| Pi Deuteron | |
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| ΠΔ | |
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| Founded | May 22, 1880 |
| College | University of California at Berkeley |
| Location | Berkeley, CA |
| Homepage | Pi Website |
| Media related to Pi Deuteron Chapter | |
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Pi Deuteron Chapter, University of California at Berkeley Founded May 22, 1880; Closed Spring 1885 Reinstated as Pi Deuteron on August 5, 1897 University of California at Berkeley established in 1868, Berkeley, California 5 charter members
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Pi Deuteron Alumnae:
Grand Chapter Officers:
Outstanding Pi Deuteron Alumnae
Fraternity Officers:
Fraternity Loyalty Award Recipients:
Alumna Achievement Award Recipients:
Additional Outstanding Pi Deuteron Alumnae
Maureen Orth Journalist, Vanity Fair correspondent (1993–present)
Helen Wills Roarke Professional tennis player, won the French Championships four times, the U.S. Championships seven times, and Wimbledon eight times
Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman Professional tennis player, won the U.S. Championships in 1909, 1910, 1911, and 1919
Historical excerpts:
Kappa Kappa Gamma was the first sorority founded at UC Berkeley - dating all the way back to 1880. Designed by Julia Morgan, the first licensed female architect in California, our chapter house was originally built for Chancellor Gayley before being renovated for its current use. Our home includes 126 actives in total whose interests extend to include such activities as PAD (a pre-law fraternity on campus), Berkeley Consulting (a prestigious consulting firm on campus), International non-profit work with the organization Invisible Children, and Cal athletics (Crew, Water Polo, and Lacrosse) along with everything in between. The diversity and dedication of our women are what make Kappa Kappa Gamma the incredible house that it is. Our chapter's mission statement incorporates the ideas of friendship, support, respect and understanding - traditions that have thrived for over the past century during our existence here at Cal, and which will continue to flourish with every new member that joins our fraternity.
Contents
The Early Years
The parent university of the California complex was chartered by the state March 23, 1868. In 1880, at the time of Pi’s founding, there were 213 men and 55 women student, and 36 on the faculty. The 1930 History of Kappa Kappa Gamma records that Pi was established by Grand Charter from Epsilon, May 22, 1880, and in the spring of 1885 it came to an end. Its five years of life were marked by faculty and administration opposition; some lack of chapter harmony; difficulty in finding members among the few women enrolled; and complete isolation from other members and chapters of the Fraternity, as well as Fraternity officers. Before the charter was given up, and “reluctantly accepted” by the Council, 24 members had been initiated. The chapter had been founded in an unorthodox fashion. Anna Long (Brehm) and Ella Bailey (Bruns), after a skim through of Baird’s Manual, applied to Kappa Alpha Theta for a charter which the Thetas refused to grant to a group with fewer than six members. The two girls acquired another foursome and then, after talking things over with some fraternity men, decided that a Kappa charter was what they wanted. The Theta charter was left in the express officer for two weeks before it was returned. Then they applied for a Kappa Charter. As if to contradict the impression that fraternity men had anything to do with their decision, Pi’s January, 1882, letter to The Key insisted, “We were aided by no counsels and urged forward by no promptings.” The letter reported proudly that on June 2, 1880, the key was worn for the first time in California; that two seniors had been graduated; and that the four remaining members found themselves facing “strong, steady, quiet opposition.” The Golden Key of January, 1884, carried the only other Pi letter. The chapter sent greetings to all other chapters and expressed “wishes she could know them better.” Better? Pi knew only Pi! The annual banquet had been held; Flora Beal had been chosen class essayist; and the first Pi wedding had been celebrated between Sarah Ellery and Fred Ostrander. Although the ingredients were always available, it was more than twelve years later that a second Pi was put on the Berkeley campus.
