Delta Iota

Roanoke College

The weekend of May 11, 1962 brought another history-making event to Alpha Phi. This was the date of the installation of the Fraternity’s first collegiate chapter in Virginia, installed at Roanoke College, Salem. 

Alpha Phi national officers journeyed to the little campus just outside Roanoke, Virginia, in March to form the group, and by May, 18 women were ready for initiation into Delta Iota chapter.

Roanoke College is a small liberal arts college affiliated with the Lutheran Church. It was a men’s college only until the early 1930s when it became co-educational. Upon installation, there were three other women’s fraternities on the campus, all installed in 1955, when the college decided to admit Panhellenic groups. All fraternities were small and congenial and the administration hoped to keep them this way. There were no sorority houses, all women lived together in the college dormitories.

The big weekend for Alpha Phi opened on Friday night, when local alumnae honored the women with a garden buffet dinner at the home of Cdr. and Mrs. Ralph D. Ettinger, Salem. Mrs. Ettinger was among the six new alumnae initiates volunteering as Delta Iota advisers. Serving with her would be Mrs. David Coleman, Mrs. James A. Ebeling and Mrs. Allan B. Bosworth, all of Salem; Mrs. George C. White, Hollins College, and Mrs. G. L. Nininger, Roanoke. Following the buffet, which was served in the lovely Japanese garden of the Ettinger home, collegiates were shooed home and ordered to scramble for dormitories and bed so that they could get a little rest before the formal initiation ceremony scheduled for an early hour the following morning at the college Lutheran Church in Salem. 

Present for the ceremony were collegiates from neighboring colleges in the district and five national officers, Margaretta Orem Lindsay (Zeta-Goucher), past national president; Jean Morrow Meeg (Chi-Montana), international director of extension; Elinor Smith Davis (Gamma-DePauw), acting international president; Ruth Auser Morris (Beta Nu-Duke), district governor, and Nancy Peterson Hammill (Delta-Cornell), alumnae chairman. 

Returning to the college, Delta Iota held a small luncheon for the principals in the day’s events, and visiting collegiates followed the brief social session with a model meeting.

The women credited Barbara Whiteside (Gamma Omicron-Drake), Alpha Phi field secretary, with patience of a good teacher. Barbara had been on campus for some weeks, helping to establish the chapter. 

Since, in the words of Margaretta Orem Lindsay, who served as toastmistress, “Alpha Phi is a healthy, happy fraternity,” it was most natural, she said, “to conclude the day with a banquet.” She reminded her listeners that the Founders had picnicked, even as they worked out details for the infant organization.

The banquet was held at the Holiday Inn in Roanoke with over 60 present. 

Each of the national officers offered welcoming talks, reminding the new chapter of the long tradition in Alpha Phi and pointing out the many advantages and the great promise of membership in the Fraternity.

On Sunday, in a group, Delta Iota attended church services at College Lutheran Church, and then went to a reception held that afternoon. 

Nearly 100 attended the reception held in the lounge of Chalmers Hall on campus. Members of the faculty, representatives from other fraternities and guests were present to extend their congratulations and best wishes to the new chapter to conclude the installation weekend.The weekend of May 11, 1962 brought another history-making event to Alpha Phi. This was the date of the installation of the Fraternity’s first collegiate chapter in Virginia, installed at Roanoke College, Salem. 

Alpha Phi national officers journeyed to the little campus just outside Roanoke, Virginia, in March to form the group, and by May, 18 women were ready for initiation into Delta Iota chapter.

Roanoke College is a small liberal arts college affiliated with the Lutheran Church. It was a men’s college only until the early 1930s when it became co-educational. Upon installation, there were three other women’s fraternities on the campus, all installed in 1955, when the college decided to admit Panhellenic groups. All fraternities were small and congenial and the administration hoped to keep them this way. There were no sorority houses, all women lived together in the college dormitories.

The big weekend for Alpha Phi opened on Friday night, when local alumnae honored the women with a garden buffet dinner at the home of Cdr. and Mrs. Ralph D. Ettinger, Salem. Mrs. Ettinger was among the six new alumnae initiates volunteering as Delta Iota advisers. Serving with her would be Mrs. David Coleman, Mrs. James A. Ebeling and Mrs. Allan B. Bosworth, all of Salem; Mrs. George C. White, Hollins College, and Mrs. G. L. Nininger, Roanoke. Following the buffet, which was served in the lovely Japanese garden of the Ettinger home, collegiates were shooed home and ordered to scramble for dormitories and bed so that they could get a little rest before the formal initiation ceremony scheduled for an early hour the following morning at the college Lutheran Church in Salem. 

Present for the ceremony were collegiates from neighboring colleges in the district and five national officers, Margaretta Orem Lindsay (Zeta-Goucher), past national president; Jean Morrow Meeg (Chi-Montana), international director of extension; Elinor Smith Davis (Gamma-DePauw), acting international president; Ruth Auser Morris (Beta Nu-Duke), district governor, and Nancy Peterson Hammill (Delta-Cornell), alumnae chairman. 

Returning to the college, Delta Iota held a small luncheon for the principals in the day’s events, and visiting collegiates followed the brief social session with a model meeting.

The women credited Barbara Whiteside (Gamma Omicron-Drake), Alpha Phi field secretary, with patience of a good teacher. Barbara had been on campus for some weeks, helping to establish the chapter. 

Since, in the words of Margaretta Orem Lindsay, who served as toastmistress, “Alpha Phi is a healthy, happy fraternity,” it was most natural, she said, “to conclude the day with a banquet.” She reminded her listeners that the Founders had picnicked, even as they worked out details for the infant organization.

The banquet was held at the Holiday Inn in Roanoke with over 60 present. 

Each of the national officers offered welcoming talks, reminding the new chapter of the long tradition in Alpha Phi and pointing out the many advantages and the great promise of membership in the Fraternity.

On Sunday, in a group, Delta Iota attended church services at College Lutheran Church, and then went to a reception held that afternoon. 

Nearly 100 attended the reception held in the lounge of Chalmers Hall on campus. Members of the faculty, representatives from other fraternities and guests were present to extend their congratulations and best wishes to the new chapter to conclude the installation weekend.