Beta Phi Alpha

Beta Phi Alpha (ΒΦΑ) was a national collegiate sorority operating under that name in the United States from 1919 until 1941. It was absorbed by Delta Zeta sorority.

Beta Phi Alpha
ΒΦΑ
Founded	May 8, 1909; 116 years ago (1909-05-08) University of California, Berkeley
Type	Social
Former affiliation	NPC
Status	Merged
Merge date	June 22, 1941
Successor	Delta Zeta
Scope	National
Motto	Scientia, Virtus, Amicitia (Knowledge, Virtue, Friendship)
Colors	Kelly green and   Gold
Publication	Aldebaran
Chapters	35
Members	3,295 lifetime
Headquarters	United States

History

The group had a succession of names. Founded on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley on May 8, 1909, Beta Phi Alpha began as Bid-A-Wee, a group created to meet the needs of a "very difficult housing situation" (Miner, p. 144).^[1] 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 Taylor^[2]

In 1912, the name changed to Aldebaran, after the star. This change, and an expanded symbolism, mark the point where interest began among members for expansion to other campus groups.^[2]

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.^[2][3]

Beta Phi Alpha then began the process of nationalization and expansion. In 1923, it was granted membership in the National Panhellenic Conference. 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 called Zeta Alpha that became the Kappa chapter of Beta Phi Alpha in 1927.^[4] 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. 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 and George Washington University.^[5] 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.^[3]

On 22 June 1941, Beta Phi Alpha joined in a friendly merger with Delta Zeta sorority (Miner, pp. 144– 145). ΔΖ gained eight undergraduate chapters from the merger.^[2][3]

Legacy

• Beta Phi Alpha's Convention Lights is still sung at the close of Delta Zeta national conventions.^[1]
• 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 Φ with Greek letters Β and Α embossed on a field of black enamel at either side of the Φ'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.^[6]

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.^[3]

Name	Chartered	Institution	Location	Status	Notes	Reference
Alpha	May 8, 1909	University of California, Berkeley	Berkeley, CA	Merged		[a][7]
Beta	1923–1937	University of Illinois	Champaign and Urbana, IL	Inactive		[b][8]
Gamma	1923	Colorado State Agricultural College	Fort Collins, CO	Merged		[c][9]
Delta	1923–1938	University of Washington	Seattle, WA	Inactive		[d][9]
Epsilon	1923–1937	Southern Methodist University	University Park, TX	Inactive		[e][10][9]
Zeta	1924–1933	Lawrence College (WI)	Appleton, WI	Inactive		[f][9]
Eta	1924	University of Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh, PA	Merged		[g][10][9]
Theta	1925	Syracuse University	Syracuse, NY	Merged		[h][10][11]
Iota	1925–1933	University of Wisconsin	Madison, WI	Inactive		[i][12][9]
Kappa	1926–1939	University of Minnesota	Minneapolis, MN	Inactive		[j][13][9]
Lambda	1926	UCLA	Los Angeles, CA	Merged		[k][9]
Mu	1926-1932	Ohio Wesleyan University	Delaware, OH	Inactive		[l][10]
Nu	1926–1934	Kansas State University	Manhattan, KS	Inactive		[m][14]
Xi	1927–1932	Ohio State University	Columbus, OH	Inactive		[n][10]
Omicron	1927	Nebraska Wesleyan University	Lincoln, NE	Merged		[o][14]
Pi	1927–1939	Coe College	Cedar Rapids, IA	Inactive		[p][14]
Rho	1928	Oregon State University	Corvallis, OR	Merged		[q][10]
Sigma	1929–1937	Samford University	Homewood, AL	Inactive		[r][9][15]
Tau	1928	Tulane/Newcomb University	New Orleans, LA	Merged		[s][14]
Upsilon	1929	Miami University	Oxford, OH	Withdrew (ΑΧΩ)		[t][10]
Phi	1929–1934	Purdue University	West Lafayette, IN	Inactive		[u][9]
Chi	1930	Oglethorpe University	Brookhaven, GA	Merged		[v][9][16]
Psi	March 6, 1931–1940	Florida State University	Tallahassee, FL	Inactive		[w][17]
Omega	1931	Wittenberg University	Springfield, OH	Merged		[x][10]
Alpha Alpha	1931–1939	Randolph-Macon Woman's College	Lynchburg, VA	Inactive		[y][9]
Alpha Beta	1931	Adelphi University	Garden City, NY	Merged		[z][10]
Alpha Gamma	1931–1935	University of Oregon	Eugene, OR	Inactive		[aa][10]
Alpha Delta	1932-1935	Louisiana Tech	Ruston, LA	Inactive		[ab][14]
Alpha Epsilon	1934–1937	Westminster College	New Wilmington, PA	Inactive		[ac][10]
Alpha Zeta	1934	College of Charleston	Charleston, SC	Merged		[ad][18]
Alpha Eta	1935–1938	George Washington University	Washington, DC	Inactive		[9][19]
Alpha Theta	1935	New York University	New York City, NY	Merged		[20][9][21]
Alpha Iota	1937	University of Miami	Coral Gables, FL	Merged		[ae][9]

