Sigma Delta Tau

At Sigma Delta Tau, we are honored to be home to more than 60,000 alumnae hailing from more than 100 chapters across the country. We were founded 97 years ago, and our traditions are still relevant and appreciated by our members who are EMPOWERED to be leaders on their campuses, in their communities and beyond. The mission of SDT is to enrich the lifetime experience of women of similar ideals, to build lasting friendships, and to foster personal growth. SDT is committed to Empowering Women through Scholarship, Leadership, Service and Sisterhood.

Sigma Delta Tau empowers women through Scholarship

Academic Achievement is the first priority of Sigma Delta Tau and our organization encourages each individual member to reach her fullest academic potential. From the national level to the local level, the importance of scholarship is emphasized by our organization. It is important to us that our chapter members are leaders in the classroom.

Sigma Delta Tau empowers women through Leadership
One of our key goals is to help members of Sigma Delta Tau reach their potential as leaders. We strive to provide our sisters with a skill set that will serve them well in their personal and professional endeavors.  SDT offers a training ground to develop a skill set that will be easily transferable to the workplace and it is a nice compliment to the skills students are learning in the classroom.

The national organization provides both personal and professional development programs for our collegiate and alumnae leaders during events such as our biennial National Convention and Leadership School (held in alternating years). Participants have the opportunity to interact with their SDT sisters from across the United States and to gain a deeper appreciation and understanding for our sisterhood. Most important they are empowered to bring what they’ve learned back to their campus and to ensure that SDT becomes a vital and contributing member of their campus community.

Sigma Delta Tau’s elite Collegiate Leadership Team program was developed in order to give collegiate women a say in the decisions and programs at the National level. This highly competitive program is by application and interview. SDT selects the top leaders from our collegiate chapters for the 12-14 coveted spots and gives them an active role in developing sorority programming. These collegiate leaders, chosen annually, are charged with creating relevant programming for our leadership school and convention, assisting the National Board of Directors on policies and campus programming, and serve as Sigma Delta Tau ambassadors at regional and national events.

Select chapter officers are able to participate in Chapter Leader Days which is a joint program with SDT and Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity. This program rotates to different locations each spring semester and includes officer transition, educational workshops and professional speakers. The sessions promote teamwork among the chapter leaders through peer education. Participants leave with an enhanced perception of their style of leadership.

Sigma Delta Tau empowers women through Service

SDT is committed to instilling a sense of philanthropy and lifelong community service in our members so that giving back to others becomes instinctive to each sister. Through educational programming, community service, and fund raising events, every member has an opportunity to be actively involved in SDT’s mission to Empower Women. One of the most powerful demonstrations of SDT’s dedication to that belief is its philanthropic commitment to Prevent Child Abuse America and Jewish Women International.

Prevent Child Abuse America

Sigma Delta Tau has been empowering families through Prevent Child Abuse America for over 30 years. Each SDT undergraduate chapter conducts an annual service project, educational program, or a major fund raising event to benefit the prevention of child abuse. April is National Child Abuse Prevention month. The pinwheel is used as a national symbol for child abuse and neglect and pinwheels are sold for $1.00 each by our SDT chapters. A pinwheel garden makes a strong statement on campus lawns across the country. Last year, SDT donated over $250,000 to PCAA to prevent the abuse and neglect of our nation’s children. In addition, Debbie Snyder, our Executive Director, sits on PCAA’s National Board of Directors.

In conjunction with Prevent Child Abuse America, Sigma Delta Tau is underwriting a new anti-bullying program entitled: Empower YOUth. This initiative aims to support the social and emotional development of middle school girls through an after school curriculum. SDT chapter members will facilitate these activities for the youth in their communities at the Girls, Inc. locations.

Jewish Women International

The mission of Jewish Women International is to make certain that all girls and women have the fundamental right to live in a safe home, thrive in healthy relationships and realize the full potential of their personal strength—all which empower women—making the organization’s efforts a compliment to SDT’s mission. We partner with JWI on a number of important projects that benefit all women. Collegiate and alumnae sisters of Sigma Delta Tau have joined forces to collect books for The National Library Initiative which is working to establish 100 children’s libraries in homeless and battered women’s shelters across the United States. And SDT collegians and alumnae have purchased Mother’s Day cards from JWI for over a decade to raise money that supports the more than 30,000 women who spend Mother’s Day in battered women’s shelters. And we offer a Life$avings program. Recognizing that financial security is a critical piece to the fight against domestic violence, we partner with JWI in bringing the Life$avings program to college campuses, a program open to all collegians.

We now offer collegians across the country an innovative program called Safe Smart Dating. This program, developed by JWI and co-sponsored with Zeta Beta Tau fraternity, is an interactive educational program designed to explore healthy relationships, educate about sexual assault and train participants on how to be active bystanders. It is the first national program for Greek collegiate communities to explore dating abuse and sexual assault. On April 6, we were honored to receive a Laurel Wreath Award from the North-American Interfraternity Conference for this first of its kind program.

For the second year, our chapters are selling Girls Achieve Grapeness—a purple nail polish created by OPI—to raise awareness and funds for domestic violence. We were able to donate $80,000 to JWI for our nail polish sales, which will be used to empower women that have experienced domestic violence.

Service learning
This year we are proud to offer our members another opportunity to give back to the community through our Alternative Spring Break trips. Sigma Delta Tau is hosting two service trips during March 2015. This service project will assist children who have been stricken by abuse and poverty, further supporting our national philanthropic efforts.

Sigma Delta Tau empowers women through Sisterhood
SDT creates a lifelong bond of friendship and special union of sisterhood, providing a unique connection that begins in college and lasts a lifetime. Formal programs, like the member orientation program, sisterhood events and simple shared moments among sisters all work in combination to develop that network of female support that will carry on into every phase of a member’s life. Sisterhood is the foundation of Sigma Delta Tau.

Sorority women have many opportunities to develop their skills outside of the classroom. In fact, a recent Gallup study found that belonging to a fraternity or sorority will positively impact ones post-collegiate experiences.