Delta Gamma

Website

http://www.deltagamma.org/

Our Story

Collegiate membership in Delta Gamma Fraternity brings with it countless memories and experiences which will shape its members for years to come. Consistent with our Founders’ thoughts more than 129 years ago, our primary purpose is to create an environment for our members in which lasting friendships and our vows of sisterhood emanate all aspects of our Fraternity. We encourage an atmosphere which will foster high ideals of friendship among college women, promote their educational and cultural interests, create in them a true sense of social responsibility and develop in them the best qualities of character. Through our Delta Gamma Foundation we support our members’ academic endeavors with undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships and interest-free loans. Every member is unique and yet they all join together in a single bond of friendship through Delta Gamma. Delta Gamma is more than just a collegiate experience; it is a lifetime of commitment, support and opportunity awaiting you. It marks the beginning of a relationship that will last for a lifetime, changing and evolving with time.

Benefits & Expectations

Delta Gamma welcomes thousands of exceptional young women into membership each year at more than 140 college campuses in the United States and Canada. Promoting service, sisterhood, scholarship and leadership, Delta Gamma offers outstanding opportunities to its members. Our collegians are campus leaders, community and campus volunteers and academic achievers.

Service:
Delta Gamma’s members are dedicated and creative in finding ways to “Do Good”. Each year, thousands of collegians and alumnae donate time, money and talents to the Delta Gamma Foundation and Service for Sight. Delta Gamma collegians raise money through Delta Gamma’s Anchor Splash or other Anchor Games which can include anything from golf to basketball. The college experience is enhanced by Delta Gamma’s strong commitment to serving others.

Sisterhood:
The unique joys of sisterhood found in Delta Gamma membership are boundless. Finding your big sis, studying together, living together, having someone to share your worries and your dreams are treasured moments. Women with the same goals and ideals create a sisterhood of mutual respect. This bond of friendship which begins in college will last a lifetime.

Scholarship:
Academic excellence is vitally important to the sustained success of Delta Gamma and its members. Delta Gamma offers over $250,000 in scholarships and fellowships each year! Interest free loans are also available to qualified members. Scholastic excellence is rewarded in our chapters with individual recognition. Delta Gamma is proud of its members’ academic achievements and strives to instill the value of lifelong learning in every member.

Leadership:
Delta Gamma provides many leadership development opportunities for its members. Collegiate chapters offer an assortment of leadership roles, ultimately involving each member in the management of the chapter. Time management, administrative, and managerial skills are sharpened through seminars, conventions, chapter advisers and visiting consultants. Delta Gamma’s Leadership for Life program offers crucial skills and activities for individualized development. This is a dynamic, ethics-based leadership experience that empowers collegiate members.

Delta Gamma is a member of the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), an umbrella organization for 26 inter/national women’s fraternities and sororities. Each member group is autonomous as a social, Greek-letter society. Each college campus has its own collegiate Panhellenic organization. As a member of NPC, Delta Gamma recruits members under NPC guidelines and those of the local Panhellenic organization.

Philanthropy

Vision…one of our most precious senses. Unexplainable to those without it; irreplaceable to those who have it. Protecting the gift of sight is one of Delta Gamma’s highest priorities. Since 1936, Delta Gamma’s philanthropic purpose has been to stop blindness before it starts. For men and women for whom blindness is a fact, the mission has been to impact the quality of their lives in a myriad of positive ways.

Through Delta Gamma schools begun more than 55 years ago, children who are blind or visually impaired learn specialized skills. Adults receive personal attention through volunteer hours with 150 organizations, which share our mission. Grants to organizations sharing our mission recently exceeded a grand total of $2,000,000 through the Foundation (click on Grant Recipients for a listing). We have funded genetic research, low-vision adaptive devices, tapes, Braille books and hundreds of life-enhancing programs. Our members have helped men and women in hundreds of ways to obtain independent living skills, increased communications and mobility skills.

Delta Gammas give more than 96,000 Service for Sight volunteer hours each year, one volunteer at a time, each leaving her mark on the world.

Ruth Billow, Eta-Akron member, who was blinded in a childhood accident, made an impassioned plea to Convention in 1936. She asked that Delta Gamma make a difference in the lives of those with limited or no sight. Her wish was also to help society appreciate the talents of those who are visually impaired. Ruth would be overwhelmed by the accomplishments of the members of her Fraternity.

Collegians embrace our mission and lend their energy and enthusiasm to the cause. As we enter the biennium, more than 100 Delta Gamma collegiate chapters host Anchor Splash® to raise awareness and funds for the Foundation. This competitive swim meet for sororities, fraternities and campus organizations include events ranging from the serious to the zany. Collegians compete in synchronized swimming, relay races and individual competition.

Collegians and alumnae participate in service and fund-raising projects in hundreds of ways. They work with individuals who are blind and organizations, which serve them. Together our members host Beautiful Eyes® contests, duck races, house and garden tours, flower sales, gift-wrap sales, and Christmas tree sales. They collect Campbell’s labels to be exchanged for equipment for our Delta Gamma schools and General Mills Box Tops for state schools for the blind to be redeemed for cash. The list of activities is long; our pride is great.

Scholarships

Scholastic performance is a personal endeavor dependent upon individual desire and motivation. It is a clear expectation of Delta Gamma Fraternity that each member will strive to reach her full scholastic potential. With the pressure on today’s college students – school, family, friends, work, extracurricular activities plus planning for a future – it is often difficult to find a balance in one’s life. However, when one places scholarship as a high priority, the other demands often fall into place.

The Delta Gamma collegiate experience enables each woman to explore new horizons, gaining insight and awareness into her world. While one cannot force another person to study and learn, Delta Gamma does encourage continual intellectual development. The student who gives earnest effort to scholarship reaps the greatest benefits from her collegiate experience.

There are many reasons why a Delta Gamma should desire high scholastic excellence:
-Improves one’s chances of admission into a higher education program.
-Opportunity to apply for financial assistance through Delta Gamma scholarships, fellowships and loans.
-Ability to belong to honorary societies that will stimulate intellectual growth.
-Future employers may look more favorably upon candidates with a higher grade point average.
-Ability to have a chapter vote and run for elected positions.
-Possible rewards for scholastic excellence through the chapter, campus and community.
-Further personal development by exploring academic pursuits.

The Delta Gamma Foundation is proud to offer scholarships to its qualifying members each year. Scholarships are awarded on a competitive basis. Candidates must have a 3.0 or higher GPA and have completed either three semesters or four quarters of course work (typically current sophomores and juniors). Candidates should be participants in chapter, campus and community
leadership activities. The yearly application deadline is February 15.

History

Delta Gamma was founded by Anna Boyd Ellington, Eva Webb Dodd and Mary Comfort Leonard in 1873 in Oxford, Mississippi, at the Lewis School for Girls near the University of Mississippi. The Founders sought to maintain high ideals and standards and to encourage intellectual growth and service in order to exemplify college women at their best.

Today Delta Gamma is an international women’s fraternity that continues to place a strong dedication on personal values and standards, academic excellence, leadership and service. Delta Gamma encourages each member to strive for excellence and offers the programming and support to help each member reach that commitment. Delta Gamma offers its members the experience of sharing the strong bonds of sisterhood for a lifetime.

Delta Gammas membership has grown to more than 142,000 women worldwide with 146 collegiate chapters and more than 250 alumnae groups across the United States and Canada.