On this day, in 1913, 10 incredible women got together at Hunter College in New York City and decided that it was time for a change. There were no fraternal organizations on campus that were open to women of all religions and they felt that one was needed.
That fraternal organization came in the form of Phi Sigma Sigma Fraternity. Our 10 founding sisters became the first non sectarian sorority which means that any woman of any religion was allowed to freely join.
Today we celebrate that incredible journey, this incredible sisterhood, 100 years later.
A lot of you may not care about my life as a sorority girl but it's something that has changed my life and it's who I am.
Our sisterhood as changed drastically over the past 100 years and I have never been prouder to call myself a lady of Phi Sigma Sigma.
I would not be who I am without the 10 founding sisters. I don't think they knew what they were doing 100 years ago but I think they would be proud of us today. I think that the original 10 would be so incredibly shocked and in awe of how their little sorority has grown.
I will not rattle off my emotions and my thoughts about my sorority because I have done that enough times in the past. I just want to take a moment to celebrate the past 100 years. It is an incredible time to be a Phi Sig and I have never been more grateful to a group of 10 women.
Without them I would not have been the woman I am today. I would not have the confidence and strength that I do; I would not have the relationships and memories that I do; I would not have the skills and qualities that make me a leader. Without them, I would have nothing.
So thank you to Lillian Gordon Alpern, Josephine Ellison Breakstone, Fay Chertkoff, Estelle Melnick Cole, Jeanette Lipka Furst, Ethel Gordon Kraus, Shirley Cohen Laufer, Claire Wunder McArdle, Rose Sher Seidman, and Gwen Zaliels Snyder. Thank you for giving me the best experience of my life and for believing that Phi Sigma Sigma could achieve greatness...because we have.
Happy 100 years ladies, here's to another 100!
Once a Phi Sigma Sigma, Always a Phi Sigma Sigma!
