In 1886 the Indiana University chapter of the YWCA was founded by Mrs. Jenny Bryan for the purpose of encouraging the personal development, religious growth, social sensitivity, and civic responsibility of its members. A constitution was drafted and in it the organization's hierarchy was laid out with a five part leadership structure including the following: 1) student officers, who were the primary decision making body, 2) the Executive Council, which held ultimate responsibility for the organization's health, direction and finances, 3) a cabinet, responsible for final approval of executive council actions regarding policy, 4) an executive director and a secretary, who were employed to implement and manage organizational policy, and 5) a board of directors, which were elected from each of the following categories: faculty and staff, faculty and staff wives, town women, and unrestricted. Additionally, four voting ex-officio members were drawn from the wives or mothers of the president of the university, one woman from the university board of trustees, one woman from university administration and one more woman recommended by the advisory board to serve in a position of special assistance.

The organization's programming activities included both IU campus specific as well as wider community outreach efforts. For example, from 1932 until at least 1970 the organization was responsible for the campus musical revue IU Sing, and for several years the organization ran a campus orientation known as Freshman Camp. Community wide efforts included but were not limited to classes in karate, yoga and auto mechanics.

Since its origination, there was a continual increase in membership, reaching its height in 1964 with a total of 671 members. However, by May of 1970 (the last year for which data is present) membership had dwindled to only 492 members. There are no records to indicate what happened to the Indiana University YWCA or when it ceased to function. Many of the records from the 1970's seem to indicate a wide programming collaboration with the YMCA, and it is possible though undocumented that the YWCA was simply absorbed by the men's organization.