Alpha Xi Delta

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Alpha Xi Delta
ΑΞΔ
Alpha Xi Delta crest.png
FoundedApril 17, 1893; 128 years ago (1893-04-17)
Lombard College, Galesburg, Illinois
TypeSocial
AffiliationNPC
ScopeNational
MottoThe Pen is Mightier than the Sword
Colors  Light blue

  Dark blue

  Gold
SymbolQuill
FlowerPink rose
JewelPearl, diamond
PublicationThe Quill of Alpha Xi Delta
Chapters129 active (217 total)
Members162,000+ lifetime
MascotBetXi Bear
Headquarters8702 Founders Road
Indianapolis, IN 46268
United States
Websitewww.alphaxidelta.org

Alpha Xi Delta (ΑΞΔ or A-"Zee"-D ) is a women's fraternity founded on April 17, 1893[1][2] at Lombard College in Galesburg, Illinois, United States.

Alpha Xi Delta is a member of National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), the umbrella organization of 26 national sororities. By its constitution, Alpha Xi Delta is one of the few social sororities that accepts graduate students as well as undergraduates.[3] The sorority has over 185,000 initiated members and maintains active chapters at 130 institutions across the United States, and its headquarters are located in Indianapolis, Indiana.

History[]

In 1893, ten women at Lombard College in Galesburg, Illinois founded Alpha Xi Delta. It is referred to as a fraternity due to having been founded before the term "sorority" was used.

The ten founders of Alpha Xi Delta were:[4]

  • Cora Bollinger Block (1869–1944) was the first President of Alpha Xi Delta. She went on to be the first Grand President.
  • Alice Bartlett Bruner (1878–1966) taught music at the Lombard Conservatory. She had two daughters who later joined the sorority as a legacy.
  • Bertha Cook Evans (1874–1957) had three daughters, two of whom joined Alpha Xi Delta. Later in her life, she served as a fraternity house director.
  • Harriett Luella McCollum (1874–1948) and Cora, roommates at Lombard, were the first to make the plan for Alpha Xi Delta.
  • Lucy W. Gilmer (1872–1939) was the first Vice President of Alpha Xi Delta. After 1893 she transferred schools, where she studied to be a physician.
  • Lewie Strong Taylor (1867–1950) designed the quill symbol, which is on display at national headquarters.
  • Almira Lowry Cheney (1875–1946) was a teacher who went on to pioneer religious education by becoming a minister of the Universalist Church. She was also Chaplain of the 12th, 13th, and 14th National Conventions for Alpha Xi Delta.
  • Frances Elizabeth Cheney (1869–1901), in her time as an Alpha Xi, served as chaplain, secretary, and president. She is given credit for many of the fraternity's early songs.
  • Eliza Drake Curtis Everton (1867–1934) was Alpha Xi Delta's second president.
  • Julia Maude Foster (1875–1948) was a member of the committee who drafted Alpha Xi Delta's first constitution.

In 1904, the sorority joined the National Panhellenic Conference. Alpha Xi Delta's first chairman of the NPC wrote the Panhellenic Creed, a statement still used on many college campuses today.[5]

Alpha Xi Delta House at the University of Texas at Austin

After several failed attempts, women were admitted for the first time in Georgia Tech in the 1950s. To help support the first women on campus, women's advocate and Alpha Xi Delta alumna Ella Wall Van Leer helped stablish the first sorority and Alpha Xi Delta chapter on Georgia Tech campus.[6][7][8]

Symbols[]

The colors of Alpha Xi Delta are double blue (light and dark) and gold.[9] The fraternity flower is the pink rose,[9] as chosen by the founders to complement the white rose of Sigma Nu fraternity, whose brothers helped to found Alpha Xi Delta at Lombard College.[10]

Alpha Xi Delta's badge is the shape of a quill, with the fraternity's Greek letters on the barbs of the feathers. It may only be worn by initiated members in good standing. The quill represents the open motto "The Pen is Mightier than the Sword."[11] A variety of designs were produced in the early years of the fraternity; a standard design was devised by 1911.[12]

The Coat of Arms (crest) is described as: "... a shield supported by two griffins. In the golden band across the center of the shield is the Quill. Three conventional roses are at the top of the shield, and a broken sword is in the lower portion of the shield. Above the shield on the knight's helmet is a twist of ribbon in alternating blue and gold, and a blossomed rose."[9]

BetXi Bear has been the fraternity's official mascot since 1989.[9]

Symphony[]

Alpha Xi Delta's open creed is called "The Symphony of Alpha Xi Delta", and it lists the ideals of the fraternity's members:

"These things do we earnestly desire: A clear vision of life, that with gracious and kindly hearts we may share both joy and sorrow and bring into living reality the Sisterhood of women. An appreciation of real merit and worth, steadfastness of soul, that without bitterness or defeat we may encounter misfortune and with humility meet success. These things, O Lord, help us to instill within our hearts that we may grow in courage and graciousness and peace."[13]