1. This chapter was absorbed into the Mu chapter of ΔΖ.
2. This chapter originated as Delta Nu (local) in 1922. It ceased operations approximately four years prior to the ΔΖ merger.
3. This chapter originated as Zeta Tau Omega (local) in 1922. At the merger, it became the Beta Sigma chapter of ΔΖ.
4. This chapter ceased operations approximately three years prior to the ΔΖ merger.
5. This chapter originated as Alpha Rho (local) in 1922. It ceased operations approximately four years prior to the ΔΖ merger.
6. This chapter originated as Epsilon Alpha Phi (local) in 1919. It ceased operations approximately eight years prior to the ΔΖ merger.
7. This chapter originated as Theta Gamma Phi (local) in 1920. At the merger, it was absorbed by the Omicron chapter of ΔΖ, which had been installed on the campus in 1916.
8. This chapter originated as Delta Epsilon Phi (local) in 1922. At the merger, it reestablished the dormant Alpha Kappa chapter of ΔΖ, which had been installed on the campus in 1924 but had closed by 1937.
9. This chapter originated as Epsilon Alpha Phi (local) in 1924. It ceased operations approximately eight years prior to the ΔΖ merger.
10. This chapter originated as Zeta Alpha (local) in 1924. It ceased operations approximately two years prior to the ΔΖ merger.
11. This chapter originated as Chi Zeta (local) in 1924. At the merger, it was absorbed by the Alpha Chi chapter of ΔΖ, which had been installed on the campus in 1922.
12. This chapter originated as Phi Sigma Delta (local) in 1925. It ceased operations prior to the ΔΖ merger.
13. This chapter originated as Gamma Phi Delta (local) in 1917. It ceased operations prior to the ΔΖ merger.
14. This chapter originated as Lambda Pi Omega (local) in 1921. It ceased operations prior to the ΔΖ merger.
15. This chapter originated as Alpha Epsilon (local) in 1907. At the merger, it became the Beta Tau chapter of ΔΖ.
16. This chapter originated as Alpha Theta (local) in 1919. It ceased operations prior to the ΔΖ merger.
17. This chapter originated as Delta Omega (local) in 1920. At the merger, it was absorbed by the Chi chapter of ΔΖ, which had been installed on the campus in 1919.
18. This chapter originated as Lambda Sigma (local) in 1921. It ceased operations prior to the ΔΖ merger.
19. This chapter originated as Alpha Pi Epsilon (local) in 1918. At the merger, it became the Beta Upsilon chapter of ΔΖ.
20. This chapter originated as Kappa Tau Alpha (local) in 1925. Upsilon chapter of ΒΦΑ was released at the time of the merger, as Miami University already was home to Delta Zeta's founding chapter. Later that same year this chapter became Beta Tau chapter of Alpha Chi Omega.
21. This chapter originated as the Themis Club (local) in 1921. It ceased operations prior to the ΔΖ merger.
22. This chapter originated as Phi Kappa Eta (local) in 1926. At the merger, it became the Beta Phi chapter of ΔΖ.
23. This chapter originated as Chi Gamma (local), forming in 1928. It was installed as ΒΦΑ's Psi chapter on 6 March 1931, but closed just prior to the ΔΖ merger.
24. This chapter originated as Chi Delta Omega (local) in 1923. At the merger, it became the Beta Chi chapter of ΔΖ.
25. This chapter originated as Gamma Tau (local) in 1929. It ceased operations prior to the ΔΖ merger.
26. This chapter originated as Phi Gamma Sigma (local) in 1922. At the merger, it was absorbed by the Alpha Zeta chapter of ΔΖ, which had been installed on the campus also in 1922.
27. This chapter originated as Chi Delta (local) in 1927. It ceased operations prior to the ΔΖ merger.
28. This chapter originated as Zeta Iota (local) in 1927. It ceased operations prior to the ΔΖ merger.
29. This chapter originated as Kappa Alpha Alpha (local) in 1927. It ceased operations prior to the ΔΖ merger.
30. This chapter originated as Iota Lambda Phi (local) in 1923. At the merger, it became the Beta Psi chapter of ΔΖ.
31. This chapter originated as Alpha Kappa Alpha (local) in 1929. At the merger, it was absorbed by the Beta Nu chapter of ΔΖ, which had been installed on the campus in 1939.

See also

• List of social sororities and women's fraternities