Founding Date

Sep 29th, 1956

Texas Christian University was founded at Thorp Spring, Texas in September 1873. The University opened at the current Fort Worth site in 1911. On September 13, 1954, the Board of Trustees at TCU announced a major policy change allowing national fraternities and sororities onto campus. This turn of events led to a great deal of excitement among the alumnae in Fort Worth, as well as nationally. An expansion committee recommended the Fraternity keep a careful eye on TCU. In October, TCU extended eight invitations to Kappa Kappa Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, Delta Delta Delta, Kappa Delta, Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Gamma Delta, Chi Omega, and Zeta Tau Alpha, and expressed that other organizations may establish at a later date. With this hope, Delta Gamma remained in contact with officials at TCU. In November 1955, Delta Gamma and Pi Beta Phi were invited by the university to establish in the spring semester and join the eight NPC groups established the year before. Establishment week was the week of February 16, the same time as formal recruitment for the organized groups. Delta Gamma recruitment was conducted by Fraternity representatives, Ft. Worth alumnae, and Alpha Upsilon-Southern Methodist collegians. Ten women were ribbon pledged on February 22 forming the Gamma Tau new chapter. Formal pledging was conducted on February 27 at the Alpha Upsilon chapter house. Nine of the colony members returned in the fall. During September rush the "mighty nine" pledged 42 top women. Only five of the 10 sororities reached chapter total of 50. An ANCHORA article written by pledge adviser Nancy Gish Ferguson, Kappa-Nebraska, says "You might call our success the result of the ‘power of positive rush.’ We never mentioned how small our group was, that the girls had never before experienced the problems of rush (producing skits and singing) or that we were so new on campus. We talked about the big pledge class we could take and how fortunate T.C.U. is to have Delta Gamma on its campus." The original nine were initiated as charter members of Gamma Tau on September 29, 1965. Twelve patronesses were also initiated. Alpha Upsilon chapter members performed the Initiation ceremony at St. Stephen Presbyterian Church. On Saturday evening, more than 100 Delta Gammas were present for the formal Installation banquet held at the River Crest Country Club. On Sunday morning, a model chapter meeting was held at the student center. A reception followed Sunday afternoon in the ballroom to formally introduce the new chapter to the student body and faculty. The dean of women said it was the loveliest reception that had ever taken place on campus. At the time they were installed they were the 84th Delta Gamma chapter and the 7th chapter in Texas. Gamma Tau chapter has a treble clef as the design in its Centennial quilt square on display at Executive Offices. The treble clef is a simple and sincere tribute to Anchor and Cable Award recipient Diane Turner, for the songs and skits she has given Delta Gamma. Diane first appeared at the 1968 Convention with "Thoroughly Modern Millie." The chapter held its first Anchor Splash® in the spring of 1974. In the chapter’s early years, Gamma Tau and local alumnae worked with the Texas Society for the Prevention of Blindness to screen young children for diseases related to sight loss. They visited shopping malls, day care centers, private preschools, and other locations in their county to offer this service. Gamma Tau alumna Catherine Roseberry Alexander was president of the society, and she and her husband donated a mobile home for the Gamma Tau collegiate members and area alumnae to use for screening children. Gamma Tau celebrated its 25th anniversary at Founders Day in March 1981. The festivities began with an informal social gathering in the morning, followed by a luncheon at the Colonial Country Club. A formal dance was held in the evening at the Fort Worth Hyatt Regency. As was custom for fraternities and sororities in the 1970s, Gamma Tau collegians stayed in on campus dormitories. Gamma Tau’s first chapter room was a rented university space.