Order of Omega
 

I was thinking about joining Order of Omega during the fall semester. Is someone a member of this organization and did you gain a lot being a part of it?

i'm not sure you can just join order of omega... don't you have to be "tapped" in, or chosen???

It's been a long time, but when I was initiated into Order of Omega, it was pretty much just to honor the top 3% of Greeks (by GPA and activities to an extent) on campus...my chapter was not active at all, other than to hold initiation once a year...and that included the process of selecting new members (yes, you have to be invited to join...).

I think some campuses have active chapters though--you can find out more at http://www.orderofomega.org/index.html

I was initiated into the Rho Lambda chapter last spring and will hopefully be affiliating with the chapter at Marquette this fall...my chapter was getting more active when I left. Our main problem seemed to be getting members - the Greek GPA wasn't very high and I think about 65% of the chapter were SigEps, it was kind of weird. We did a few programs, mostly focusing on scholarship within the Greek Community.

How do you get this kind of organization on campus? Do your campus have to be selected?

I'm asking because, as far as I know, my school does not have Order of Omega, Phi Beta Kappa (that is another 'honor' socieity for greeks right? or am i making this up?). I think it would be nice to have an organization to recognize the greeks on campus who are invovled, have high gpas, etc etc etc

You can find information on how to start an Order of Omega chapter on their webpage...I don't think the campus matters.

Order of Omega "Chartering" Page

Phi Beta Kappa is much more selective - it is not for Greeks, but is to honor academic excellence. Their website says they are very choosy about starting a chapter and applications are subject to "a lengthy process of documentation by the Phi Beta Kappa members of the applying institution's faculty."

Phi Beta Kappa "Chartering" Page

Wow! I didn't even know that we had one of these on our campus, but i just looked at the website and I guess we do!

Nichole

at my school you have to apply to join (they don't just sift through everyone's records), and then if you meet the criteria, they tap you.

Same thing at my school - you have to apply, then you are either selected for membership, or not.

No more than 3% of greeks at a given campus can be members of Order of Omega. That doesn't mean you have to be in the top 3% academically (though GPA is considered) - there are other factors taken into account.

My chapter wasn't terribly active - we did membership selection and initiation, a couple of community service projects each year, and that was about it. But it did give me a common bond with leaders in other GLOs and foster inter-GLO communication.

We just rechartered at my school, and I'm President (Good God).

aephi alum pretty much described the way it works at my school. Our main problem is getting guys... none of the fraternity men apply, and when they do, their GPA isn't high enough! (Sigh...) Only 2 of the 6 fraternities are represented, but all 3 sororities are, at least.

We're going to try and do one major philanthropy a semester, and we're going to sponsor Greek In-service and possibly a Greek Faculty Awards night, but other than that, we don't know what else we can do with ourselves.

annice, I think it's a great organization and at my school at least, it really promotes Greek unity.

I am a member, but was not very active in it in college. I was elected to membership my junior year, while I was still chapter president, so that took up a good deal of my time. I came to meetings and helped set up for events, but that was about it.

We weren't very active at BU, and I think the reason is that we all were involved in so many other things, as well as keeping focused on school. Therein lies the problem - in an organization such as this, you're elected based on how much time you put into other interests. When you gain membership, you don't have any time for Order of Omega because of those other interests.

We held a couple of events per year for Greeks who had high GPAs (above 3.5), and helped host the end-of-the-year Greek awards banquet with IFSC; but that was about it.

Collin

i am the vice president of selections in order of omega at sdsu. we invite sutdents with a 3.0 and 60 completed units to join. they then submit an application and we then take only a certain percentage.

Very true. All of our members are exceptional members of the Greek community, so it's difficult to even get everyone together for a meeting. I have a hard time getting volunteers to help me with drafting a local Bylaws.

Still, I think Order of Omega should be an addendum to your Greek responsibilities, not IN PLACE OF them. If you can only do 2-3 events per year, I think that's acceptable.

I was vp of the chartering class at Mississippi State. Often at large Southern universities, it's a big deal to get in and is therefore a fabulous thing to have on your resume because employers recognize it.

On my campus you don't have to be invited you just fill out an application and turn in your transcripts and they review it then if your in you have to pay.