It was written in 1924 by Helen Willis Lynn, Alice Matthews, and Almira Cheney, one of the founders.[14]

Philanthropy[]

As of June 14, 2021, Alpha Xi Delta has initiate the Kindly Hearts Campaign (KHC), a year of service and fundraising to support communities in some of the areas most directly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.[15]

Alpha Xi Delta's national philanthropic partner was Autism Speaks from April 2, 2009 - June 14, 2021.[16] The sorority raised more than $12,000,000 for its philanthropic partner.[17][18]

Under the Autism Speaks partnership, chapters and alumnae associations observe World Autism Awareness Day on April 2 and Autism Awareness Month throughout the month of April. Sisters raise awareness in various ways, including passing out blue ribbons, placing advertisements in campus and local newspapers, distributing information in the community and appearing on local television programs to educate people about autism. The sorority also participates in Light It Up Blue, an initiative started by Autism Speaks in 2009 to help "Shine a Light on Autism by Illuminating Prestigious Buildings and Monuments Throughout the World". Members participate by lighting their chapter houses, campus monuments and sports facilities blue during the month of April.[19]

Prior to partnering with Autism Speaks, Alpha Xi Delta was the only sorority that did not have an official organization as a philanthropy. The "Choose Children" policy gave each chapter direction to choose which organization they wanted to help.

The AmaXIng Challenge[]

Alpha Xi Delta Sorority house at Ohio University

The AmaXIng Challenge is Alpha Xi Delta's signature fundraising event designed to raise critical funds for Autism Speaks. Each college chapter hosts at least one of the following events per year:[20]

  • Step It Up Walk/Run
  • Xi Man Competition
  • Xi Marks the Spot
  • Football FrenXI
  • Puzzlepalooza
  • Karaoke for a Cause

Controversies and change[]

Ending Racial Barriers[]

An event from the waning days of WWII showcases the intensity whereby collegiate members were beginning to break from cultural norms that were common until those decades of change. Few Black students attended the University of Vermont by mid-Century - there were only two enrolled in 1943. Many of the student body, including the majority of members of the ΑΞΔ chapter on the campus had agitated in 1945-46 for a removal of racial and religious quotas that had limited enrollment for decades. Calls for civil rights and religious plurality were rising. But it was the return of servicemen and women, and the GI Bill that finally broke the dam, as within a few years returning veterans sought admission in schools where they previously had been unable to attend due to financial inability or racial and religious quotas.[21] Campus after campus, and fraternity after fraternity would overturn race and religious barriers with the entry of vast numbers of servicemen and women whose worldview had broadened due to the experiences in the War. But ΑΞΔ's Upsilon chapter was on the forefront of that movement.

In October 1945, Crystal Malone Brown — then known as Crystal Malone — was a junior on the Burlington campus of the University of Vermont when she was accepted as the first and only Black member of the Upsilon chapter of Alpha Xi Delta sorority.[22] But Beverly Robinson, the national sorority president, rejected Mrs. Brown's admission into the half-century-old organization. She ordered the university's chapter closed when Mrs. Brown refused to withdraw her membership. Her advice to the pledge: “Life is selective, and maybe it's just as well to learn it while we are young.” [21]

This event, and the loss of the chapter was instructive, and Alpha Xi Delta, like all Panhellenic sororities soon removed racial barriers to membership. There are no such barriers today.

Local Chapter Misconduct[]

In 2010, the Miami University chapter of Alpha Xi Delta was suspended until 2014 for alcohol violations stemming from their destructive formal at Cincinnati's National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.[23][24] As of 2019, the sorority had yet to recolonize.[25]

In 2011, the Alpha Xi Delta national organization revoked the Binghamton University chapter's charter for "continu[ing] to violate Alpha Xi Delta's policies on risk management and observance of Fraternity rituals despite efforts to lead the chapter to a culture consistent with Alpha Xi Delta's policies and value."[26]

In 2017, the Cornell University chapter of Alpha Xi Delta was placed on probationary status for three years, "as a result of incidents determined to include both hazing and alcohol policy violations."[27]

In 2017, the University of Central Florida chapter of Alpha Xi Delta was suspended on the grounds of "allegations of alcohol-related misconduct, which includes providing alcohol to someone underage; hazing; and possessing and/or providing false and misleading information and/or falsification of university records."[28]

Controversy over Autism Speaks affiliation[]

See also: Autism Speaks § Controversies

In 2017, editorials appeared in the Temple University[29] and the College of New Jersey[30] student newspapers criticizing Alpha Xi Delta for its philanthropic connections to Autism Speaks on the grounds that the organization misunderstands, misrepresents, and promotes harmful stereotypes of individuals with autism.

Membership[]

University of Illinois chapter house, listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Students line up in front of the Alpha Xi Delta house at Purdue University during recruitment.

