Delta Phi Epsilon International Sorority was founded on March 17, 1917, at New York University Law School. DPhiE is the only sorority founded at a professional school.
Most sororities and fraternities based in the United States were founded on college campuses by undergraduate students. Whether they began as more traditional organizations, or were based on religion such as Theta Phi Alpha, they all served the same purpose: giving women a place to belong within the college community.
Delta Phi Epsilon International Sorority was founded on March 17, 1917, at New York University’s Law School by Minna Goldsmith Mahler, Eva Effron Robinson, Ida Bienstock Landau, Sylvia Steierman Cohn, and Dorothy Cohen Schwartzmen. Delta Phi Epsilon became the first and only of the National Panhellenic Conference sororities or women’s fraternities to be founded at a professional school by women who were not undergraduate students.
History of Delta Phi Epsilon
Delta Phi Epsilon recieved its articles of incorporation from the State of New York in 1922, and became an international organization in the same year after establishing a chapter at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.
In 1942, at the onset of the United States entering World War II, each collegiate member and alumnae member of Delta Phi Epsilon pledged to devote a minimum of three hours of volunteer service to a war-related endeavor.
According to the National Panhellenic Conference, Delta Phi Epsilon was granted full membership in the organization in 1951, along with ten other sororities and women’s fraternities, including Sigma Sigma Sigma and Alpha Sigma Alpha, and the four other members of the former Association of Education Sororities.
Delta Phi Epsilon Today
Today, DPhiE, as the organization has been nicknamed, maintains over 70 active collegiate chapters and numerous alumnae organizations across the United States and Canada.
Delta Phi Epsilon has three philanthropic projects: the Delta Phi Epsilon Educational Foundation, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.
The Delta Phi Epsilon Educational Foundation was established in 1967 to help collegiate members and alumnae continue their educational endeavors and to provide educational programming for collegiate chapters. It also provides emergency financial assistance to collegiate members when their families suddenly face financial hardship and are unable to pay tuition and associated fees.
Delta Phi Epsilon, like many other sororities and fraternities, can be identified through various insignia adopted throughout the organization’s history.
- Colors: royal purple and pure gold
- Symbol: unicorn
- Flower: the lovely purple iris
- Philanthropies: Delta Phi Epsilon Educational Foundation, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders
- Motto: “Esse Quam Videri” To Be Rather than To Seem to Be
Founded in 1917, Delta Phi Epsilon began as the first sorority founded by students at a professional school. Today, Delta Phi Epsilon continues to serve both undergraduate and alumnae members by providing fellowship and services for a lifetime.
