In 1870, the Bettina Literary Society of German Wallace College was organized for the purpose of intellectual development. In 1896, with the assistance of Dr. Karl Riemenschneider, then president of German Wallace College, the society reorganized as the Philomathean Society. In 1913, German Wallace College merged with Baldwin University to become Baldwin-Wallace College. In 1914, in keeping with the change, we were the first on campus to adopt a Greek name and became Phi Lambda Sigma Sorority. This local became the Alpha Pi Chapter of Beta Sigma Omicron in March 1929, the first local to be affiliated with a national sorority on the Baldwin-Wallace campus. Beta Sigma Omicron, a member of the National Panhellenic Conference, became inactive in 1964. Alpha Phi pledged three of her chapters…Delta Tau at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Delta Upsilon at BW, and Delta Phi at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

On November 20, 1964, thirty-two collegians and forty-seven alumnae of the Beta Sigma Omicron chapter at Baldwin-Wallace College were initiated into the Delta Upsilon chapter of Alpha Phi.

"Alpha Phi’s history begins in 1872, rooted in the bold innovation of our Ten Founders—some of Syracuse University’s first female students. Several decided that they were not satisfied with merely participating in the classroom and denied admission to the men’s fraternities, decided to create their own fraternity for women. From the beginning, they envisioned an expansive sisterhood, and their leadership and organizational practices set the tone for the Alpha Phi of today. Much like our present-day membership, the Founders were a group of curious women who did not back down from a challenge—women who had a vision for our sisterhood and the confidence in one another to make an impact." (AlphaPhi.org)