For DU we just go by the name of the school. my Chapter is the Arizona State Chapter. then theres San Diego chapter, Northern Arizona Chapter... etc. etc.

Meaning you know who is from an OLD SCHOOL chapter due to the actual letter designation.

So if you were to tell someone your badge/pin number you'd say "I'm Arizona State Chapter #1156" or something like that?

zta does the alphabetical chapter names:alpha thru omega and then alpha alpha, etc. the exception is that we do not have any chapters beginning with the greek letter epsilon. rumor has it that the presiding president at the time of what would have been epsilon alpha thought that epsilon ____ was too wordy, and decided to skip epsilon all together. odd!

That is exactly right!

As for remembering what chapters were first, at Iowa State Chapter, we only really worry about the first seven. They have a prominent place in our history. The first seven: Williams, 1834; Union, 1838; Middlebury,1845; Hamilton, 1847; Amherst, 1847; Wesleyan, 1850; Vermont, 1850; Western Reserve, 1851; Rochester, 1852; Colby, 1852; were the "Seven Stars" of the anti-secrecy fight. These chapters were members of the Anti-Secrecy Confederation which developed into Delta Upsilon.

As for a chapter for deceased brothers, we have a Chapter Eternal, but that is only spoken of in the Funerary Ritual. Not many DUs really know about that.

"Meaning you know who is from an OLD SCHOOL chapter due to the actual letter designation."


Oh yeah, it allows for one to know WHEN the fraternity was chartered but not WHERE. So, one sometimes needs to refer to a chapter by school AND chapter(ie Louisville Kappa Zeta)

With Kappa, chapters that had closed at one time but then reopened are designated with a deuteron (small superscript delta) at the end of the chapter name. For example, the Omicron chapter at Simpson College was originally chartered in 1890, but closed shortly thereafter due to pressure from the school administration. They were rechartered 100 years later in 1990 and are known as Omicron Deuteron.

ahhhh...thats interesting and practical...I'm pretty sure Pike chapters just reassume the old title.

you know, thats not a bad idea...

We name our undergraduate chapters in the traditional Alpha-Psi, then Alpha Alpha through Alpha Psi,then Beta Alpha, and so forth. Sigma is skipped over as the second letter (see below why). i want to say we are up to Rho Kappa. My UG chapter is Alpha Pi (so yes, i can understand the "old chapter designation" thing since my chapter is old-ish. i have a soror friend from Gamma chapter and im like niiiiiiice. some folks are VERY proud about their "single letter status")

our graduate chapters end in Sigma, ie. Alpha Sigma, Beta Sigma, Gamma Sigma, etc. my alum chapter is Eta Nu Sigma

Like many other organizations, Omega is reserved for deceased members. Ours is the Omega Rho chapter.


(i mightve left something out... i'll come back and edit)

Do you have multiple Omega chapters or just the one? If multiple, is there a rhyme or reason to how they're assigned?

I like idea of using Sigma at the end of alumni chapters.

Excerpt from Past is Prolouge The History of Alpha Kappa Alpha 1908-1999:

"After 24 chapters, the alphabet is repeated with each letter (except Omega) preceded by Alpha."

Graduate chapters end in Omega. For instance Alpha Omega, Beta Omega, Gamma Omega, and so on. Then the ALPHAbet repeats, Alpha Alpha Omega, Alpha Beta Omega, Alpha Gamma Omega and so on.

ETA:
If a chapter is dissolved that name is avaiable for reassignment.

[QUOTE=DUKyleXY;

As for a chapter for deceased brothers, we have a Chapter Eternal, but that is only spoken of in the Funerary Ritual. Not many DUs really know about that.[/QUOTE]

yeah i had no idea about chapter eternal. i guess you learn something new everyday.

Can any KDs or Tri-Delts shed any light on your naming systems? In KD, for example, Zeta chapter (Alabama, 1904) was founded before Epsilon (LSU, 1909), and Sigma Lambda (Auburn, 1922) came before Alpha Epsilon (Tennessee, 1925). Tri-Delt's Delta Mu (Alabama, 1914) and Theta Zeta (Texas, 1912) came before Alpha Rho (UGA, 1934) and Alpha Psi (Florida, 1948).

It's not that unusual for many organizations to have chapter designations "out of order" as it were. In some cases, usually early on, a designation would be assigned before the charter was granted. So it wasn't at all unusual for say the Zeta colony (later chapter) to be granted it's charter prior to an Epsilon colony (later chapter). Also, many chapters were a local GLO that was absorbed and their letters often incorporated into the chapter designation as well.

The University of Kentucky chapter (Epsilon Omega) of Kappa Delta has an interesting history regarding their chapter designation.

"The Epsilon Omega Chapter of Kappa Delta had its first beginnings under the name of "The Black Cats" in the early school year of 1903-1904. The Black Cats were a successor to the "Berry Quintette," composed of Mae Thurman, Edna Cremin, Grace Ogg, Mary Kendrick, and Minni Lee Dodd. In the fall of 1907, the girls changed their name to Epsilon Omega Delta. Their colors were black and gold and their flower was the pansy.

In 1909 under that name, the girls petitioned Kappa Delta and was installed with 13 initiates as Epsilon Omega Chapter. According to "Ordinary Miracles," it was so named for the National Chapterian who worked with the chapter in securing its charter, Edith (Orilla) Knox, however many suspect because their name was "Epsilon Omega" Delta the addition of the Greek letter Kappa would complete our name."

Likewise, Kappa Delta at Iowa State is the Sigma Sigma chapter, after the local sorority "S.S." petitioned the organization to become a chapter in 1908.

Sigma Simga chapter history