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Colby College in
Waterville, Maine, was the first college in New England to admit
women on an equal basis with men students. The first woman
student was admitted in 1871, and for two years Mary Caffrey Low
was the only woman student at Colby College. In 1873, four more
young women from Maine, Elizabeth Gorham Hoag, Ida Fuller,
Frances Mann, and Louise Helen Coburn were admitted to Colby and
the five young women found themselves frequently together.
During the school year of 1873-74, the five young women decided
to form a literary and social society. They were told by the
college administration that they needed to present a
constitution and bylaws with a petition requesting permission to
form Sigma Kappa Sorority. They began work during that year with
an eager glow of enthusiasm. Their purpose at the outset was
that the sorority should become what it is now, a national
organization of college women. On November 9, 1874, the five
young women received a letter from the faculty approving their
petition. Thus, this date has since been considered our
Founders' Day.
In our first
constitution, chapter membership was limited to 25. The original
group was known as Alpha chapter and as our sorority grew, Beta
chapter and Gamma chapter were also established at Colby
College. Early records indicate that the groups met together;
but in 1893, the Sigma Kappa members decided intramural
expansion was not desirable. They voted to fill Alpha chapter to
the limit of 25 and to initiate no more into Beta and Gamma
chapters. Eventually, the second and third chapters would vanish
from Colby campus. Finally Sigma Kappas realized if the
organization was going to continue to grow, it had to expand
beyond the walls of Colby College.
In 1904, Delta
chapter was installed at Boston University. Elydia Foss of Alpha
chapter had transferred to Boston and met a group of women who
refused to join any of the other groups on campus. When asked if
Sigma Kappa was a national organization, Elydia replied, "No,
but it is founded on a national basis." Elydia then took the
necessary steps to make Sigma Kappa a national sorority and it
was incorporated in the state of Maine on April 19, 1904. The
new status as a national sorority made Sigma Kappa eligible to
join what was then called the Interfraternity Conference, now
known as the National Panhellenic Conference.
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