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Gamma Phi Beta is an international sorority that was founded on November 11, 1874 at Syracue University in Syracuse, New York. Our four founding sisters were Helen M. Dodge, Frances E. Haven, E. Adeline Curtis, and Mary A. Bingham. They were imaginative and courageous risk-takers who cooperated unselfishly as they worked to achieve the same ideals Gamma Phi Beta emphasizes today.
Colleges and universities admitted very few women in the 1870’s. In fact, administrators and faculty members gave women a rather reluctant welcome in many aspects of higher education and the overall college experience. They argued women had “inferior minds” and could not master mathematics, the classics, and the like. During this time of controversy, Dr. E. O. Haven, Syracuse University chancellor and former president of the University of Michigan and Northwestern University, maintained that women should receive the advantages of higher education. He thus enrolled his daughter Frances, at Syracuse, which in 1874 had approximately 200 students and 10 faculty members.
Instead of joining the two-year-old Alpha Phi, Frances asked three friends to assist her in organizing a new society. They sought the advice and help of Dr. Haven, their brothers, the faculty, and members of two existing fraternities. The minutes of their meeting on November 11, 1874 state, “Miss Dodge was appointed to draft a constitution.” Frances Haven and Helen Dodge agreed to ask Dr. Haven for a suitable name and motto.
The Founders met again on November 16th for further discussions as recorded in the minutes: “The merits of six mottos suggested by Chancellor Haven were discussed, and the motto Gamma Phi Beta unanimously accepted.” They agreed on a badge design for which they sought the help of Charles M. Cobb and Charles M. Moss, Frances’ future husband. Helen’s brother, a divinity student, suggested the Hebrew word. The jeweler delivered the first badges on December 16, 1874, just two days before the close of the term. The first new initiate, Clara Worden, was initiated in March of 1875.
Historical Highlights
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