1927: “Our Hearts Swell up Almost to Burst”

While we tend to picture the earliest members in their bustled dresses and corseted waistlines, physical training was required for every undergraduate student at Syracuse on the premise that robust health was a necessary ingredient to scholarly achievement. At Syracuse University, a women’s team first played intercollegiate basketball in the 1890s. Audrey MacBride (North Dakota, 1926) wrote in a 1927 edition of The Crescent:

You have to see our basketball team to appreciate it…we have some nifty looking suits, tan jerseys with brown trimmings, and our Greek letters across the chest, basketball sox to match, and dark gym bloomers. When we see that brown and tan squad run out on the floor, we get a queer little shiver, and our hearts swell up almost to burst.

Many Gamma Phi Beta sports teams were formed during this decade.