I initiated into Iota chapter of AOII at the University of Illinois. It has been continuously operating since 1911.

In response to one of the posts about how does an Alpha chapter close, I know that in our case (and AEPhi, which was also founded at Barnard), the college banned GLOs. I believe this is true for some other GLOs also. I think in some other cases, the colleges ceased to exist. These closures aren't always a reflection on the chapter, but can be due to circumstances beyong the GLO's control. These closures are sources of sadness, but not shame.

Our oldest chapters:
Alpha - Barnard 1897-1914 (Greeks banned 1914-1917)
Pi - Sophie Newcomb/Tulane 1898-1976/1986-1995
Nu - New York U. 1900-1961
Omicron - Tennessee 1902
Zeta - Nebraska 1903
Kappa - Randolph-Macon Women's College 1903-1960 (Greeks banned 1960)
Theta - DePauw 1907-1979/1983-2000
Sigma - California Berkeley 1907
Beta - Brown 1908 (Greeks banned 1908)
Gamma - Maine 1908
Delta - Tufts 1908-1969/1987 (Greeks banned 1969, reinstated 1987)
Epsilon - Cornell 1908
Rho - Northwestern 1909-1973
Lambda - Stanford 1910-1944 (Greeks banned 1944)
Iota - Illinois 1911
Tau - Minnesota 1912
Chi - Syracuse 1914-1958/1985-2000?
Upsilon - Washington 1915-1995
Nu Kappa - SMU 1915-1942
Beta Phi - Indiana 1916
Eta - Wisconsin 1917-1942
Alpha Phi - Montana State 1917
Nu Omicron - Vanderbilt 1917
Phi - Kansas 1918-1969/1980-1996
Psi - Penn 1918-1958
Omega - Miami, OH 1919
Omicron Pi - Michigan 1921-196?/1978-1993
Alpha Sigma - Oregon 1923-1989
Xi - Oklahoma 1924

We never chartered a "Mu" chapter.

AOII lets the chapters select their names. Many are chosen to honor people who helped establish them, or other considerations. (Illinois is Iota b/c of the "I".)