Alpha Delta Pi Marks 175 Years with $80,000 Gift to Restore Historic Wesleyan Fountain

MACON, GA — Alpha Delta Pi returned to the campus where it began 175 years ago on Saturday, October 10, with a gift to help preserve one of Wesleyan College's most recognizable landmarks. During an anniversary celebration in Pierce Chapel, the Alpha Delta Pi Foundation announced an $80,000 grant to refurbish the fountain the sorority first presented to Wesleyan 90 years ago.

The gift was made possible by donors to Alpha Delta Pi's Forever First Campaign and announced in support of Wesleyan's $61 million She Will Campaign. Forever First Campaign co-chairs Elisse Jones Freeman and Jan Alexander Maisch presented a ceremonial check to Wesleyan College President Meaghan Blight during the celebration.

In 1936, as Wesleyan celebrated its centennial, Alpha Delta Pi members across the country raised $1,500 to give the College a marble memorial fountain. Collegiate chapters, alumnae groups and individual sisters contributed what they could, often in dollars and cents. The fountain bears the names of the Adelphean Society's founders, the society's founding date, Alpha Delta Pi's coat of arms and its open motto, "We Live for Each Other."

That connection reaches back to May 15, 1851, when Eugenia Tucker and five fellow Wesleyan students founded the Adelphean Society, the first secret society for college women. Wesleyan had been chartered 15 years earlier, in 1836, as the first college in the world chartered to grant degrees to women. Together, those two firsts became part of a larger story of women creating opportunities and community for one another.

Over the decades, Alpha Delta Pi's connection to Wesleyan has taken other lasting forms across campus. In 1926, the sorority presented the College with a marble bench, and in 2001, Alpha Delta Pi and Phi Mu jointly gave Wesleyan its entrance gates. The sorority and its Foundation returned to the fountain in 2011, donating the pair of lion statues that flank it to commemorate Wesleyan's 175th anniversary.

“Caring for Wesleyan's historic campus means preserving the legacy and memories of places that remain part of students' lives today,” said Wesleyan College President Meaghan Blight. “The fountain is one of those places, and it carries a history that Wesleyan and Alpha Delta Pi share. We are deeply grateful for the pride Alpha Delta Pi continues to take in where its sisterhood began and for the commitment its members have shown to Wesleyan across generations.”

Saturday's celebration was part of "Come Home: The Adelphean Experience," a weekend recognizing Alpha Delta Pi's 175th anniversary and the place where its history began. The occasion also marked a personal milestone for President Blight, Wesleyan's 26th president, who was inducted into Alpha Delta Pi as part of the celebration.

As Wesleyan approaches its 190th anniversary, Alpha Delta Pi's renewed commitment to the fountain it first presented for Wesleyan’s centennial brings a remarkable history full circle. A gift made by one generation of Wesleyan women in 1936 will continue to be part of the campus experience for those who follow.