Founding Date

May 22nd, 1891

Originally named the Woman's College of Baltimore City, Goucher was founded in 1885 by a group of influential Methodists led by the Rev. John Franklin Goucher, who, with his wife Mary Fisher Goucher, deeded the college the land to begin its original campus in downtown Baltimore. The college was renamed after the Gouchers in 1910 and relocated its campus in 1954 to a 287-acre wooded campus in Towson, MD, just eight miles north of the heart of the city. The college has been coeducational since 1986. Delta Gamma first became interested in opening a chapter at Goucher College because of the influence of Rose Mills Powers, Xi-Michigan, and Helen Lovell Million, Xi-Michigan. A future charter member of the Psi II chapter was friends with Mrs. Powers, and fell in love with Delta Gamma through her. Mrs. Million was a member of the Goucher faculty, and she was consulted about the potential of bringing a Delta Gamma chapter to campus. The Psi II chapter of Delta Gamma was granted its charter at the 1891 Convention held in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Psi II became the eleventh active collegiate chapter at the time. The chapter was installed on May 22, 1891 by Mrs. Million. At the next convention held in 1893, Psi II was made the deputy chapter. In 1901, Psi II was integral in the installation of the Rho-Syracuse chapter, and again in 1912 held install the Alpha Beta-Swarthmore chapter. By the mid 1940’s, the Psi II chapter was struggling. Delta Gamma at Goucher had been one of the smallest groups on campus. Because of this chronic membership concern, the chapter had financial concerns as well. They were evicted from their rooms on campus and were unable to make payments on a loan the chapter received from the Fraternity. Furthermore, the sentiments of the faculty and staff of the college were documented as being unfriendly and resentful. With all of these issues in mind, on May 14, 1946, the women of the Psi II chapter voted to close the Psi II chapter. The Fraternity was hesitant to close the chapter, so they asked alumnae in the area to hold another meeting and re-vote. By the conclusion of this meeting of May 29, the majority of the chapter voted in favor of remaining on campus. By the late 1940’s, however, the climate on campus had not improved. In October of 1949, the women of Psi II were once again considering returning their charter to the Fraternity. An exact date is not known, but by April of 1950, the women of Psi II had voted in favor of returning their charter and Council accepted this decision.