Chapters[]

Main article: List of Alpha Xi Delta chapters

Notable alumnae[]

Entertainment

Business

Writers

  • Carol Aebersold (Gamma Chi) – co-author of The Elf on the Shelf[50]
  • Karen Tumulty (Beta Alpha) – national political correspondent for Time magazine and The Washington Post[51]
  • Emily Beck (Iota Chi) - co-author of ""[52]

Government and military

Anne Clarke (politician) American-born British Labour Party London Assembly member.

  • Jan Davis (Gamma Eta) – NASA astronaut[53]
  • Mimi Blackburn Drew (Nu) – first female Rear Admiral, United States Navy[51]
  • Deborah Pryce (Psi) – politician, U.S. Representative from Ohio[54]
  • Susan Winckler (Sigma) – former Acting Chief of Staff of the Food and Drug Administration[55]
  • Ella Lillian Wall Van Leer (Gamma Eta) – artist and architect, women's rights activist[56]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Alpha Xi Delta. 5–6. G. Banta Company. 1907. p. 143. OCLC 445768029. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
  2. ^ Baird, William Raimond; Brown, James Taylor (1920). Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities (9th ed.). G. Banta Company. pp. 430–432. OCLC 17350924. Retrieved 2011-04-10.. Baird's Manual is also available online here: The Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage.
  3. ^ The Constitution itself is not available to the public. However, an official workbook of the organization's academic standards specifically mentions "graduate students who were initiated as graduate students," clearly making reference to the Constitutional possibility of such members. Link: http://www.alphaxidelta.org/clientuploads/Academic/2012%20Academic%20Achievement%20Chair%20Breakout%20Workbook.pdf Archived 2015-07-07 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ^ "Why the founders of Alpha Xi Delta are squad goals". odyssey. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  5. ^ "Alpha Xi Delta: History/Insignia". Alpha Xi Delta. Archived from the original on 2012-04-01. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
  6. ^ "The Incredible Women that Created Our Chapter". alphaxidelta.com.
  7. ^ "Georgia Tech Celebrates 50 Years of Women". news.gatech.edu. Georgia Tech. March 21, 2003. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  8. ^ "Ella Van Leer: The 'backbone' of women at Tech". Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine. Vol. 79 no. 2. Fall 2002. p. 42.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Founders & Insignia". Alpha Xi Delta. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  10. ^ "Alpha Xi Delta Manuscript Collection". Knox College Library. Retrieved 2011-04-12.
  11. ^ "Quill Badge". Alpha Xi Delta. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  12. ^ "The History of our Quill". Alpha Xi Delta. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  13. ^ "About Alpha Xi Delta". Alpha Xi Delta. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  14. ^ 4200258. "The Quill of Alpha Xi Delta - Winter 2017". Issuu. Retrieved 2021-09-08.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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  16. ^ "Alpha Xi Delta Raises More than $120,000 in Support of Autism Speaks". Autism Speaks. April 2, 2009. Retrieved 2011-04-10.
  17. ^ Blog post: ΑΞΔ raises more than $2M for Autism Speaks Archived 2014-02-23 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 27 May 2014
  18. ^ "Alpha Xi Delta : Philanthropy/Service (2012 report)". Alpha Xi Delta. July 24, 2012. Archived from the original on April 14, 2012. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
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  22. ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/crystal-malone-brown-dc-educator-who-tried-to-integrate-sorority-in-1940s-dies-at-94/2021/03/05/a63e88ac-7dbc-11eb-85cd-9b7fa90c8873_story.html
  23. ^ "Unrecognized Organizations – Miami University". miamioh.edu. Archived from the original on 2017-11-29. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
  24. ^ "More Drunken Sorority Madness". The Smoking Gun. 2010-07-11. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
  25. ^ "Unrecognized Organizations - Miami University". miamioh.edu. Archived from the original on 2017-11-29. Retrieved 2018-09-25.
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  27. ^ "Alpha Xi Delta put on probationary recognition | Cornell Chronicle". news.cornell.edu. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
  28. ^ Dahm, Daniel (2017-11-21). "UCF sorority suspended amid hazing, alcohol-related allegations". WKMG. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
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  37. ^ "Miss Delaware 2012 Alyssa Murray - Miss America". Miss America. Archived from the original on 2018-06-18. Retrieved 2018-06-18.
  38. ^ "Miss WV Appearance Scheduled" (PDF). The Glenville Mercury. 1981-03-27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-07-18. Retrieved 2017-06-17.
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  50. ^ "Working for Santa – Tennessee Alumnus Magazine". tennessee.edu. 7 September 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
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  52. ^ Paris Martineau (16 November 2017). "How Twitter Turned a Bizarre Poetry Book of Vines Into a No. 1 Amazon Best Seller". nymag.com. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  53. ^ "Astronaut Bio: N. Jan Davis". NASA. January 2006. Archived from the original on 10 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-19.
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  55. ^ "Susan Winckler - Leavitt Partners". Leavitt Partners. Retrieved 2018-06-18.
  56. ^ Spikes, Lauren (1 November 2013). "Greek Life Commemorates 125 Years at Tech". news.gatech.edu. Georgia Tech. Retrieved 17 April 2018.

External links[]

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