ALPHA OMICRON PI

'Alpha Omicron Pi' ('ΑΟΠ', 'AOII') is an international women's fraternity that was founded on January 2 1897 at Barnard College on the campus of Columbia University in New York. Its founders were Stella George Stern Perry, Helen St. Clair Mullan, Elizabeth Heywood Wyman, and Jessie Wallace Hughan, four women who were determined to make a democratic, unostentatious society. The four founders met in the Columbia Law Library to begin their fraternity. Today, Alpha Omicron Pi is an international women's fraternity, with respective chapters in Canada and the U.S.A. Its international headquarters is located in Brentwood, Tennessee.
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Contents

Mission statement

The Object of Alpha Omicron Pi

Other Facts

Notable alumnae

Collegiate Chapters

References

External links

Mission statement

Alpha Omicron Pi is an international women's fraternity promoting friendship for a lifetime, inspiring academic excellence and lifelong learning, and developing leadership skills through service to the fraternity and community.

The Object of Alpha Omicron Pi

The object of this Fraternity shall be to encourage a spirit of Fraternity and love among its members; to stand at all times for character, dignity, scholarship, and college loyalty; to strive for and support the best interests of the colleges and universities in which chapters are installed, and in no way to disregard, injure, or sacrifice those interests for the sake of the prestige or advancement of the Fraternity or any of its chapters.

Other Facts

Believing in their beginnings in Greek tradition, AOΠ does not have a coat of arms, but uses a Jacqueminot rose as their symbol. Their single color is cardinal and their single stone is the ruby. Their unofficial mascot is the panda. The AOΠ badge comprises the Greek letters, Α (Alpha), Ο (Omicron), and Π (Pi) superimposed on each other with a ruby at the Apex of the A (Alpha). ''To Dragma'' (meaning "the sheaf"), AOΠ's magazine, is published three times per year, and has won numerous awards since its inception. The wheat sheaf is a prominent symbol in Alpha Omicron Pi. The fraternity teaches its members never to use the abbreviation "AOPi" but instead to use "AOII" or "AOΠ."
Like many other Greek organizations for women, Alpha Omicron Pi is technically a fraternity, not a sorority, although both terms are often used. The term sorority was not yet in widespread use at the time of Alpha Omicron Pi's founding, and therefore it is officially a "fraternity for women." Also, the term Sorority has Roman origins where the word Fraternity is Greek in origin, adding to the concept of an international women's fraternity.
Since 1897, Alpha Omicron Pi has had over 131,500 initiates and maintains 183 chapters, with its oldest existing chapter (Omicron) at The University of Tennessee Knoxville (founded 1902). Its Alpha chapter at Barnard College of Columbia University in New York closed in 1914 when Greek Life was abolished at the school. AOΠ remains a rapidly growing sorority, installing 3 new chapters in 2007 (The University of Arkansas, University of LaVerne, and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology) and currently has colonies at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada and Virginia Commonwealth University. The fraternity has been selected to colonize in Spring 2008 at Columbus State University in Georgia.
AOII's chapter names are unique compared to other Greek groups. Most sororities and fraternities are named sequentially, with the first chapter being Alpha, the second Beta, and so on. Breaking from this tradition, AOII does not dictate its chapter designations. Each colony of the fraternity selects its own chapter name and corresponding sub-motto. In this way, chapter designations have special meaning for the members. For example, AOII's chapter at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology chose the designation "Delta Xi" with the sub-motto meaning "driven to excellence". AOII's oldest operating chapter is Omicron at the University of Tennessee, which was the fraternity's fourth chapter. (The first three chapters were Alpha at Barnard/Columbia, Pi at Sophie Newcomb/Tulane, and Nu at New York University.)
The fraternity's chosen philanthropy is Juvenile Arthritis and Arthritis Research and Education, to which it donates hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.
AOΠ is a member group of the National Panhellenic Conference, which is the governing council of the 26 member women's fraternities and sororities.

