Beta Sigma History

Celebrating Over 55 Years of Sisterhood

Sigma Kappa has a long standing history at Purdue University which has lived on for more than half a century. In 1946, just after WWII, a woman named Penny Pennington and a few other Windsor Hall residents formed a local sorority called Beta Xi. From the beginning, the women of Beta Xi had hoped to colonize with a national sorority. In 1948, Sigma Kappa Sorority accepted its invitation to colonize at Purdue University. The Beta Xi women were thrilled that their dreams of becoming part of a national sorority were becoming reality. The local sorority of Beta Xi dissolved and its members became the first initiates of the Beta Sigma chapter.

Beta Sigma’s first house was located at 146 North Grant Street. It was leased from Professor Marshall, an electrical engineering professor. He insisted on doing all of the lighting and plumbing so blackouts were a common experience. Despite these blackouts, the first house was quite lovely. The first floor was decorated by L.S. Ayres in what was then a very contemporary style. We are fortunate enough to still have one piece of furniture from our original house. Nicknamed “The Bean” (due to its shape), the couch is still a favorite among many of our sisters.

In 1951, the Sigmas learned that Purdue was going to build four new sorority houses, one of which would be theirs. The other houses were built for Alpha Delta Pi (where Delta Chi now resides), Phi Mu and Zeta Tau Alpha, which explains why all of these houses look very similar to one another.

On October 5, 1952, Sigma Kappa’s new home was finally completed and a formal dedication was held. In 1975, the Beta Sigma chapter recolonized and the first annex was purchased. It was later torn down during the summer of 1980 to make way for the new addition. The addition was completed in the summer of 1981 and since then, thousands of amazing women have called it home.

Beta Sigma Traditions and Legends

President’s Pin

It is a Beta Sigma tradition that the chapter president wears a special, emerald pointed pin during her term. The pin is in honor of Michelle Ruth, a past president who was tragically killed in a car accident. The pin was donated by Michelle’s parents. A larger version of the pin (which is lit at night) is featured in the front of the house, outside the president’s window.

The Bean

According to the legend, if a sister is caught kissing a man on The Bean, it will be the man she is going to marry. Perhaps this is the reason so many sisters like sitting on it — and why so many boyfriends are afraid to!

Pin Board

In our Bum Room, there is a triangular board that holds wooden plaques with crests of all of Purdue’s fraternities painted on the front. When a sister gets lavaliered, pinned or engaged, a pinning circle is held. All of the lights are off and together we stand in a circle and link arms. As we sing, a candle is passed around the circle. When it reaches the sister who was recently lavaliered, pinned, or engaged, she blows out the candle and moves to the middle of the circle to tell the story of how it happened. Afterward, she gets to write her name, his name and the date on the back of the plaque that corresponds to his fraternity. If he is not Greek, there is a plaque with Sigma Kappa’s crest that she may use instead.