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Mortar Board was the first national organization honoring senior college
women. The evolution of Mortar Board mirrors an attempt to keep pace with
an ever-changing society. It was on the campus of the University of Chicago in the fall of
1915, that a coed from The Ohio State University met a woman from Swarthmore College. Both women wore
identical pins in the shape of a mortarboard. Through discussion they
realized that each represented an honor society for women with similar
election methods, operation procedures, ideals, and traditions. The only
difference was the name--Swarthmore's society was Pi Sigma Chi and Ohio State's organization
was Mortar Board.
During the next three years, Swarthmore corresponded with other colleges.
Five schools--Cornell University, The Ohio State
University, The University of Michigan, Syracuse University, and Swarthmore College--agreed to
formulate definite plans for a national organization. The first meeting
of the "Convention for the Nationalization of Honorary Societies for
Senior Women" was called to order on February 15, 1918. The founding meeting adopted the
pin of The Ohio State University, a small black mortarboard. A motto was
adopted, taken from the Greek words meaning Service, Scholarship, and
Leadership, to be represented by three Greek letters, Pi Sigma Alpha, the
letters of which appeared on the pin. The constitution was adopted from a
tentative plan outlined by Swarthmore.
Arguments ensued as to whether the organization's name should be a Greek
letter one. Dissension of this issue resulted in Syracuse University withdrawing from
the newborn society. Although officially the society remained nameless
until the second convention in 1919, correspondence with prospective
chapters following the 1918 meeting referred to the new organization as
Mortar Board.
Excerpted from materials provided
by the National Mortar Board organization.
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