Delta Gamma was formed in 1873 with the purpose of doing good. Doing good is still at the heart of everything we stand for 150 years later, and it’s something every Delta Gamma woman defines — and lives out — in her own authentic way.
Join UsWe got our start back in 1873 in Oxford, Mississippi at the Lewis School for Girls. It was the holiday break and everyone was home with their families except three young women: Anna, Mary and Eva.
So they decided to make it official, founding what they called a “club of mutual helpfulness” whose purpose was to “do good.”
Over that holiday break, our three founding sisters formed the foundation for our Fraternity, deciding on the anchor badge and Initiation, writing our constitution, and choosing the letters Delta Gamma to stand for “do good.”
Here are some examples.
Friendship is essential.
What makes Delta Gamma so special is that the relationships our members build go deeper than the traditional friendship.
The bonds are unwavering. The support systems that are cultivated are strong and last a lifetime. At each new member’s Initiation, she promises to be there for her sisters in every high and low of life.
Chapters regularly hold sisterhood events, where women are given the opportunity to socialize and focus on friendship and fun. On a deeper level, chapters hold “fireside chats” and “DG Dialogues” where women can really create deep and meaningful friendships through intentional conversations.
Whether together or apart, a Delta Gamma woman is never alone.
As a whole, Delta Gamma makes it easy to prioritize academics, as well as have a study abroad experience and be a member.
Thousands of sisters grow through their travel experiences and share their journeys and findings with other sisters. And from the financial side, when initiated collegians leave campus for academic pursuits, like studying abroad or co-op, they’re considered Excused Status, and pay reduced dues and fees.
DGs have many opportunities to immerse themselves in new experiences on the home front too. Members of Beta Nu-Carnegie Mellon connect over the sport of buggy, a campus tradition, forming a team that requires someone 5-foot-2-inches to lay down inside an enclosed carbon-fiber, torpedo-shaped vehicle and steer, only propelled by human power while traveling at 35 miles per hour over the span of about three minutes. You can read more about their story in the Winter 2022 ANCHORA. Examples like this are alive in our chapters across the U.S. and Canada!
Delta Gamma is committed to creating an equitable and inclusive environment for all women who believe in our shared values.
This commitment includes our service and philanthropic efforts to support and advocate for people who are blind or have low vision, as well as taking measures to eliminate barriers to inclusion and access to membership in our organization. If those are also personal priorities for you, we would love for you to be a part of our sisterhood.
Our popular Hope Serving trips shine a spotlight on social responsibility.
Hope Serving is a service learning experience at Delta Gamma Schools for Children with Visual Impairments that offers Delta Gamma members the opportunity to develop as leaders on a local, regional and (inter)national level. These trips encourage learning and critical thinking through hands-on service, community involvement and civic and social justice education.
Delta Gamma doesn’t force a woman to change, but she will grow and develop as a collegiate member in more ways than she thought were possible.
Across the world, Delta Gamma women are leaders in their organizations and communities — and those leadership skills are formed beginning right here within our collegiate chapters. Opportunities to explore values congruence, identify your strengths, discuss conflict resolution skills and develop the leadership skills needs to promote adaptive change is at the core of our member experience programming.
We believe cultivating a culture of Belonging, Equity, Inclusion and Diversity (BEID) allows members, future members and friends of the anchor to be seen and heard for their authentic whole selves without a need to suppress aspects of who they are and their lived experiences.
