Brave hearts filled with a noble purpose whose eyes saw clearly into the future

Alpha Phi was founded at Syracuse University in 1872 by ten of the first twenty women admitted to Syracuse. Our original ten founders were brave and strong women who saw a need for a social center, a place of conference, a tie which should unite a circle of friends who could sympathize with one another in their perplexities. Out of this need, they created Alpha Phi Fraternity.

Today, Alpha Phi continues to provide a "tie which unites a circle of friends" for women young and old all around the world.

Alpha Phi is represented by the Greek letters "Alpha," the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and "Phi" the twenty-first letter. The "Phi" in Alpha Phi is pronounced "fee" not "fie." Why? In the Greek language, "Phi" is pronounced "fee" when it follows a vowel. Alpha Phi is also officially called, "Alpha Phi International Fraternity" because at the time we were founded the term "sorority" had not yet been coined.

Pledge The Alpha Phi Pledge was written in 1892 by Geneve Gwynn Wiley, (A - Syracuse). "I pledge allegiance to Alpha Phi, Who has chosen me to uphold her high Ideals of womanhood and scholarship, And of service and to perpetuate her Spirit of sisterly love and kindness."

Alpha Phi has launched an outstanding record of accomplishments, including:

• 1875 invited Frances E. Willard (a women's suffrage leader) to become the first alumna initiate.
• 1886 became the first women's fraternity in America to build and occupy its own chapter house.
• 1888 established the Alpha Phi Quarterly, an award-winning magazine that has been published continuously to the present day.
• 1894 became the first women's fraternity to use "traveling delegates," now known as Educational Leadership Consultants.
• 1902 called the inter-sorority meeting that resulted in the formation of the association now known as the National Panhellenic Conference, which then included Pi Beta Phi, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Gamma, Gamma Phi Beta, and Delta Delta Delta. This was the first intergroup organization on college campuses.
• 1905 had a member, Frances E. Willard, recognized by the U.S. Congress who placed a statue of her in Statuary Hall in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, the first woman to be so recognized. The pose is typical of her, standing at a lectern with a manuscript in her hand.
• 1906 became an "International" fraternity when Xi chapter was chartered at the University of Toronto.
• 1922 on the 50th anniversary, accumulated a $50,000 endowment fund.
• 1940 had a member, Frances E. Willard, portrayed on a U.S. postage stamp.
• 1964 made 100 commemorative gavels from the cherry and birch stair railing of the first sorority house and presenting them to the collegiate chapters, with the wish that they might serve as a "continuing reminder of Alpha Phi ideals which have stayed so constant over the past years."
• 1986 introduced RESPOND: A Forum for Supportive Action, an anti-victimization education program dealing with alcohol abuse, acquaintance rape, eating disorders, suicide, and harassment.
• 1988 introduced risk management education to collegians.
• 1990 introduced a peer education program for AIDS education.
• 1995 became the first NPC international/national member to have a site on the World Wide Web.