Our History

In 1917, five women at New York University School of Law couldn’t find an inclusive organization that would accept them. So they started their own.

Dorothy, Ida, Minna, Eva, and Sylvia (affectionately the DIMES) founded Delta Phi Epsilon with the purpose of being accepting of all races and religions – one of the first non-sectarian social sororities to do so. 

A lot has changed since then.

Our Founders

Attending law school when you don’t have basic voting rights is a bold move. Our Founders were bold, courageous students who challenged the status quo and did not let society define their future. They were forward-thinking women who saw beyond what sorority was and knew what it could be.

Today, our Sorority stays true to our founding. Sisters find more than a home or friendship in DPhiE. We find empowerment to live authentic and purposeful lives.

To promote good fellowship among the women students among the various colleges in the country…to create a secret society composed of these women based upon their good moral character, regardless of nationality or creed…

— Founder Notes

What it Means to Be DPhiE

We’re a group of trailblazing, courageous and bright individuals who have joined together under the motto of “esse quam videri” meaning “to be, rather than to seem to be.” We strive for justice, making our voices heard in even the hardest of situations. We create an empowered sisterhood through uplifting one another. We are bound by our love for each other and our communities.

Being DPhiE means to belong. Being DPhiE means to be authentically yourself. 

75,000+

Initiated Members

109

Active Chapters

16

Alumnae Associations

478

International Volunteers

Our Values & Symbols