Marie Sykes (masykes@ursinus.edu)
The Alpha Delta Phi Society, the only non-Greek “Greek adjacent” organization on campus, is labeled as a literary society but is “a lot more nerdy,” as Sarah Buck ‘22 tells us. ADPS is a national literary society proud of their gender-inclusive past, with the society forming nationally in 1992 after splitting away from the fraternity, and has been on our campus since 2015. Last week, they sat down with me to introduce themselves to the rest of campus.
Though they have their secrets like all organizations, of their traditions and symbols that they can tell us their mascot is an eel, in honor of the founder Samuel Eells, and they have a stuffed eel they bring to each of their events, such as their annual Blind Date with a Book they host every Valentine’s Day. Their symbols include the star and crescent moon, but their most important tradition? Their acceptance. Buck tells us “It doesn’t matter who you are or how you identify. We accept anybody.”
Philanthropy and service are a core tenets of their society, and they have two causes they have championed this year. First, on the service side, they took a trip to an animal shelter named Pawsibilities where they helped out at the barn location with the cats. They have a lot of animal lovers in their midst, and so serving there was a must. Liv Negro ‘23, the service chair, said she was “super proud of everyone that day” and that “everyone made such a great team.”
They have one more upcoming service event during the informal Greek recruitment week: fundraising for the Trevor Project, a charity dedicated to preventing suicide among LGBTQ+ youth. The philanthropy chair, Elliot Cetinski ‘24, told us that “it’s a cause that matters a lot to us” especially because “queer young people have very high rates of suicide.” On philanthropy day they’ll have a table set up in the Olin Plaza where anyone can donate.
When asked why the siblings joined ADPS, Kate Foley ‘23 shared that she never thought she would “join any Greek societies at all. I didn’t think that was my style” but when she heard of the literary society she was intrigued and thought it was “exactly [her] fit.” COVID also played a role, as she was a virtual student in Autumn 2020 and “figured it would be a great way to make friends” during COVID, because everyone was so isolated. For Hira Khattack ‘23, she joined because Negro recruited her, and one member, Juls Valerio ‘24, joked that she joined because she thought it was a book club. Buck tells us that during her rush, “it really all came together” and she was “absolutely hooked” from the moment she began hanging out with ADPS.
ADPS means so much to each of their members. Cetinski tells us that he feels like it’s “another support source. Another community” and that it’s become his family. Valerio shared a similar sentiment, calling it a family and telling us that she grew up in a very small community, and being able to find that at college was perfect. For Diana Burk ‘22, president of ADPS, “It means getting to create a family out of very different individuals that come together and just bond. Just become a safe space for everyone.”
When ADPS members were asked about their favorite moments, Jackie Bogan ‘23 shared hers was Rush Week and when she “knew the set people and [they] all came together that week… [she] was a part of ADP but [she] wasn’t.” Buck reminisced on how she “came into the Phi” back in 2019 and, before quarantine, they were able to go out to dinner together and have a nice yet chaotic meal together. Burk shared one memory during the sesquicentennial when a member climbed on an ice sculpture of a bear which spiraled into an inside joke.
ADPS members are involved all across campus, such as in Breakaway, the Theater productions, the Lantern, MUN, UC Democrats, UCIMCO, the Anthropology Club, and fellowships such as Bonner, Melrose, Zacharias, and Writing. Make sure to say hi, support their upcoming Trevor Project fundraiser, and follow them on their Instagram @UCADPS.