From the Archives
Beta Sigma Omicron and ZTA By Susan Beard, Delta Psi Patricia Cords Levitte, Beta Phi Archives Committee Co-Chairmen Any milestone chapter anniversary is a cause for celebration, and this fall, seven chapters will celebrate their 50th. However, these chapters each have a history more storied than a half of a century. You see, in 1964, ZTA absorbed many of the chapters of Beta Sigma Omicron Sorority. Beta Sigma Omicron was founded in 1888 at University of Missouri. Its Alpha Chapter had a short life, but the sorority quickly expanded to many of the same types of schools as ZTA did in our early years, particularly finishing schools and female seminaries.
However, when ZTA stopped opening chapters at these junior colleges and closing existing chapters to meet National Panhellenic Conference membership criteria, BSO did not, severely stunting its growth and development. Finally, in 1933—31 years after NPC’s founding—BSO made the necessary changes and joined the Conference. Unfortunately, the sorority was still unable regain its expansion momentum after the Great Depression and did not grow at the same pace as the rest of the NPC groups. By the early 1960s, the decision was clear; Beta Sigma Omicron needed to be absorbed by a larger NPC organization, a decision many other
The National Presidents of Beta Sigma Omicron (Norma Newbill Brooks, right) and Zeta Tau Alpha (Jane Shotwell Kerr, left) signed legal documents for ZTA’s absorption of BSO on Aug. 7, 1964. 50 · Themis
smaller sororities had made over the previous three decades. It was at Beta Sigma Omicron’s 1963 convention that it celebrated its 75th anniversary and made the decision to vote on absorption or disbanding. Over its lifetime, BSO had installed 61 chapters, with almost 15,000 initiated members. At the time this vote was taken, only 13 chapters remained, and BSO no longer met NPC’s membership requirements. The vote for absorption was unanimous, and its national officers began the dismantling process. ZTA Academic Achievement Committee member Nancy Morris Roberts (Zeta Alpha Chapter) was a member of BSO and the delegate from her chapter at University of Evansville at that 1963 convention. She remembers being “very excited about it and knew it was the best thing for Beta.” Later that summer, BSO’s National President Norma Newbill Brooks reached out to ZTA’s National President Jane Shotwell Kerr (Beta Phi Chapter, Michigan State University) and expressed interest in our organization. Mrs. Brooks felt ZTA was very similar to BSO based on our founding, early history and membership. The discussion continued for months with the pros and cons being weighed by each side. On Aug. 7, 1964, the Grand Council of Beta Sigma Omicron met with ZTA’s National Council at ZTA’s headquarters, then located in Evanston, Illinois. The legal papers were signed that day for the dissolution of BSO, and the absorption process was scheduled.