Fraternity

On January 27, 1870 four coeds at Asbury College (now DePauw University) in Greencastle, Indiana, gathered together in a darkened room and initiated themselves into a secret society.  Pledging lifelong vows of loyalty to one another and swearing to uphold a set of carefully outlined ideals, Bettie Locke, Alice Allen, Bettie Tipton and Hannah Fitch conceived and established Kappa Alpha Theta, the first Greek letter fraternity for women.

Chapter

On April 14, 1889 at what was then the University of the Pacific (UOP), San Jose the second chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta (west of the Mississippi) was chartered as Phi.  Phi Chapter remained active on UOP's campus until the early 1890's when the University's internal problems and competition from the newly opened Stanford University saw the departure of many of its faculty and students.  Most of the members of Phi transferred to the new Palo Alto campus.  It was suggested at the 1891 Kappa Alpha Theta convention 'that the girls from Phi be allowed to take their charter to Stanford University.'  Those Thetas that remained at UOP carried on under the name of Alpha Theta Tau.  By February 1892, Phi became the first chapter of a women's fraternity at Stanford, where it continued until all sororities were banned on the campus in 1944.

In 1924 the University of the Pacific was re-established as College of the Pacific (COP) and moved from San Jose to Stockton.  As part of a well executed campus building program, ground was broken for the new Alpha Theta Tau house in June of 1925.  Four months later, on October 17th (at a cost of $28,000) the formal opening was held.  Over the years "Alpha Thete" was wielded into a strong local, always dreaming of the time when national fraternities would be welcomed to COP.  The historic link between Alpha Theta Tau and Kappa Alpha Theta influenced local members and alumnae to "go national."  That dream became a reality on December 12, 1959 when Kappa Alpha Theta Phi Chapter was officially installed at College of the Pacific after an absence of more than 65 years.

 Alpha Theta Tau / 1926