History
In 1902, Dr. Guy Potter Benton was elected as the new president of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. One of the first things that Dr. Benton did was to allow young women to enroll in the currently all-male University. That coming fall, six of the newly admitted female students organized the first sorority chapter, an idea that was widely accepted due to the three fraternities that already exsited.
The date was October 24th, 1902 and the event is still changing lives today. It was on this day that the Delta Zeta Sorority was founded. It's founders, six extraordinary women, Alfa Lloyd, Mary Collins, Anna Louise Keen, Julia Lawrence Bishop, Mabelle M. Minton, and Anne Dial Simmons.
Dr. Benton aided in prepartion of a ritual, badge, and colors. Four pledges soon became part of the sisterhood, Elizabeth Coulter being the first. Dr. Benton was named Grand Patron, and became the first and only man to ever wear a Delta Zeta badge.
Today, Delta Zeta has become the largest international sorority with over 150 college chapters distributed from coast to coast, and 250 alumnae chapters offering continuing association in 50 states, including Hawaii and Alaska, as well as the United Kingdom and Canada.