About

Delta Sigma Theta, Sorority, Inc. ΔΣΘ

ΔΣΘ was founded on January 13, 1913 at Howard University by 22 collegiate women. With a strong sisterhood, their principles include academic excellence, community service, and the advancement of social issues emphasizing the lives of Black women. Their colors are crimson and cream.

FIRST BLACK GREEK LIFE ORGANIZATION AT UOP

Out of the four BGLOs that were affiliated with University of the Pacific, ΔΣΘ was the first. They were chartered on campus in December of 1974 by 11 Black students. Pictured is the Lamba Tau chapter.

1975 PACIFICAN ARTICLE

Shown on the right is an article published on April 11, 1975 from the Pacifican. This article serves as an introduction piece to the ΔΣΘ sorority, along with quotes from the president at the time.

Some points we can learn from this article is:

They never had a house on or off campus and found no need for one as they found themselves a "strictly" public service organization
Their only need for socializing would be to gain interests and new members
Women of all ethnicities can be a member, but must be of "good character"

Sorority objectives are outlined in a 5-point 'program thrust':

Education
Economics
Housing and Urban Development
Community and International Involvement
Mental Health

The objectives "emphasizes minority growth and education through community involvement".

LACK OF DOCUMENTATION

Pictured on the left is Shula Allen, previous Vice President of the "Service Sorority". This image was found in the archives by itself, with the date of it unknown.

ΔΣΘ was well-known for its participation in civil rights and social justice campaigns, having worked on a variety of projects addressing topics such as education, economic development, and political awareness. The sorority was active at University of the Pacific until 2017.

Nonetheless, this was the organization that struck our eye when we found it in the in-class activity. A quick search of "Delta Sigma Theta University of the Pacific" on a search engine lead to broken links and lack of relative results. Even the archives lacked physical material of many BGLOs including the sorority.

This begs the question of why such a significant influence of Black women is missing in the history of the University of the Pacific.