Alpha Sigma Tau National Sorority (Alpha Chapter) was founded on November 4, 1899, at Michigan State Normal College (now Eastern Michigan University) in Ypsilanti, Michigan by eight women. The Founders of Alpha Sigma Tau National Sorority are Helene M. Rice, Mayene Tracy, Adriance Rice, Eva O’Keefe, May Gephart, Mabel Chase, Ruth Dutcher, and Harriet Marx.
For over 100 years, Alpha Sigma Tau has been an active presence at universities and colleges across the country. From its beginnings in 1899 to today, the Purpose of the Sorority has been to promote the ethical, cultural, and social development of its members and members have maintained high standards of scholarship, friendship, and social grace. The establishment of sororities on college campuses which addressed themselves to the education of teachers led to the formation of those sororities into the Association of Education Sororities (AES). One of the goals of Alpha Sigma Tau was to become a national sorority and to achieve membership in the Association of Education Sororities (AES). |
The Alpha Sigma Tau National Foundation was incorporated in 1982 to promote and expand the educational and charitable activities of the Sorority. This major milestone has provided Alpha Sigma Tau with the means to make stronger philanthropic contributions and to more readily provide academic scholarships to sisters. |
Alpha Sigma Tau spent the first ten years establishing the appropriate foundation to develop a national organization. In April 1905, a group of women at Central Michigan Normal School (now Central Michigan University), in Mt. Pleasant, joined Alpha Sigma Tau as the Beta Chapter. Other chapters soon affiliated and, by April 1926, the Sorority had achieved membership in AES. The Sorority’s first convention was held in Detroit, Michigan, where the Sorority magazine, The ANCHOR, was established. In December 1951, the AES merged with the National Panhellenic Conference
and Alpha Sigma Tau began its long and active association with NPC. Alpha Sigma Tau sister, Cynthia Peckhart McCrory, served on the Executive Committee of NPC from 1979 through 1985 and was elected to the first Executive Board of the National Panhellenic Conference Foundation. |