Colleges and universities admitted few women students in the 1870's. In fact, administrators and faculty members gave women a rather reluctant welcome. They argued women had inferior minds and could not master mathematics and the classics. In this controversy, Dr. E. O Haven, Syracuse University chancellor and former president of the University of Michigan and Northwestern University, maintained that women should receive the advantages of higher education. He enrolled his daughter, Frances, at Syracuse, which in 1874 had approximately 200 students and 10 faculty members.

Instead of joining the two-year-old Alpha Phi, Frances asked three friends to assist her in organizing a society. They sought the advice and help of Dr. Haven, their brothers, the faculty and members of two existing fraternities. The minutes of their first meeting on November 11, 1874 state: "Miss Dodge was appointed to draft a Constitution." Frances Haven and Helen Dodge agreed to ask Dr. Haven for a suitable name and motto.

The Founders met again on November 16 for further decisions as recorded in the minutes: "The merits of the six mottoes suggested by Chancellor Haven were discussed and the motto Gamma Phi Beta unanimously accepted." They agreed on a badge design for which they had sought the help of Charles M. Cobb and Charles M. Moss, Frances' future husband. Helen's brother, a divinity student, suggested the Hebrew word. The jeweler delivered the first badges on December 16 1874.

After the installation of Beta Chapter at the University of Michigan in 1882, Syracuse faculty member Dr. Frank Smalley coined the world sorority especially for Gamma Phi Beta. It has been used ever since.