Soronian Society

The Young Ladies' Literary Society was started in 1847. Since then, the society was renamed the Erodelphian Society in 1856 and renamed again to Soronian Society in 1868. The name was suggested by Professor Barrows as 'Soror' is the Latin word for sister and is the root word for sorority. We are called a society because we came about before the word sorority was around. However, with the renamings, the girls of the day stated that the three societies were all one. The same group just with a different name. The date of the original grouping -- 1847 -- gives us the right to say that we are the oldest sorority in the nation.

Our house was built in 1909. There is a cornerstone built into the front of the house with this date engraved on it. This is the year that it was laid and it took two years to build - being finished in 1911. The design was created by Edwyn Bowd who has done several buildings in Lansing and on Michigan State University's campus which can be seen today.

Iota Kappa Omicron

In 1868, Soronian Society earned the Greek letters of Iota Kappa Omicron. We go by both names to this day. This year, 2022, we were able to celebrate our 175th year of sisterhood. Moving forward, we plan to continue bringing members into our loving family and highly representing the names of Soronian Society and Iota Kappa Omicron.