Mortar Board was the first national organization honoring senior college women. The evolution of Mortar Board mirrors an attempt to keep pace with an
ever-changing society. It was on the campus of the University of Chicago in the fall of 1915, that a coed from The Ohio State University met a woman from Swarthmore College. Both women wore identical pins in the shape of a mortarboard. Through discussion they realized that each represented an honor society
for women with similar election methods, operation procedures, ideals, and traditions. The only difference was the name--Swarthmore's society was Pi Sigma Chi and Ohio State's organziation was Mortar Board.
During the next three years, Swarthmore corresponded with other colleges. Five schools--Cornell University, The Ohio State University, The University of Michigan, Syracuse University, and Swarthmore College--agreed to formulate definite plans for a national organization. The first meeting of the "Convention for the Nationalization of Honorary Societies for Senior Women" was called to order on February 15, 1918. The founding meeting adopted the pin of The Ohio State University, a small black mortarboard. A motto was adopted, taken from the Greek words meaning Service, Scholarship, and Leadership, to be represented by three Greek letters, Pi Sigma Alpha, the letters of which appeared on the pin. The constitution was adopted from a tenative plan outlined by Swarthmore.
Arguments ensued as to whether the organization's name should be a Greek letter one. Dissension of this issue resulted in Syracuse University withdrawing from the newborn society. Although officially the society remained nameless until the second convention in 1919, correspondance with prospective chapters following the 1918 meeting referred to the new organziation as Mortar Board.
---Excerpted from materials from the national Mortar Board organization.
In the academic year of the 1949 and 1950, a women's honorary organization called Tassel was started at the University of Delaware. The group was organized with the help of Mortar Board alumnae in the Delaware area, and five girls from the University were chosen as charter members. The object of this society, according to the Constitution, was service, scholarship, and leadership.
In the 1950s the girls participated in many activities. Each year they held a mum sale, sponsored listening parties in the Scrounge for away football games, held clothing drives and Christmas parties for local needy children, distributed the University newspaper to alumni soldiers overseas, and gave an I.Q. tea to honor women students on the Dean's List.
In 1960, Tassel was granted a chapter of Mortar Board National Honor Society for senior college women. On May 15, 1960, the University of Delaware Mortar Board Tassel Chapter became the 105th chapter. In 1975, the Tassel Chapter opened their membership to men and continued to participate in a variety of activities to promote scholarship, leadership and service.
---Excerpted from Chapter History written in 1996