Sarah
Ida Shaw suggested to her friend, Eleanor, "Let us found a society that shall
be kind alike to all and think more of a girl's inner self and character than
of her personal appearance." Not only did they found a fraternity, but at
the same time they wrote the rituals and constitution, and designed the emblems.
Eleanor suggested a triple letter and Sarah chose the letter and worked on the
Greek mottoes and passwords. Inspiration for these came from variety of sources:
Egyptian lore, Hindu mysticism, Greek, and astronomy, reflecting the wide and
various interests of Sarah Ida Shaw.
It
was finished on Tuesday November 27, 1888, but
there was one more meeting
of the two friends on the following afternoon before they separated for the Thanksgiving
break, at the top of the college building in what was then the Philological Library.
It was there that the two girls embraced each other and said Tri Delta is founded.