Notable alumnae

★ Margaret Bourke-White (Omicron Pi) - photographer and journalist, joined Alpha Omicron Pi while at the University of Michigan. Her works were donated to Alpha Omicron Pi upon her death in 1971, and today are displayed at the international headquarters.^[1]

★ Courtney Kupets (Lambda Sigma) - Olympic and World Champion Gymnast at the University of Georgia.^[2]

Collegiate Chapters

''Links to chapter websites provided when available''
'Alabama'

★ Tau Delta, Birmingham Southern College, 1925

★ Delta Delta, Auburn University, 1946

★ Alpha Delta, The University of Alabama, 1967

★ Gamma Delta, University of South Alabama, 1969

★ Sigma Delta, Huntingdon College, 1976

★ Zeta Pi, University of Alabama Birmingham, 1987

★ Delta Epsilon, Jacksonville State University, 1990

★ Rho Delta, Samford University, 1995
'Arizona'

★ Theta Omega, Northern Arizona University, 1963
'Arkansas'

★ Sigma Omicron, Arkansas State University, 1949

★ Xi Omicron, University of Arkansas, 2007
'California'

★ Sigma, University of California Berkeley, 1907

★ Lambda, Stanford University, 1910 (Greek life abolished 1944)

★ Delta Sigma, San Jose State University, 1948

★ Lambda Beta, California State University Long Beach, 1965

★ Sigma Phi, California State University Northridge, 1967

★ Chi Psi, California Polytechnic State University, 1986

★ Lambda Alpha, University of LaVerne, 2007
'Colorado'

★ Chi Delta, University of Colorado, 1927

★ Epsilon Gamma, University of Northern Colorado, 2000
'Florida'

★ Kappa Gamma, Florida Southern College, 1946

★ Gamma Omicron, University of Florida, 1948

★ Gamma Theta, University of South Florida, 1985

★ Pi Theta, Florida International University, 2001

★ Mu Lambda, Rollins College, 2002
'Georgia'

★ Lambda Sigma, University of Georgia, 1935

★ Gamma Sigma, Georgia State University, 1956

★ Lambda Chi, LaGrange College, 1971

★ Alpha Lambda, Georgia Southern University, 1988

★ Colony, Columbus State University, 2007
'Illinois'

★ Iota, University of Illinois, 1911

★ Phi Chi, University of Chicago, 1985

★ Delta Rho, DePaul University, 1996

★ Epsilon Sigma, Quincy University, 1999
'Indiana'

★ Beta Phi, Indiana University, 1916

★ Chi Lambda, University of Evansville, 1951

★ Kappa Kappa, Ball State University, 1952

★ Kappa Alpha, Indiana State University, 1953

★ Delta Xi, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, 2007
'Iowa'

★ Nu Sigma, Parsons College, 1964 (College closed - inactive since 1966)

★ Theta Chi, Morningside College, 1966

★ Iota Sigma, Iowa State University, 1968

★ Alpha Theta, Coe College, 1969
'Kentucky'

★ Delta Omega, Murray State University, 1961

★ Alpha Chi, Western Kentucky University, 1965

★ Kappa Omega, University of Kentucky, 1982

★ Pi Alpha, University of Louisville, 1983

★ Epsilon Omega, Eastern Kentucky University, 1987

★ Tau Omega, Transylvania University, 1987
'Louisiana'

★ Delta Beta, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 1956

★ Lambda Tau, The University of Louisiana at Monroe, 1958

★ Kappa Tau, Southeastern Louisiana University, 1963

★ Kappa Chi, Northwestern State University, 1997
'Maine'

★ Gamma, University of Maine, 1908
'Maryland'

★ Pi Delta, University of Maryland, 1924

★ Sigma Tau, Washington College, 1938

★ Theta Beta, Towson University, 1986
'Massachusetts'

