Lambda Chapter

LAMBDA and IOTA CHAPTER POTSDAM NORMAL SCHOOL

The first chapter was established in 1930 as the Lambda Chapter.

The current, Iota Chapter at Potsdam/Clarkson was established in 1989.

Arethusa Lambda at Potsdam Normal School established March 8, 1930. Folded 1932

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In the fall of 1926, the Leu De Cra Society was formed with four charter members. The Leu De Cra society was formed as an organization designed for social purposes. The organization grew in numbers and adopted the name the Lambda Society. The meetings of the Lambda Society, while once of a social nature only, changed to be held regularly every week for both literary and social purposes.

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"We strive to keep a high standard of scholarship among our members. We aim to be of a real service in up-holding and promoting the standards of our Alma Mater." - from the 1929 Pioneers yearbook at Potsdam College

Lambda was not listed among the Greeks until May 1929, when it became Lambda Delta Chi Sorority.

On March 8, 1930, the sorority became the Lambda Chapter of the Arethusa Fraternity.

In 1933, two Arethusan sisters, Madeline Gage and Alice Mayne, migrated to Kappa Chi Delta, which conjoined three sororities -- Chi Beta Mu, Pi Phi Omega, and Arethusa - - in that year. The other remaining Arethusan sisters did not show up in the roster of any other sorority. Information was compiled through the efforts of Margaret Weitzmann at the College Archives Library at SUNY Potsdam.