Chi Omega Chapter name ordering questions
 

From viewing the list of chapters of Chi Omicron, it seems pretty clear that the chapter order is single letters starting with Psi and going to Alpha, and then this inverted Alphabet followed by those letters followed by Alpha, and the followed by Beta, etc.

And I appreciate that a chapter failing to charter may have letters assigned to it, which would cause single combinations to be skipped, like Gamma Gamma or Upsilon Epsilon. However what I *really* don't understand is why the "Epsilon" Alphabet stopped at Pi Epsilon with Roanoke College which was followed by the first of the "Zeta" Alphabet with Psi Zeta and why the "Eta" Alphabet and the "Iota" Alphabets were skipped. Can someone help me understand why?

I'm not a Chi Omega sister, I'm doing this because I'm trying to justify getting rid of those rows in the list of Chi Omega chapters on Wikipedia. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...Omega_chapters)

This is a great question and only someone who truly has studied the entire list would see this! I wish there was a good answer. Some chapter designations were skipped and some were re-used. It is/was confusing!

As a rule of thumb, typically I know that the single letter chapters are the oldest. The next decade ended in ____ Alpha, then ____ Beta, etc. We are currently in the _____ Mu designation.

You may want to message Lyn Harris, our Archivist.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/18237389418/

Hope this helps!

That would be the person who has posted above you, 1964Alum!

Really? I didn't know that's who NutBrnHair is. Cool.

I'm a 25-year Chi Omega (just got a certificate this year), and if I think too long about the chapter names and order, I get a headache.

Given the comment below that you are the sorority archivist, I'm not sure where to go from here. :)

Just curious, what chapter designations were re-used? (Chi and Epsilon?)

Does Chi Omega use the term "decade" to refer to the _____ Letter groupings?

Can you recommend a location to get a complete list of Chi Omega charters, right now the best that I've found is the Chi Omega Eleusis Summer 2015 (http://digital.watkinsprinting.com/a...7/article.html)

I think the ultimate in headache inducing is Lambda Chi Alpha.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...hapters#Naming

Alpha Phi Omega (my GLO) falls into the boring category. Alpha -> Omega, Alpha Alpha -> Alpha Omega, Beta Alpha->....

Wow, you're right. I never looked at LXA chapter names before.

And note, they call their chapters Zetas, so the chapter at Marshall University (currently inactive) is Zeta-Zeta Zeta. :)

Which sorority completely passed the Eta ____ designation? Does anyone remember?

Looks like Sigma Kappa according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...Kappa_chapters

Zeta Omega was in 1984, Theta Alpha was in 1985. (and they've also got 8 chapter letter combinations elsewhere listed as "not used for a chapter name")

I have to admit, I was in on the colonization of Eta Beta for ADPi, and there was a lot of snickering from a certain fraternity!

I had no idea that NutBrnHair was our archivist!!!! Thanks!

Alpha Xi Delta completely bypassed Eta _____

Despite Alpha Omicron Pi's unique chapter naming system, I can't find any Eta_______ chapter. Single-lettered Eta at Wisconsin Madison existed from 1917 to 1944.

Also, if memory serves Irishpipes once mentioned AOTT never used the greek letter Mu until the 21st century because (a founder?) thought it sounded like 'moo'.

Chi Omega Chapter Names Used More Than Once

Chi Jessamine Institute, Nicholasville, KY 1898-1901
Chi Transylvania Univ, Lexington, KY 1903-present

Phi Hellmuth Woman’s College, London Ontario 1899-1900
Phi Univ of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 1940-1996

Upsilon Belmont College, Nashville, TN 1899-1902
Upsilon Union University, Jackson, TN 1903-1911; 1924-present

Epsilon Barnard College, Columbia Univ, New York, NY 1906-1915
Epsilon Univ of Buffalo (SUNY-Buffalo) Buffalo, NY 1940-1997

Upsilon Beta Hollins College, Hollins, VA 1919-1929
Upsilon Beta Rollins College, Winter Park, FL 1931-present

Iota Beta Hunter College, New York, NY 1922-1940
Iota Beta Univ of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 1941-present

Psi Gamma Univ of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 1923-1941
Psi Gamma Mercer Univ, Macon, GA 1943-present

Sigma Gamma Oglethorpe Univ, Atlanta, GA 1924-1945
Sigma Gamma Davis & Elkins College, Elkins, WV 1948-1984
Delta Theta Oglethorpe Univ, Atlanta, GA 1969-present

Hollins & Rollins with the same designation - that has got to cause troubles! ;)

Thanks a *lot*. I wonder why they transfered Sigma Gamma given that Oglethorpe was still an active school? (and Psi Gamma could end up in the same situation!)


I'd *love* to get the complete list that this comes from. (If you paste it into
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php...rs&action=edit
and click save, I will make the page at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...Omega_chapters
look beautiful! :D

From the chapter's history that I'm aware of, as a former Oglethorpe Chi O advisor, the school ended Greek life for a while, then resurrected it in the 1960s. The groups that had been on campus prior were the first to be invited back. It was a way for the university to get the land that the chapter houses were built on to expand the campus (in a growing metro Atlanta and expensive neighborhood).
The school built Greek row back in the 1990s and all groups were given a 99-year lease on their house. All houses are built the same so there is not a rush advantage for anyone based on size or architecture. They are all two-story houses but built on a hill. So the entry level is four bedrooms (2 per room) and one bathroom, usually chapter officers. The downstairs is one big open living room, dining room plus a kitchen, another bathroom and storage. The downstairs is used during recruitment and chapter events.
I believe there are a couple of lots on Greek row (although it's a horseshoe) for Greek expansion.

Lovely. We need land--let's kill the Greek System. I guess they never expected the system to come back.