Phrateres

Phrateres is a philanthropic-social organization for female college students.

History

At one time Phrateres existed at higher level learning institutions across North America. It was founded at the University of California (now UCLA) in 1924 by the Dean of Women. Members included those who lived in dorms, commuted to campus, as well as members of sororities. The club not only allowed female students to socialize with each other, but also allowed them to volunteer for various philanthropic causes. Word spread to other colleges and Phrateres grew.

However, due to a downturn in student participation as well chapters being forced to turn co-ed, chapters shut down at a high rate in the 1980s. By 2000 there were only two chapters left, Lambda at the University of Arizona and Theta at the University of British Columbia, as well as the Phrateres International Board based in Los Angeles. That same year the Arizona chapter closed due to low membership and the International Board of Trustees decided to disband in 2001. The Theta Chapter still exists at UBC in the form of an AMS (Alma Mater Society, UBC's student society) club.

Phrateres International

The international governing board was comprised of Phrateres alumnae living in the Greater Los Angeles area. It collected fees from each chapter, as well as published a regular newsletter, "The Phraterean" with notices from each chapter. The Lura Heeter Award was a scholarship given to one collegiate member each year (began as a memorial award within the Zeta Chapter in 1985).

When the board disbanded, it gave its remaining funds to the Theta Chapter. Monies from the Lura Heeter Award were given to the Zeta Alumnae Chapter.

The board was lead by a Grand President:

Helen Matthewson Laughlin, 1924 - 1957
Lynne Love, ? - ?
Marjorie Chilstrom, ? - ?

Theta Chapter

70+ Years

In 2006, Theta celebrated 70 years of Phrateres at UBC with a gala celebration. Contacting alumnae proved difficult, unfortunately. Many members had married and taken new names. As well, records often only included the street address of the woman while she had been a student. Collegiate and alumnae members of the Theta Chapter were joined by spouses, parents, and a Rho Chapter alumnae, who had never been to Canada before.

History

The only remaining active chapter was often the largest during the heyday of Phrateres. In the mid-1930s, Clare Brown (President of the Women's Student Society) petitioned Mary Bollert (Dean of Women) to bring Phrateres to UBC. The Theta Chapter was installed on February 1, 1935. It was the first Canadian chapter of Phrateres.

During the late 1930s & 1970s, membership was large enough to support as many as 12 Sub-Chapters. Each Sub-Chapter had its own president and council, with all Sub-Chapters falling under the control of an executive council comprising the Rho Sub-chapter. Each Sub-Chapter also had a faculty advisor and recruited members separately. This led to a disparity in membership amongst the Sub-chapters, with some having less than 10 and others over 40 members.

Since the 1980s, membership has not exceeded 100 and the club presently operates as one unified chapter.

Philanthropy

The Theta Chapter organizes and participates in various philanthropic events throughout the year. Having no official charity, the club helps a variety of organizations.

Each September they organize a Terry Fox Run on the westside of Vancouver. The 2005 Run commemorated the 25th anniversary of the Marathon of Hope. That year, the run organized by Phrateres raised $26,000.

Each February the Theta Chapter volunteers time to answer phones during the Variety Show of Hearts Telethon. The telethon is a fundraiser for Variety - The Children's Charity The members usually take shifts from midnight to 4 am and/or 4am to 8am.

Each June the Theta Chapter participates in the 24 Hour Relay This event is organized by the B.C. Lions Society for Children with Disabilities, as a group under the umbrella of Easter Seals. Teams camp at Burnaby's Central Park and send runners and walkers on a 4 km route through the park, starting and ending in Swangard Stadium. In the 2008 relay, held June 14th-15th, the Theta Chapter fundraised $2,688.83 and the entire relay raised $1,315,304. All funds raised help send disabled children to specially equipped summer camps in British Columbia.

Sweethearts

Since 1951, seven members of the Theta Chapter have been elected as the Sweetheart of Sigma Chi for the Delta Omicron chapter of Sigma Chi at UBC. (Delta Omicron was chartered in 1949.)

Collegiate Chapters

Chapter	University	Founding date	Inactive
Alpha	University of California (precursor to UCLA, home of the Rho chapter)	10 December 1924	?
Beta	University of Washington	18 February 1929	1970s
Gamma	University of Oregon	1948	1961
Delta	Los Angeles State College (now California State University, Los Angeles)	March 1950	?
Zeta	Carroll College (now Carroll University)	1932	?
Eta	Arizona State University	9 March 1958	1990s
Theta	University of British Columbia	01 February 1935	Still active
Kappa	Fresno State College (now California State University, Fresno)	May 1936	?
Lambda	University of Arizona	December 1937	2000
Nu	University of California, Santa Barbara	January 1939	?
Omicron*	Augustana College	30 January 1941	27 February 1945
Omicron*	San Jose State College (now San Jose State University)	February 1964	?
Rho	University of California, Los Angeles	April 1942	? (evidence of activity in 1985)
Sigma	University of Texas, El Paso	February 1945	?
Tau	Simon Fraser University (Burnaby, B.C.)	?	?
Phi	Centennial College (Toronto)	?	?
Psi	University of California, Irvine	April 1967	?
Omega	Victoria College (now the University of Victoria)	October 1961	?

There is some confusion as to the "true" Omicron Chapter. Theta Chapter Handbooks from the 1960s state it is at San Jose, while an Augustana College library link states that Omicron was at that school in the 1940s.

Alumnae Chapters

The collegiate Theta Chapter hosts an annual "Alumnae Tea" each February (celebrating date of installation at UBC). Theta alumnae, some of whom are from the established Theta Alumnae Chapter, are always present. The collegiate Theta Chapter is interested in hearing from any other Alumnae or Alumnae Chapters in existence.

Despite the short life of the collegiate Zeta Chapter, a strong Alumnae Chapter grew and was in existence as recently as 2001