Alpha was held on November 16, 1912, for the new sisters Kathlyn Holmes and Marie Sullivan. 1950s Theta Phi Alpha joined the NPC in 1951 along with ten other national sororities in the NPC's most recent expansion. On June 28, 1952, Theta Phi Alpha absorbed Pi Lambda Sigma, the only other national Catholic women's fraternity. Pi Lambda Sigma at the time of the merger had four chapters that joined Theta Phi Alpha: their chapters at Boston University and University of Cincinnati merged with the Theta Phi Alpha chapters present there; the chapter at Creighton University became Chi chapter of Theta Phi Alpha; and the one at Quincy College became Psi chapter. The fraternity initiated the national president of Pi Lambda Sigma at the 1952 convention and welcomed all Pi Lambda Sigma sisters to become Theta Phi Alpha sisters. 1970s–1980s In 1969, Theta Phi Alpha hit a chapter count of 18 with the loss of Rho at Penn State. At the National Convention in 1972, Theta Phi Alpha began considering expansion to Junior and two-year colleges. Two years after this consideration, only ten chapters (Epsilon, Kappa, Sigma, Upsilon, Chi, Alpha Gamma, Alpha Epsilon, Alpha Iota, and newly installed Alpha Mu (Northern Kentucky University) and Alpha Nu (General Motors Institute)) were represented at the convention. This chapter count was well below the required number for membership in NPC. At the following convention in 1976, the Fraternity began discussing options of dissolution, merger, or commitment to growth. The chapter count began to grow over the next four years with the reinstatement of three chapters (Alpha Beta, Alpha Xi, Alpha Zeta), until in 1981 NPC notified Theta Phi Alpha they were placed in Associate Member Status due to low chapter count. The Fraternity had until 1987 to obtain 14 active chapters, the youngest had to be two years active. Due to its associate status and financial strain, Theta Phi Alpha gave up its spot as NPC treasurer in rotation for NPC Chairmanship. This also hindered the organization from acting as Vice Chairman for the following two years, and finally Chairman. Despite this setback, Theta Phi Alpha was committed to expansion. Over the following six years, the fraternity gained eleven chapters and was granted full membership status in NPC in 1987. 1990s Looking into the new millennium, the conversation on a national level turned to the role of religion in ritual. In 1968, Theta Phi