I'm President of Order of Omega at the University of Akron. We went inactive for about a year and are now starting up again. I was initiated in Spring 2002 and was in the last class until this past spring. There were only 4 of us left because everyone who initiated us graduated that semester. We finally got it back off the ground this past semester, had elections, and a membership drive. We offered to 3% of the greek population which was up to 20 members to apply but only chose 12 who met the requirements....3.0 and up, greek leadership, some campus involvement. Since it is a greek honorary, we focused on people who were involved most in greek life than on campus. we are currently planning another membership drive and activities and stuff....
If you are interested go to the website that has been posted. Its a good organization to be apart of!

Do they let everyone in though? I know when I joined it was similiar - fill out app, get a letter telling me to pay, pay, then get initiated. I think when I joined 60 people or so applied, and 5 got in. You have to have at least a 3.0, be of junior standing, be involved in a certain other amount of orgs on campus, and hold some offices within your chapter. I couldn't join fall semester because OofO initiation was <i>before</i> Gamma Phi initiation and one of the requirements was that you be an initiated member, obviously. It was kind of funny because they wanted me but couldn't have me.

hey i need to apply for that...when can i apply for it? i think its at like christmas or something

I was a charter member of UT's chapter, but I never went to any meetings because I was either at work at the campus paper or in a journalism class at that time, two things you do not blow off for a meeting, even an honor society meeting. I seem to remember our chapters nominated several of us, and the members were selected from that.

Woohoo! This week, BlazerCheer got tapped for both Order of Omega and Rho Lambda! So even if I don't ever get my Pi Phi legacy, I have an Order of Omega legacy!

super!!
 

carnation. congrats to you and blazercheer!!

My campus Order of Omega slowly started becoming more and more active... We worked together to try to raise interest in Greek Life on campus and greek gpa's... For my campus you were sent an application if you met the gpa requirement... Then after your application was reviewed there was an interview process... It was fairly involved and a big deal to be invited to join... Unfortunately meetings kept being moved each semester, and each time seemed to conflict with a class I had... I was an astronomy major, there were a lot of night classes... But my last semester I was able to be actively involved...

Overall I think it was a wonderful experience, and anyone who has the opportunity to join should...

I am in Rho Lambda, but Order of Omega went defunct my sophomore year so it was never an option to join. These groups really seem to be resume padders though. I just thought we were lazy, but it seems to be pretty across the board. The cords looked great on my grad robe though!

Since my original post I did get into order of omega.

:)

congratulations annice!!! :D

congratulations on getting into order of omega...does your school's chapter get involved in many projects/activities/etc.?

As of tomorrow night I will be initiated into Order of Omega! :) I'm really proud of myself for getting chosen for this honor!

I just got tapped in to OoO about three minutes ago.

Social tonight at 10pm...on top of everything else I've got going on...oh well.

I applied for OoO and was asked back for an interview. I should know any day now, actually. I think my school's chapter is pretty active and selective...

This seems to be a female based thread with the Rho Lambda announcements, but I thought I would throw my credentials in.
I was initiated into Tau Mu Sigma which is an honorary for fraternity men. It's a pretty cool organization and, on our campus anyway, a lot more prestigious than O of O.

Bump.

My Order of Omega initiation is tonight! I was tapped at my chapter meeting last Wednesday.

What is the purpose of Order of Omega? I know that it's a Greek honorary, but what does Order of Omega do? Is it something you should apply for? Our applications are due next week, I think. I can't decide if I should fill one out or not. I'm already busy with everything I do academically and extracurricularly.

That is really dependent on the campus... Some chapters do very little... while others are very active...

Some of the things my chapter did were:
-Book drives and other community service based activities
-run a study room in the greek res hall
-have group outtings on weekends (picnics, bbq, etc)
-have weekly meetings
-go to all the fraternity and sorority chapter meetings to run academic workshops

and more

The Order of Omega at Ole Miss (Omega Theta Chapter), is pretty tough to get into. They usually only pick 2-3 members per house and this year some houses did not get any members. AOII was so happy to have two members get into Order of Omega this year. I know the Order of Omega chapter here does lots of philanthropic projects. This year they sponsored a Halloween Carnival in the Ole Miss Grove for children in the community. It was a huge success. The money they raised went to the local United Way Chapter.

The Gamma Psi chapter at Miami University is similar to this. There were about 1-2 members per group and some groups weren't represented.

Congrats! Do you know if they're planning on having the chapter actually do something? We did absolutely jack when I was in it, and were told that we wouldn't do jack. No officers even.

Yeah! Following daughter BlazerCheer and me, daughter Baby Berry has been tapped into Order of Omega!:)

I was just accepted into Order of Omega this semester as well. Along with two of my chapter sisters as well.