Iota Alpha Pi
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Iota Alpha Pi () was an international collegiate sorority operating in the United States and Canada from March 3, 1903Jewish Floridian March 12, 1954, page B4
/ref> to July 1971, when it ceased operations.


History

Iota Alpha Pi was the first national sorority for Jewish women. On March 3, 1903, on the campus of New York City, Normal College (now
Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...
), seven young women created a new sorority which they called the J.A.P. club,, or "Jay-ay-peez", focused on religious education and settlement house work. The founders were: Frances Zellermayer was a sister to
Zeta Beta Tau Zeta Beta Tau () is a Greek-letter social fraternity based in North America. It was founded on December 29, 1898. Originally a Zionist youth society, its purpose changed from Zionism in the fraternity's early years when in 1954 the fraternity beco ...
founder Maurice Zellermayer and later married the brother of her fellow founder Rose Delson. In 1913, with the new name Iota Alpha Pi, the members began the traditional sorority expansion process. The original organizers grouped themselves as ''Alpha chapter'' and the succeeding group became ''Beta chapter''. Early expansion was at other schools in the New York Area, ''Gamma'' at the
Brooklyn Law School Brooklyn Law School (BLS) is a private law school in New York City. Founded in 1901, it has approximately 1,100 students. Brooklyn Law School's faculty includes 60 full-time faculty, 15 emeriti faculty, and a number of adjunct faculty. Brookly ...
, ''Delta'' at NYU Washington Square and ''Epsilon'' at the
New Jersey Law School Rutgers Law School is the law school of Rutgers University, with classrooms in Newark and Camden, New Jersey. It is the largest public law school and the 10th largest law school, overall, in the United States. Each class in the three-year J.D. pr ...
The Sorority became international in 1929 with the founding of ''Kappa chapter'' at University of Toronto, University of Manitoba had a particularly prosperous chapter. In 1924, a Rotation Scholarship Fund was created, allowing money to be loaned to worthy students by the sorority on the expectation of it being repaid. In 1925 the sorority began creating its own semi-annual bulletin. Iota joined the
National Panhellenic Conference The National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) is an umbrella organization for 26 (inter)national women's Fraternities and sororities, sororities throughout the United States and Canada. Each member group is autonomous as a social, Greek alphabet#Use ...
as an associate member in November 1953 and became a full member on November 4, 1957. Although many chapters were planned, Iota Alpha Pi could not keep up with its rapidly growing competitors. Historian Marianne Sanua recounts the life of Iota Alpha Pi in her book, ''Going Greek: Jewish College Fraternities in the United States, 1895-1945''. The sorority was "not for the especially popular, affluent, or snobbish, but just a group of good friends" (p. 81) The American Jewish Yearbook 5692 describes the sorority as Jewish in a positive way". This accolade probably stems from Iota's studies on women in the Bible. By 1966, Iota Alpha Pi had granted a total 23 charters. A report by Wilson Heller indicates that the sorority was strong until 1968. Heller posits that the sorority saw dramatic declines in membership, particularly with the cessation of the "Christians only" clause in non-Jewish organizations. As of June 1, 1967 an NPC report indicated that Iota Alpha Pi had 11 chapters , 8 Alumnae groups and 5,802 sisters and 13 chapters, 8 Alumnae groups and 6,204 as of June 1, 1969. In 1969, Iota Alpha Pi established new chapters at the
University of Maryland College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...
and Hunter College Park Avenue. In July 1971, the international headquarters voted to disband Iota Alpha Pi (Heller). Two chapters went on to affiliate into other national sororities. The ''Beta Alpha chapter'' at Penn State joined Alpha Epsilon Phi, while the ''Upsilon chapter'' at
Rider University Rider University is a private university in Lawrence Township, New Jersey. It consists of four academic units: the Norm Brodsky College of Business, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the College of Education and Human Services, and West ...
eventually affiliated with Delta Phi Epsilon. The main archive URL i
The Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage
As of 2008, some alumni continue to hold reunions and other events. However, no formal organization exists to coordinate these gatherings.


Insignia

The original name of the sorority was J.A.P. Their publication was ''The J.A.P. Bulletin''. With the name change to Iota Alpha Pi, the magazine was also renamed: ''The Heights''. The first official badge was a scarlet horizontal diamond surrounded by seed pearls. The scarlet diamond bore the letters and , in gold. Above the , in gold, was a skull and crossbones. Later versions of the badge included two full blown roses at the points of the diamond. Official colors:red and black. As of 1931, the sorority used in " a diamond of scarlet surrounded by jewels" where a crest would otherwise be used. National Philanthropy: Muscular Dystrophy


Chapters

Chapters of Iota Alpha Pi include the following. All are inactive, thus noted by ''italics''. The Baird's Archive notes a 1969 colony as a separate chapter from ''Alpha'' and ''Beta'' at Hunter College, Park Avenue, but this group did not charter. This appears to be an error, and should be clarified as simply an attempt to reestablish itself on the sorority's first campus.


Conventions

Conventions include:


Notable Alumnae

Jill Wine-Banks Jill Wine-Banks (born May 5, 1943 as Jill Susan Wine
- one of the prosecutors during the Watergate scandal. She was the first woman to serve as US General Counsel of the Army (1977–80)


See also

*
List of Jewish fraternities and sororities This is a list of historically Jewish fraternities and sororities in the United States and Canada. Baird's Manual is also available online hereThe Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage These organizations exemplify (or exemplified) a range of "Je ...


Notes


References

{{National Panhellenic Conference Defunct former members of the National Panhellenic Conference 1903 establishments in New York City Organizations disestablished in 1971 Student organizations established in 1903 1971 disestablishments in the United States Historically Jewish sororities in the United States Jewish organizations established in 1903