Founding Date

Nov 2nd, 1985

Rutgers was chartered as Queen’s College on November 10, 1766. It is the eighth oldest college in the U.S. and one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. The college was renamed Rutgers College in 1825 in honor of Colonel Henry Rutgers (1745–1830), a New York City landowner, philanthropist and former military officer, whose $5,000 bond donation to the school allowed it to reopen after years of financial difficulty. It gained university status in 1924 with the introduction of graduate education and further expansion. Rutgers evolved into a coeducational public research university after being designated "The State University of New Jersey" by the New Jersey Legislature in laws enacted in 1945 and 1956. In 1978, Barbara Caldwell wrote a letter to the Assistant Dean of Students at Rutgers University, explaining Delta Gamma Fraternity’s interest in expanding to the campus. Gamma Phi Beta was the first sorority recognized at Rutgers in 1977. However, it wasn’t until 1984 that Delta Gamma was invited to make an expansion presentation. In October 1983, a group of fifty women gathered in the lounge of Allen dormitory to discuss the creation of a local sorority which would offer sisterhood, service and friendship to the group. They chose the name Tau Beta Epsilon, meaning “the best ever,” to represent their goal. The women were initiated into TBE on March 2, 1984.In April 1984, they welcomed their first new member class. By the next year, the local group was searching for a greater horizon and wanted to become part of a national sorority. Delta Gamma was invited to make a presentation to the Rutgers Panhellenic Executive Board, the Expansion Committee, the Dean of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, the Joint Committee and Tau Beta Epsilon. Exactly one year following the first Tau Beta Epsilon initiation, on March 2, 1985, Tau Beta Epsilon members became colony pledges of Delta Gamma Fraternity. Epsilon Lambda- Lehigh performed the pledge ceremony for seventy women in Busch Student Center. Immediately following the ceremony, local Delta Gamma alumnae hosted a reception for the group and Fraternity representatives in the center. On November 2, 1985 Epsilon Psi chapter was installed at Rutgers University. Members of Omicron- Adelphi, performed the Initiation ceremony. Following the Initiation, Sharon Menasco Carroll, Vice-President: Alumnae, presented the Chapter's Charter to Colony president Karen Kamrowski at the Installation Banquet held at The Somerset Hilton Hotel. University officials, parents, new initiates and Fraternity representatives enjoyed the hospitality provided by the area alumnae. Epsilon Psi is the only Delta Gamma chapter in the state of New Jersey. Epsilon Psi chapter’s first home was at 41 Mine Street. They moved to 28-30 Mine Street in the fall of 1997 with the help of local alumna Doris Keller. The chapter soon outgrew the four small apartments on Mine Street. Epsilon Psi rented the Phi Delta Theta house at 66 College Avenue for the 2007-2008 academic year. A multi-year lease with Delta Kappa Epsilon followed, allowing the chapter to move to a home at 78 College Avenue in the summer of 2009. In August of 2014, the chapter moved into its current house at 4 Union Street. It has ten singles and five doubles, allowing twenty sisters to live in the house each year. Epsilon Psi chapter has consistently been involved and well-respected in the Greek community at Rutgers. Members have been involved in the performing arts, teaching assistantships, and intercollegiate athletics. They are consistently involved in a myriad of philanthropic endeavors; Anchor Splash® has become a highly anticipated event on campus every year since its beginning in 2004, they have been recognized for achievements with Dance Marathon. In the spring of 2015, Epsilon Psi received the Highest Rutgers Panhellenic GPA among initiated members.