Sigma Sigma Sigma (), also known as Tri Sigma, is a national American women's sorority. It was established in 1898 at what is now Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia.The sorority's membership includes more than 140,000 women, hosts chapters on more than 100 college campuses, and maintains over 90 alumnae chapters. Sigma Sigma Sigma is a member of the National Panhellenic Conference.
History
The State Female Normal School in Farmville, Virginia (now known as Longwood University) was the state's first institution to open its doors to teacher education. Eight students, Margaret Batten, Louise Davis, Martha Trent Featherston, Isabella Merrick, Sallie Michie, Lelia Scott, Elizabeth Watkins, and Lucy Wright founded the sorority in 1898. Scott and Wright led the first meetings of their secret society, the S.S.S. Club, in 1897. On April 20, 1898, these women officially announced the founding of the Greek letter society known as Sigma Sigma Sigma (Tri Sigma).
At the same time, Wright's roommate, Julia Tyler, was working to found Kappa Delta sorority. In the fall of 1898, Zeta Tau Alpha was founded, followed by the founding of Alpha Sigma Alpha in 1901. These four sororities were all founded at the State Female Normal School and were henceforth referred to as the "Farmville Four".
Tri Sigma was chartered with the Commonwealth of Virginia on February 12, 1903. Tri Sigma's first constitution, the Alpha chapter, was adopted in April 1903. A second chapter, Beta, was established at the Lewisburg Female Institute in 1903. It also had two alumnae chapters. Sigma Sigma Sigma was the first NPC sorority to adopt a position statement for gender inclusivity. The pearl was designated as the official jewel in 1909. The official flower is the purple violet. It distributes funds for charitable, educational, and miscellaneous purposes, including programs that support women's leadership, student grants and scholarships, and play therapy programs for hospitalized children. The organization centers its latter philanthropic efforts around the theme "Sigma Serves Children", specifically through the Robbie Page Memorial (RPM).
On September 15, 1951, Robbie Page, the son of Tri Sigma's National President, died of bulbar polio, a disease which at that time had no cure or vaccine; this death prompted his parents to establish a memorial fund in his honor. The sorority adopted this fund as its official philanthropy in 1954.
Current national efforts are centered in funding fellowships at the Children's Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, and in funding graduate assistantships at the University of North Carolina Hospitals in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. At UNC, the sorority also funds the Robbie Page Play Atrium.
Chapters
Sigma Sigma Sigma has chapters on more than 100 college campuses, and maintains over 90 alumnae chapters.
Notable members
See also
- List of social sororities and women's fraternities