An Everlasting Pledge

By FRAN DESIMONE BECQUE, New York Alpha

The Pi Phis who took the oath of membership in the late 1800s led lives vastly different than Pi Phis today. Yet themes run through the experiences of the women who have worn our arrow badge for more than 153 years. We are educated women working as a unified sisterhood. We have made promises to improve our organization and its role in the world. We have committed ourselves to supporting each other and honoring and respecting one another. As women who have been given much, we are expected to pay it forward.

Pi Beta Phi has survived anti-fraternity sentiment, starting with the closure of our Alpha chapter at Monmouth in the 1870s — just a few short years after our Fraternity was established. Our Iowa Gamma chapter at Iowa State University was dormant from 1894-1906 for the same reason. New York Beta at Barnard College and Ohio Gamma at the College of Wooster closed in the early 1910s when their college administrations banned fraternities and sororities.

In 1929, Virginia Beta at Hollins College found itself in the same position, followed by Pennsylvania Alpha at Swarthmore College in 1934. In 1944, Stanford University ordered all sororities to close and California Alpha was lost for a time. Vermont Alpha at Middlebury College and D.C. Alpha at George Washington University were causalities of the anti-fraternity agitation of the 1960s; D.C. Alpha has since reestablished.

Despite these losses, our sisterhood remained strong. We are bold, courageous and loyal. As Fraternity women, we’ve given the world permission to hold us to a higher standard — a standard that was established in 1867 and still exists today. What we do and why do we it does not change: all Pi Phis pledge to use our influence to better society. How we do it has changed and will continue to change — that’s how we stay relevant.