Our Chapter History
On March 15th, 1991, a group of women came together to meet about forming an organization at the Rochester Institute of Technology. There was a great deal of diversity among the interested women, but they all possessed a common goal of wanting to make a difference. Twelve days later this group, The Royal Ladies, elected officers and began their journey toward sisterhood.
On April 26th, 1991, the first initiation ceremony was held to express the ideals of the new organization and to initiate the young women as founding sisters of The Royal Ladies. The Royal Ladies instilled their beliefs into the organization. They stressed scholarship and service to allow members opportunities to learn more about their role in the ever changing world. The diversity of the women in this organization allowed them to support and maintain individualism. Looking past their diversity, the members of The Royal Ladies showed the ability to build strong ties of sisterhood and run their organization as a whole unit. This is the area where The Royal Ladies stood out among the rest. The Royal Ladies’ initial goal was to become a Greek organization. After time, other goals were formed: to understand the true meaning of sisterhood, to develop life-long friendships, to be supportive of fellow sisters, and to grow both as individuals and a group by becoming involved on campus and in the community. The sisters of The Royal Ladies applied these ideals and goals in their daily life as they continued to learn, live and grow.
On April 23rd, 1994, The Royal Ladies became the Gamma Colony of Delta Phi Epsilon. From that time on, the young women worked exceptionally hard to achieve the goal of becoming an official chapter of Delta Phi Epsilon.
On May 15th, 1995, The Royal Ladies became the founding sisters of the Beta Upsilon Chapter of Delta Phi Epsilon, and our sisterhood was installed as one of now 110 international chapters across the United States and Canada.
To this day, the Beta Upsilon chapter strives to uphold and expand upon the foundations provided to us by this amazing group of women. Over 500 members and alumnae strong, the Beta Upsilon Chapter continues to strive and make meaningful impacts on the Greek Life of RIT, upholding the standards of Justice, Sisterhood, and Love bestowed upon us that the Royal Ladies made possible for us almost 30 years ago.
Read more about our sorority’s values and symbols that we hold dear, on the national website.