One day a year, the whole Masters community forms a sea of red and blue, partaking in fun-filled challenges for an afternoon of playful competition. Split between Delta for Dobbs and Phi for Ferry, Founders Day is a celebration of our school’s history.

Sam Barek ‘27, one of three Dobbs Athletic Association (DAA) co-chairs, spoke about the past of DAA, one of our oldest clubs on campus, during the event.

Barek referenced DAA’s journal—made during its very early stages—in terms of giving insight into where the premise of Founder’s Day started.

“This journal is filled to the brim from 1901 with all these values of DAA,” he said.  “It’s really cool to know a club spans back that far.”

In “An American Schoolmistress: the Life of Eliza B. Masters”—a 1927 biography written by Marion Brown Shelton—DAA is repeatedly quoted with their original ties to Delta-Phi competitions.

“We have instituted several minor sports of which archery and ‘organized games’ are the most popular,” Shelton notes in the chapter named, “The Aims of the D.A.A”.

Through the decades, DAA’s presence hasn’t d

iminished either, with its current role involving the organization of annual Delta-Phi festivities. Yet the actual tradition has shown much evolution, even before the institution of Founders Day in 2004.

According to Amie Servino ‘95—current director of parent engagement—the presence of Delta-Phi at Masters has been around for more than a century.

“In the late 1800s, there were no other all-girls schools for us to compete against in this area,” she said. “In order for her [Eliza Masters] to instill the values of teamwork, collaboration and athletic competition in her girls, the only solution she could come up with was to divide her own school into two teams.”

As other independent girls schools emerged, and our own became co-ed, sporting competitions were no longer restricted to just Delta vs. Phi. Yet DAA chairs found a way to keep the tradition meaningful and alive, opting to move the Delta-Phi rivalry from regular athletics to an annual school-wide battle

.

After speaking with alumni, Barek shared how Delta-Phi activities actually used to span across the whole year. He said, “There was a Delta-Phi snowball fight at some point.”

Servino provided more details on this, explaining the custom of a coveted Delta-Phi cup during her schooling at Masters.

“Throughout the course of the year, your team could earn points for doing a whole variety of things, like doing community service or taking part in a quiz bowl,” she said. “T

hey were called X points, and each team had a captain.”

The competition unfortunately tapered out in following years, replaced with more modern Delta-Phi activities. This included Founders Day, started in 2004, but emanating from a monumental decision eight years prior: the shift to coeducation.

“The reason why Founders Day was created was because—following the move to coeducation—our alums were really concerned that some of the history and the tradition of the school was being lost,” Servino said.  “Not necessarily because boys were arriving on campus, but because the school was in such a time of transition…so the alumni board had an idea to create Founders Day in order to bring some of that tradition back.”

During Dr. Maureen Fonseca’s tenure as headmistres

s (2000-2015), Founders Day became a hit, with Fonseca happy to add her own historical spin to the celebration, in addition to the tug-of-war.

“She would dress up in an Eliza Masters’ style dress and embody the role of Miss Masters,” Servino recalled. “It was crazy because a lot of the little kids, especially the fifth graders, really thought she was a ghost.”

Mary Ryan, class of ‘00, also shared her experience with the Delta-Phi tradition Regarding the X-point system.

“You got points for going to, like, everything, so even like a dance performance or the musical.” She continued, “It was kind of school spirit and community engagement in a cool way.”

Ryan also spoke about recently visiting with alumnae from the 50s and 60s. She said, “When we were introducing ourselves, everybody said ‘I was a Delta’ or ‘I was a Phi,’” showing the lasting effect the tradition left on students.

She later said, “I think that so much has c

hanged. It’s neat to have a few things that stay

the same.”

Gallery • 4 Photos

Jack Bilman

Dobbs Athletic Association presidents Loewy Nalle '27, Junesuh Kim '27, and Sam Barek '27 (from left to right) lead the welcome announcements and motivate the two teams at the beginning of Founders Day.