Alpha Xi Delta
Encyclopedia
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
founded on April 17, 1893 at Lombard College
Lombard College
-History:Lombard College was founded in 1853 by the Universalist Church as the Illinois Liberal Institute. In 1855, however, a major fire damaged much of the college, placing its future at risk, but a large gift from Benjamin Lombard, an Illinois farmer and businessman, rescued the institution,...
, Galesburg, Illinois
Galesburg, Illinois
Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County....
. Alpha Xi Delta is one of the oldest women's fraternities as well as one of the ten founding fraternities of the National Panhellenic Conference
National Panhellenic Conference
The National Panhellenic Conference , founded in 1902, is an umbrella organization for 26 national women's sororities.Each member group is autonomous as a social, Greek-letter society of college women and alumnae...
. Alpha Xi Delta has over 150,000 initiated members and maintains chapters at 114 institutions across the United States.
History
The ten founders of Alpha Xi Delta were Cora Bollinger Block, Alice Bartlett Bruner, Bertha Cook Evans, Harriett Luella McCollum, Lucy W. Gilmer, Lewie Strong Taylor, Almira Lowry Cheney, Frances Elisabeth Cheney, Eliza Drake Curtis Everton, and Julia Maude Foster.Alpha Xi Delta is the only National Panhellenic Conference
National Panhellenic Conference
The National Panhellenic Conference , founded in 1902, is an umbrella organization for 26 national women's sororities.Each member group is autonomous as a social, Greek-letter society of college women and alumnae...
sorority that uses Xi in its official name.
Symbols and creed
The open creed of Alpha Xi Delta is called The Symphony of Alpha Xi Delta in which it shows the ideals toward which all Alpha Xi's strive. It was written in 1924 by Helen Willis Lynn, Alice Matthews, and Almira Cheney, one of the original founders."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 misfortunes and with humility meet success.
These things, O Lord, help us to instill within our hearts,
that we may grow in courage, graciousness, and peace."
The stated vision of Alpha Xi Delta is to "inspire women to realize their potential." The colors of Alpha Xi Delta are double blue (light and dark) and gold. The fraternity flower is the pink rose, as chosen by the Founders to complement the white rose of Sigma Nu
Sigma Nu
Sigma Nu is an undergraduate, college fraternity with chapters in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Sigma Nu was founded in 1869 by three cadets at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia...
fraternity whose brothers helped to found Alpha Xi Delta at Lombard College. The mascot is the teddy bear, the official mascot is named BetXi Bear. Each initiated member wears the quill
Quill
A quill pen is a writing implement made from a flight feather of a large bird. Quills were used for writing with ink before the invention of the dip pen, metal-nibbed pens, the fountain pen, and, eventually, the ballpoint pen...
which represents the Alpha Xi Delta open motto "The Pen is Mightier than the Sword."
The mission statement of the fraternity is to
Philanthropy
Alpha Xi Delta's national philanthropy is called Autism SpeaksAutism Speaks
Autism Speaks is the world's largest autism advocacy organization that sponsors autism research and conducts awareness and outreach activities aimed at families, governments, and the public. It was founded in February 2005 by Bob Wright, vice chairman of General Electric, and by his wife Suzanne, a...
. The new philanthropy was announced on April 2, 2009.
Prior to Autism Speaks, Alpha Xi Delta was the only sorority that did not have an official organization as a philanthropy. Choose Children was an idea that gave each chapter to choose what organization they wanted to help.
Notable alumnae
Marley Gibson- Jan DavisJan DavisNancy Jan Davis is a former American astronaut. A veteran of three space flights, Dr. Davis has logged over 673 hours in space. Dr. Davis is now retired from NASA.-Early life:She was born in Cocoa Beach, Florida, but considers Huntsville, Alabama, to be her hometown...
(Gamma Eta) – Astronaut - Betsey JohnsonBetsey JohnsonBetsey Johnson is an American fashion designer best known for her feminine and whimsical designs. Many of her designs are considered "over the top" and embellished...
(Eta) – Fashion designer - Amanda Pennekamp (Epsilon Iota) – Miss South Carolina USAMiss South Carolina USAThe Miss South Carolina USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state South Carolina in the Miss USA pageant. The pageant has been produced by RPM Productions since 1980....
2004, Miss Earth USA 2006 - Deborah PryceDeborah PryceDeborah D. Pryce is an American politician from Ohio and former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for Ohio's 15th congressional district, which includes the western half of Columbus and the surrounding suburbs.She is divorced from Randy Walker and now lives in Upper...
(Psi) – Politician, U.S. Representative from Ohio - Karen Marie SheltonKaren Marie SheltonKaren Marie O’Connor Shelton is an Internet and Telephony Entrepreneurwho is the CEO and founder of Hairboutique.com, one of the oldest and largest consumer hair portals on the Web. She is also the CEO and co-founder of T&S Software, a telephony software provider of award winning software in the...
(Epsilon Xi) – Internet (Hairboutique.com) & Telephony (T&S Software) Entrepreneur - Karen TumultyKaren TumultyKaren Tumulty is a national political correspondent for The Washington Post. Before joining the Post, Tumulty wrote for Time from October 1994 to April 2010. She was a Congressional correspondent as well as the National Political Correspondent based in Washington D.C...
(Beta Alpha) – TimeTime (magazine)Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
National Political Correspondent - Kim WebsterKim WebsterKim Webster is an American actress most commonly known for her role of Ginger, one of Toby Ziegler's secretaries in the communications office on The West Wing. She played this role from the beginning of the series in 1999 and appeared in 57 episodes. Webster is a graduate from West Virginia...
(Iota) – Actress - Diane Wood (Beta Alpha) – federal judgeUnited States federal judgeIn the United States, the title of federal judge usually means a judge appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate in accordance with Article II of the United States Constitution....
on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the Seventh CircuitThe United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts:* Central District of Illinois* Northern District of Illinois...