About the Denver Alumnae Chapter

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You may ask yourself why you should get involved in your area alumnae chapter - "Sororities are just a college thing." Not so!
As Delta Zetas we learn that there are three stages of membership: pledgeship, your active collegiate years, and the longest and most significant period which is as an alumnae member of Delta Zeta. We are a group of Delta Zeta alumnae in the Denver Metro area looking to carry on the values, traditions, and sisterhood of Delta Zeta. We are always looking for new sisters to join the chapter. 

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A History of the Denver Alumnae Chapter of Delta Zeta
by Carol Bertz, Theta, 1963

After Delta Zeta was founded at Miami University in 1902, the sorority began to expand from Miami to other campuses. The founders of the Alpha Chapter started to spread out across the United States. One of the six founders, Anne Simmons Friedline, came to Colorado and started a collegiate chapter at the University of Denver. As the women of the Rho Chapter matriculated from college, they continued their affiliation with Delta Zeta. The alumnae chapter organized and held their first meeting on December 4, 1919 at the home of Edythe Wilson Thaeson, 591 Washington Street in Denver, Colorado with four members present. They asked the Denver City Panhellenic for admittance.

At their second meeting, on December 23, 1919, the group decided to confer with the Rho Chapter and invite the Delta Zeta Grand Council to hold National Convention in Denver. 

Dues were set at $2.00 per year to be paid semi-annually and a 25¢ fine for absentees was established. The chapter’s next order of business was to write their constitution and submit plans for Convention. By May 2, 1920 the treasury has a balance of $6.00. The Convention arrangements were finalized with breakfast at the hotel, a Greek letter reception, luncheon, a theater party that would cost 85¢, and a stunt night. There would also be a banquet with entertainment at the Shirley Savoy Hotel and a trip to the mountains. They decided to pay a rail fare, pullman, and dinner for a Convention delegate at a cost of $150. Dues were increased to $6.00 per year.  

On May 25, 1920 the chapter received its charter. It was called Mu Alumnae Chapter as the first alumnae chapters also held the distinction of using the Greek letters. Later, the alumnae chapter was renamed to the Denver Alumnae Chapter, to have name affiliation with the city where it was located instead of the Greek letters, which only caused confusion. There were 20 charter members of the alumnae chapter, including Anne Simmons Friedline, one of Delta Zeta’s founders, and the first alumnae chapter President, Margaret Bonney Horton.

On June 12, 1920, a telegram arrived from National Headquarters notifying the struggling chapter that the Convention would be from June 28 through July 3rd in Denver. Imagine only having $6.00 in the treasury and two weeks notice that your chapter would be the host of the National Convention! Transportation to Convention was by rail and the Convention was certainly held on a much smaller scale in those early days of Delta Zeta. That was the only Convention ever held in Denver.

In 1921, the chapter adopted their first philanthropy, the Needlework Guild; an organization that still exists today.

In the early days, the alumnae and the collegiate chapter were very much interrelated. The alumnae functioned mostly for the support of the collegiate chapter. Many discussions centered around getting the “actives” a house. Plans were firmed up and the alumnae and actives were each asked to raise $500 as a down payment. During the 1920’s, the group had a lot of social events and fund raisers, lunches, dinners, teas, theater parties, card parties, and a “subscription dance”. After the alumnae chapter decided on the subscription dance, it was noted that “Miss Schuler does not approve of a dance on a Thursday”. So the date was changed to Friday. As a later meeting, Miss Schuler informed the group that she did not want the active members to support a dance at all. It is assumed that Miss Schuler was either a chapter advisor or someone associated with the University. 

The August 18, 1923 meeting was held at the first Delta Zeta Chapter house at 1950 S.  University Blvd. The Rho Chapter would move several times during the next 25 years. In 1924, the active chapter invited the alumnae to supper every Monday evening. Dues were reduced to $3.50 and the alumnae chapter newsletter was started in 1927.

According to the alumnae chapter minutes, every meeting was opened with the readings of the Delta Zeta Symphony. During the depression in 1932, the chapter voted to open a checking account but found it was too expensive. The balance in the treasury was a meager 36¢. They even considered withdrawing as an alumnae chapter and becoming a club. The first mention of deaf children as a philanthropy wasn't until 1935. The chapter received $41.10 in magazine commissions in 1936, more than any other alumnae chapter. The economy of the times affected the alumnae chapter during the depression and into the time of World War II.

Since its founding in 1920, the Denver Alumnae Chapter has survived and thrived. We won the highest Alumnae Chapter Award, the Myrtle Graeter Hinkly Award at the National Convention in 1980 and this past year, won the Gertrude Houk Fariss Award for alumnae/collegiate collaboration as well as the Alumnae Chapter of Excellence Certificate. The chapter is proud to be one of the first alumnae chapters of Delta Zeta continuing a long and rich history of Delta Zeta in Colorado. Members of the Denver Alumnae Chapter of Delta Zeta have served in positions on National Council, the Delta Zeta Foundation, the Delta Zeta Museum Board of Trustees, Delta Zeta National Housing Corporation, Province Collegiate and Alumnae positions, and many have served as alumnae advisors of the Rho Chapter since they recolonized at the University of Denver in 1982.