★ Delta, Tufts University, 1908
'Michigan'

★ Beta Gamma, Michigan State University, 1934

★ Kappa Rho, Western Michigan University, 1951

★ Lambda Eta, Grand Valley State University, 1989
'Minnesota'

★ Tau, University of Minnesota, 1912
'Mississippi'

★ Nu Beta, University of Mississippi, 1958
'Missouri'

★ Delta Pi, Central Missouri State University, 1962
'Montana'

★ Alpha Phi, Montana State University, 1917
'Nebraska'

★ Zeta, University of Nebraska Lincoln, 1903

★ Phi Sigma, University of Nebraska Kearney, 1969
'New York'

★ Alpha, Barnard College of Columbia University, 1897 (Greek Life abolished 1914)

★ Epsilon, Cornell University, 1908

★ Theta Pi, Wagner College, 1951

★ Sigma Chi, Hartwick College, 1952

★ Delta Psi, University at Albany- State University of New York, 1989
'North Carolina'

★ Zeta Psi, East Carolina University, 1960

★ Delta Upsilon, Duke University, 1979

★ Epsilon Chi, Elon University, 1987
'Ohio'

★ Omega, Miami University, 1919

★ Theta Psi, University of Toledo, 1944

★ Omega Upsilon, Ohio University, 1988

★ Alpha Psi, Bowling Green State University, 1989

★ Chi Epsilon, Ohio State University, 1993
'Oklahoma'

★ Xi, University of Oklahoma, 1924

★ Chi Theta, Northeastern State University, 1997
'Pennsylvania'

★ Epsilon Alpha, Pennsylvania State University, 1929

★ Sigma Rho, Slippery Rock University, 1966

★ Phi Beta, East Stroudsburg University, 1969

★ Lambda Upsilon, Lehigh University, 1984

★ Tau Lambda, Shippensburg University, 1984

★ Sigma Beta, Saint Joseph's University, 2005
'Rhode Island'

★ Beta, Brown University, 1908 (Greek Life abolished 1908)
'South Carolina'

★ Chi Phi, University of South Carolina - Aiken, 2006
'Tennessee'

★ Omicron, University of Tennessee Knoxville, 1902

★ Nu Omicron, Vanderbilt University, 1917

★ Kappa Omicron, Rhodes College, 1925

★ Omega Omicron, Lambuth University, 1957

★ Tau Omicron, University of Tennessee Martin, 1966

★ Rho Omicron, Middle Tennessee State University, 1985

★ Lambda Omicron, Cumberland University, 1999
'Texas'

★ Upsilon Lambda, The University of Texas, San Antonio, 1978

★ Delta Theta, Texas Woman's University, 1984
'Virginia'

★ Kappa, Randolph-Macon Women's College, 1903 (Greek Life abolished 1960)

★ Gamma Alpha, George Mason University, 1978

★ Rho Beta, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1985, Recolonizing 2007
'Washington'

★ Alpha Gamma, Washington State University, 1932

★ Tau Gamma, Eastern Washington University, 1989
'West Virginia'

★ Sigma Alpha, West Virginia University, 1986
'Wisconsin'

★ Kappa Sigma, University of Wisconsin River Falls, 1993
'Alberta, Canada'

★ Kappa Lambda, University of Calgary, 1985
'Ontario, Canada'

★ Beta Tau,University of Toronto, 1930

★ Iota Chi, University of Western Ontario, 1986

★ Gamma Chi, Carleton University, 1992

★ Lambda Epsilon, University of Waterloo, 2007
'Quebec, Canada'

★ Kappa Phi, McGill University, 1939

References

1. Margaret Bourke-White Papers
2. Courtney Kupets: Info: Biography

External links

★ Alpha Omicron Pi Official Homepage

★ Alpha Omicron Pi - Canada

★ Alpha Omicron Pi Foundation

★ Arthritis Foundation

★ AOII Emporium