Designed by one of the first Syracuse (A) members
Today’s standard design upgraded with a sapphire
President Genevra Gwynn Wiley (A-Syracuse) asked that a pin be worn solely as a badge over the heart. This became the custom which some chapters still use today — although it is just that, a custom, not a practice specified in the Fraternity Constitution. The traditional wearing of the badge was challenged in the late 1950s when Edith Huey Shelton (B-Northwestern), a tony woman from the fashionable Chicago North Shore and a member of the International Executive Board, mounted her badge on an imposing disc and wore it as a bangle bracelet. The thought was that this innovation would give alumnae an opportunity to display their badges when they had little other incentive to do so. Today, of course, the badge may be worn as a bracelet, as a ring, as a lavaliere — as one pleases. Then in 1971, in the midst of an anti-fraternity era, International President Betty Mullins Jones ( -DePauw) invited members to again wear their badges anywhere on their clothing as the early sisters did. What was most important about the badge, said Betty, was to wear it. As for the design of the badge, as charming as the unique Lazy Phi badges seem to us today, some critics fretted that they were overly decorative and frivolous, trivializing the dignified nature of the Fraternity. The standard badge we now wear was approved at the 1906 Convention. The die for the badge was The first Syracuse (A) members.
1898 design
Barnard (M) 1906
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO YOUR BADGE? Your badge represents much more than a pin of gold. It represents so many Alpha Phi memories — your initiation, the day you pinned it on your little sister, Founders' Day events, graduation and so much more. To preserve all that your Alpha Phi badge means to you, it is important to plan for its future so it stays in the Alpha Phi family and doesn't turn up for sale by a non-Alpha Phi collector. Our Alpha Phi badges "belong" to us in a special way. The Fraternity Constitution stipulates that a badge remain in the possession of a member in good standing for her lifetime. But after death, ownership reverts to the Fraternity. Exceptions are if the family of the deceased member desires to keep it or if it is given to the member's collegiate chapter or to another Alpha Phi sister. Please help preserve your Alpha Phi memories by planning for your badge's future. Members are encouraged to report stolen badges to local police. It is also recommended that Alpha Phis either provide in their wills or tag badges with instructions regarding their eventual disposition.
completed in 1908. A plain badge was approved for wear by collegians and one with white jewels for alumnae and collegiate dress wear. Former Fraternity Trustee Ruth Himmelman Wright ( Washington) recalls that a major issue among collegians at the 1946 Convention was obtaining permission to wear the jeweled badge in the daytime rather than restricting it to evening dresses. Permission was granted. So many were entranced by the antique Lazy Phi badge when displayed that members were given an opportunity in the early 1960s to readopt the old style. The proposal was voted on in Convention and rejected, however. Collegians, especially, preferred to use the antique style solely as an honor badge, which is the current practice. A special thank you to former Quarterly Editor Margaret Knights Hultsch (BN-Duke, P-Ohio State, B-Northwestern and O-Missouri) for her contribution
FALL 2002
Introduced a peer education program for AIDS education
1995
Introduced risk management education to collegians
1990
Alpha Phi adopts cardiac aid as its philanthropic project
1988
Frances E. Willard is portrayed on a U.S. postage stamp
1946
On the 50th anniversary, accumulated a $50,000 endowment fund
1940
Became an “International” fraternity when Xi chapter was chartered at the University of Toronto
1922
Frances E. Willard is the first woman to be recognized by U.S. Congress by placing a statue of her likeness in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol
1906
1905
to this article.
1995 Became the first NPC member to establish a site on the World Wide Web
The Fraternity coat-of-arms is adopted
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