Pi Deuteron Chapter
Paradoxically the Kappa Alpha Theta charter, which had gathered dust in the express office in 1880 when “Old Pi” was founded, returned to the Berkeley campus and was put to use seven years before Pi Deuteron was installed. It was 1893 when a group decided to apply for a Kappa charter and was approved by Beta Eta at Stanford University as well as original Pi members, only to discover that another group already applied. The second group persisted in its efforts, however, because of its Kappa sponsorship. While they waited, the girls formed a local society, called “Sorosis,” under the patronage of the San Francisco Sorosis in 1894. Grand Council was not eager to grant the new charter, thinking of convention expenses connected with far away California, and the former prejudices on the campus. In 1895 Bertha Richmond (Chevalier), Φ—Boston, grand secretary, wrote: “I feel that the increase in numbers would not add materially if at all to the strength of the Fraternity…I think that the Fraternity cannot afford another chapter in the Far West.” Two years later, as grand president, she reversed herself with, “I think that our Fraternity is neither so large, nor so strong, that it could not be benefited by the addition of a new strong chapter.” The installation and initiation provided joyous ceremonies for members of the first Pi, for sponsoring actives from Stanford, and for the charter members who had made Sorosis strong. Music by Schumann backed up the service which was conducted by Annabel Collins (Coe), BZ—Iowa, grand treasurer. Visitors, having been feted and taken up Mt. Tamalpais, were still surprised by the zeal of the rushing season in Berkeley, without the benefit of Panhellenic contract. In October, 1897, The Key placed the good news of the reestablishment on its first page, and mentioned the University of California at Berkeley as “the greatest conservative college of the west.” In honesty, The Key mentioned that the nine college buildings on the beautiful site were “nothing of which to boast,” but then the author, Mary Bell (Morwood), went on to boast of the 35 marble and stone buildings near completion and of the philanthropic woman, Mrs. Phoebe Hearst, who had just been added to the Board of Regents, who had established so many scholarships, and “who is about to give a large proportion of her fortune to us.” Students used the ferry to come over from San Francisco; other students lived in boarding and fraternity houses. It was easy to place the men students in their class rank. Freshman carried new equipment; sophomores swung their canes; juniors wore battered white plug hats decorated with class and fraternity symbols; and the black silk hats of the seniors looked like “worn out accordions.” They were often handed down from one class to the next. Women’s dress was less distinctive. In the beginning they had worn their mortar boards after their freshman year, but in 1897 this was outmoded. Some social events also were considered old fashioned. At the senior ball, which was still popular, the girls dressed in calling costumes and hats and danced only with “a few favored friends.” YMCA and the YWCA (a Pi member was a founder) were strong on campus. There was still feeling about coeducation, but popular girls could receive a number of invitations to men’s fraternities on class day. White duck trousers and organdy dresses were everywhere and later there would be a general visit to Co-Ed Canyon for extemporaneous entertainment, then dinner and a glee club concert. Graduation was a let-down after the excitement of class day. There was a marked difference between Stanford and the University of California. One was built on science and the other on the classic tradition, where Latin and Greek were common prerequisites and examinations were becoming more and more rigid. The women of Berkeley had been wearing their hats and gloves to class for 25 years—“as if they were visitors.” The Stanford girls were much amused. The Berkely girls could relax only in the gymnasium or the ladies room. In spite of their conservatism the Kappas of Pi Deuteron held important positions on the campus. And they had a three story house, owned by the patroness, the mother of a member. The house was known for two outstanding features, named for Sorosis members who did not live to see Kappa’s reinstatement: the Alice Dewey Michaels Memorial Library and the Mabel Worthington Sullivan Memorial Art Collection. During their first term as a chapter a reception was given for Mrs. Hearst, and two members organized Prytanean, the women’s honor society.
A New Century ...
