Zeta Phi Eta (ΖΦΗ) is a nationalprofessional fraternity for communication arts and sciences. It was founded in 1893, and is recognized as the oldest professional fraternity for women, though membership is now co-ed.[1]
Zeta Phi Eta was founded on October 10, 1893 as the first professional Communications fraternity atNorthwestern University in Evanston Illinois. The organization began in when Edith deVore conceived the idea of a club exclusively for students of the School of Oratory (later theSchool of Communication). DeVore was joined by Molly Connor, Laurine Wright, Maude Newell, and Leila Little, and the group called itself the "F.O.E. Club", vowing to be a Friend of Each, Each Our Friend. The women held secret meetings before receiving formal approval for the Zeta Phi Etasorority in 1894 from Dean Cumnock of the School of Oratory.[2]
Zeta Phi Eta founders as photographed for the Northwestern University yearbook.
The fraternity was incorporated onJune 25, 1902 under the laws of the State of Illinois.[3] Reflecting the organization’s status as a professional, rather than an honorary or social, society, the charter proclaims, “This society is to promote a greater excellence in oratorical and dramatic art, and to develop a social interest and a stronger friendship toward each other.”
In 1908, the fraternity began to expand when a Zeta at Northwestern corresponded with a friend atEmerson College of Oratory inBoston,Massachusetts, who belonged to an organization with similar values and goals, Phi Eta Sigma. When the two chapters affiliated under the name of Zeta Phi Eta,Alpha chapter status was bestowed upon the Emerson organization.[2]
During the 1910s and 1920s, campus andalumnae chapters grew quickly at institutions around the country. The fraternity first publishedCAMEO in 1913, a national magazine which continues to be published quarterly.[2]
In 1941, total membership of the fraternity was reported to be approximately 3,000 women across nineteen collegiate chapters and fifteen alumnae chapters.[4] Since 1950 the fraternity broadened its focus in the speech arts, to include communications arts and sciences.[5]
In 1955, the Zeta Phi Eta Foundation was established to contribute to "worthy speech and drama projects". One long-term project initiated by the Zeta alumnae in 1960 was a full-scale nationwide tape recording program for theLibrary of Congress, recording tapes of published works for access by blind patrons.[6][5] Another national project, Graduate Assistantship Opportunities, was designed to provide professional guidance to senior members of campus chapters upon entering graduate school.[2]
The cameo and pearl pin ofAlpha became the national fraternity's official badge, and the shield and torch ofBeta became its the coat of arms.[3] The Zeta Phi Eta badge is a rose-coloredcameo upon which is carved the letter name of the Fraternity in white, surrounded by 23 pearls. The fraternity's colors are rose and white. Its flower is the "La France Rose." Its magazine is theCameo, along with occasionally aProspectus andPledge Manual.[5]
While originally established as a women-exclusive sorority, Zeta Phi Eta began extending its membership to male students in 1975.[2]Since its founding, Zeta Phi Eta membership has expanded to welcome undergraduate and graduate students focusing on a wide range of communications-related fields. These include:[7]
Former and formerly active members of the Professional Fraternity Association or its predecessors: Professional Panhellenic Association or Professional Interfraternity Conference