HISTORY
In 1888, four female students at Boston University didn’t feel that they fit with the three sororities on the campus at the time (Kappa Kappa Gamma, Gamma Phi Beta, Alpha Phi). One of the students, Sarah Ida Shaw, proposed they organize a group that would stand apart from the other sororities. “Let us found a society that shall be kind alike to all and think more of a girl’s inner self and character than of her personal appearance,” Shaw told friend Eleanor Dorcas Pond. The two were joined by Florence Isabelle Stewart and Isabel Morgan Breed to found Delta Delta Delta, what is today one of the country’s largest sororities.
PHILANTHROPY
The designated philanthropy by Delta Delta Delta is Children’s Cancer Charities. This was decided at a 1974 convention, where the results of a national member survey found that members were interested in needs supporting children, hospitals and cancer. Today, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is the primary national recipient of the sorority’s philanthropic efforts. In 2005, Delta Delta Delta completed a three-year fundraising effort to contribute one million dollars toward a teen room at the Memphis hospital location. In 2006, they launched the “10 in 10” campaign, working to raise ten million dollars by 2016 to build a patient treatment and brain tumor research floor.
Local chapters for the sorority help other children’s cancer charities.
MOTTO
“Let us steadfastly love one another.”
TRADITIONS
Colors are Silver, Gold and Cerulean Blue. Green symbolizes the union of these three colors
Symbols are Pine, Pearl and Pansy
Inductees receive a handmade gold badge, which has three deltas on a crescent moon. Above each delta are three stars, each with a small pearl in the center
The Trident is a quarterly magazine for members, published since 1891
FUN FACTS
Founded November 27, 1888 at Boston University
Collegiate member count is more than 186,000
March is St. Jude / Tri Delta month.
The first greek organization to create and perfect an alumnae program.
The first to publish its history in, A Detailed Record of Delta Delta Delta
The first to hold a national leadership conference.
Nicknames include Tri-Delta, Tri-Delt, Tri-Delts, Deltas
katie couricCELEBRITY ALUMNAE
Elizabeth Banks, actress
Sara Blakely, Spanx founder
Dixie Carter, actress
Katie Couric, journalist
Elizabeth Dole, U.S. Senator
Farrah Fawcett, actress
Leeza Gibbons, actress
Hoda Kotb, journalist
Beth Ostrosky, actress and model
Molly Sims, actress and model
Common Misspellings
DDD, Deltas, Tri-Delta, Tri-Delt, Tri-Delts, Delta Delta