Alpha Sigma Alpha
"Only the Best Girls Wear Rubies and Pearls
The Heritage of Alpha Sigma Alpha
The State Female Normal School, now Longwood University, in Farmville, Va., was the first institution of higher learning in Virginia to admit women for collegiate study. Naturally, it attracted superior students, many of them daughters of college professors already familiar with the fraternity idea.
Among the students in the fall term of 1901 were five women who had become very good friends. Attractive, vivacious and intelligent, they had been recruited and bid by the existing sororities. However, if they accepted these bids, it would mean that the five would not be sorority sisters.
On November 15, 1901, a new sorority was organized and named Alpha Sigma Alpha. As stated in the charter, “The purpose of the association shall be to cultivate friendship among its members, and in every way to create pure and elevating sentiments, to perform such deeds and to mould such opinions as will tend to elevate and ennoble womanhood in the world.” Signatures to this document include those of Alpha Sigma Alpha’s five Founders: Virginia Lee Boyd (Noell), Juliette Jefferson Hundley (Gilliam), Calva Hamlet Watson (Wootton), Louise Burks Cox (Carper), and Mary Williamson Hundley.
A Turning Point
Although Alpha Sigma Alpha installed 13 chapters in those early years, by 1913 Alpha Chapter was the only active chapter of Alpha Sigma Alpha. The chapter turned to Ida Shaw Martin, founder and past national president for Delta Delta Delta, for assistance. Mrs. Martin suggested that Alpha Sigma Alpha get in touch with Pi Alpha Tau from Miami University in Ohio, and as a result, Pi Alpha Tau was installed as a chapter of Alpha Sigma Alpha in May 1913. The two chapters recognized the insight that Mrs. Martin could provide and immediately elected her to lead the sorority.
At this point, Alpha Sigma Alpha decided to limit its chapters to teachers’ colleges and colleges of education within universities. By October 1914, two other local groups were sufficiently interested in Alpha Sigma Alpha to arrange for a convention.
The Miami, OH convention was held over Thanksgiving weekend 1914, with delegates from the four chapters present. In two days they adopted a constitution, formulated more elaborate ritual, made some changes in symbols and customs and arranged for a weekly publication, the Phoenix.
In the next years, the Phoenix was the central medium linking the chapters. It was edited by Mrs. Martin, who had been elected national president, and read like a family letter sent periodically to far-away children by a strong-minded mother whose experience and age gave her authority of opinion and action. The years 1914 to 1930 were formative ones for Alpha Sigma Alpha. Under the guidance of Mrs. Martin and the dedication of Alpha Sigma Alphas serving as national officers, the sorority began to flourish.
*All information Listed above was taken from http://www.alphasigmaalpha.org/history
The Meaning of the Narcissus to Alpha Sigma Alpha
In Greek Mythology, Narcissus was the son of a river God.He was known for his great beauty and for the many women who had lost their hearts to him.One of the women was a nymph named Echo, but he refused her love.Since he rejected Echo, a goddess punished Narcissus with the curse of“may he fall in love and not be able to have what he loves.”Later, Narcissus stopped to drink at a reflection pool.In the pool, he saw the most beautiful person he’s ever seen in his life.Instantly, he was in love.Up until this point, Narcissus had never seen his own reflection.He never saw himself as others did. He refused to leave the pool and the image he loved.He later realized that the reflection in the pool was himself and he understood that What he longed for he already had.But it was too late, for Narcissus was near death.When he died, his body was transformed into a beautiful flower--the narcissus.
Narcissus was transformed from a hard individual to a beautiful, flexible flower after discovering his true self in the reflection pool.Narcissus’ love of self came only when he had a new identity through the reflection pool.This love enhanced his self-knowledge and potential for personal growth.
For Alpha Sigma Alphas, then, the narcissus representsthe discovery and growth that is possible through lifetime membership.The narcissus reminds us that self-confidence comes from self-knowledge And that the ability to reach a higher potential is possible through personal transformation.
