blue for the lower two-thirds of the shield; green for the upper third and center section of the shield and the leaves of the rose; and rose for the Greek letters Delta Gamma which appear on the center section.