About

Alpha Phi Fraternity was founded at Syracuse University on October 10, 1872.  The founders were Martha Foote Crow, Rena Atchison, Clara Burdette, Jane Sara Higham, Hattie Lukens, Ida Houghton, Clara Sittser Williams, Kate Hogoboom Gilbert, Louise Hancock, and Elizabeth Shults.  Of the twenty women attending Syracuse at this time, these ten joined in the formation of Alpha Phi. The organization was founded on the principles of growth in character; unity of feeling, sisterly affection, and social communion among the members.  In 1946, Alpha Phi adopted cardiac care as its philanthropy and ten years later established the Alpha Phi Foundation to support research for the cause.

The Theta Iota Chapter at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA was founded in 1991.  We are the 2010 recipients of the Martha Mast Outstanding Philanthropy Award and are in the top three Alpha Phi Foundation donors for the Southeast Region.  Having raised more than $45,000 in the past three years, much of the money raised through our philanthropic efforts has supported Harrisonburg’s local hospital’s health center for women.

We are a proud chapter that wants to make a difference, one heart at a time <3