On April 18, 1906, at 5:13 a.m. the locks and life of college, chapter, and homes stopped short. San Franscisco was hit by an earthquake and fire. Students, released from classes, were active in relief work. This work continued into the summer, although the senior class came back for “quiet graduation exercises.” Many chapter members lived at home and only a few lived in the house on Fulton Street. There was one move after another during the early years. One year there were no seniors; factions developed; scholarship and participation went down, although there were always a few outstanding members. Pi was lucky, too, in Kappa visitor and affiliates, girls like Cleora Wheeler, X—Minnesota, who was “like a chapter sister,” and Almira Johnson (McNaboe), H—Wisconsin, who many years later became a Fraternity vice president. In 1912 a move was made to 2725 Channing Way, Pi’s own house at last. It was the beginning of a turn for the better. Now there was harmony, unity, and accomplishment. The 1920s were great years. The isolation of the early Pi was a thing of the past, distances were overcome. In 1925, 10 members went to Los Angeles to help install Gamma Xi. Fraternity officers came from Pi regularly; Elizabeth Gray Potter was editor of The Key 1906-1910. She was also the librarian at Mills College and author of two books on San Francisco. Eva Powell and Eleanor V.V. Bennet were grand presidents and there were many province officers. Irene Hazard Gerlinger became a regent of the University of Oregon (1914-1929) and the women’s building there was named in her honor. Two members of Pi Deuteron were known the world over, and both were in the same field. One was Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, born in 1887 of pioneer California stock. She was a national tennis champion, donor of the Wightman Cup and several times captain of the team, author, and Kappa Achievement Award winner in 1947. The other was the Kappa she coached so successfully, Helen Wills Moody, Roarke, who won Kappa’s Achievement Award in 1960. Together they won two Wightman Cup doubles matched, two U.S. championships, the tennis championship at Wimbledon, and an all-England championship at Wimbledon. Helen Wills won the American championship each year from 1923-29 except 1926 when she didn’t compete, and the Wimbledon title eight times. She wore white stockings in England because Queen Mary hated bare legs. Much to the pleasure of California Kappas, the 1926 Convention took place at Mills College in Oakland. Nearly 700 attended the convention and those arriving on the special train from Chicago were given baskets of fruit and flowers as the train passed through Sacramento. Pi’s Myrtle Sims Hamilton handled the funds so that well more than $600 was turned over to the Fraternity Endowment Fund at the end of convention. In 1925, at the time of the installation of Gamma Xi, there was an informal conference of the three California chapters, but the first real province convention was not until 1929 at Stanford. In 1929, the chapter house was remodeled and refurnished downstairs. IN 1949, the former home of Professor Galey on Piedmont Avenue became the chapter house. It was renovated and a two-story wing added. In 1958, the Chicago Tribune announced that as the result of a survey, the Berkeley campus was rated as one of the most distinguished in the nation. A report in The Key, Mid-Winter, 1960 stated, “The student at Berkely has an ever-expanding, almost unlimited field of endeavor.” Said Tracy Innes (Stephenson) and Louise Dunlap, Pi actives and authors of the article, “A new student can be overwhelmed by the size and beauty of campus…To be a student (here) is a wonderful privilege.” It was not possible to obtain any history of Pi Deuteron after 1960. A note from the chapter public relations chairman said that she had consulted her adviser “… and she said that, though we have checked before, there isn’t that much of which to speak…A newsletter is being planned to be sent to alumnae and parents,” she added. Pi Deuteron was installing chapter for Epsilon Omicron Chapter at the University of California at Davis in February, 1975.
The Later Years ...
Highlights of the 1970s:
Highlights of the 1980s:
Highlights of the 1990s: 1990-91:
San Francisco Bay area earthquake 1990 … chapter house not damaged but it was “mayhem in the chapter house with 60 girls screaming, things falling off shelves,” said the Philanthropy Chairman at the time. “There were minor bruises but no injuries. No one realized how serious it was until we later saw it on TV.” Spared from damage and injury, Pi Deuteron was eager to help with the relief. They gave $900 to the Red Cross, money they had been saving for an exercise bicycle, and collected clothing. A few members worked on Red Cross clean-up crews. They had already been organizing blood drives, so this was promoted to replenish blood supplies during the aftermath of the earthquake. (From The Key, 1990)
A New Millennium -- Highlights of 2000-2010:
Philanthropy:
Honoring Kappa’s Origins
Highlights of 2011-2019: (scholarship, group honors/awards, special events, philanthropy and service projects, etc.):
Philanthropy:
Housing:
Convention Awards:
Awards:
•In 2005, at Pi Province Convention, Kappa was awarded the Risk Management Award and received honorable mentions for Chapter Efficiency, Scholarship Award, and Recruitment.
•In 2008 we were honored nationally with a Standard’s award.
Highlights of 2020:
Note to Chapter Registrar: Please refer to your chapter archives including chapter meeting minutes and back issues of The Key to fill in any gaps in the above historical highlights. If your chapter archives are not complete, please research your university library, campus newspaper and yearbook archives for newsworthy information about your chapter. Please double check your work for accuracy. Contact chapter Advisory or House Board members, local Alumnae Association members, or your Province Director of Chapters for assistance. Your efforts will ensure a complete and accurate history of your chapter for future generations to enjoy!
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