Chi Omega Chapter name ordering questions

naraht · #1 06-15-2017, 01:05 PM

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)

NutBrnHair · #2 06-15-2017, 02:38 PM

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.

1964Alum · #3 06-16-2017, 02:40 AM

You may want to message Lyn Harris, our Archivist.

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

Hope this helps!

carnation · #4 06-16-2017, 06:43 AM

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

chi-o_cat · #5 06-16-2017, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carnation

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.

naraht · #6 06-16-2017, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NutBrnHair

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.

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)

naraht · #7 06-16-2017, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chi-o_cat

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.

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->....

chi-o_cat · #8 06-16-2017, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by naraht

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

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

naraht · #9 06-16-2017, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chi-o_cat

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.

honeychile · #10 06-16-2017, 12:46 PM

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

naraht · #11 06-16-2017, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by honeychile

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")

honeychile · #12 06-16-2017, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by naraht

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!

1964Alum · #13 06-16-2017, 04:42 PM

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

AZ-AlphaXi · #14 06-16-2017, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by honeychile

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

Alpha Xi Delta completely bypassed Eta _____

Cheerio · #15 06-16-2017, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by honeychile

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

Quote:

Originally Posted by naraht

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")

Quote:

Originally Posted by AZ-AlphaXi

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'.