Alpha Gamma Omega Explained

Alpha Gamma Omega (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ΑΓΩ, or AGO) is an American Christian fraternity. It was founded in 1927 at University of California, Los Angeles and now has chapters at universities in California, Colorado, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.^[2]

History

Alpha Gamma Omega was founded in 1927 at University of California, Los Angeles as a Christ-centered fraternity.

The preamble to the fraternity's constitution is as follows:

Alpha Gamma Omega has chartered chapters across the United States. It maintains a close relationship with its Christian sorority counterpart, Alpha Delta Chi, considered the fraternity's "sister sorority."^{[3] [4]} Its headquarters is located in Laguna Beach, California.^[5]

Symbols

Alpha and Omega represent the sovereign majesty of God and His dominion and lordship over all things. These letters come from the book of Revelation, where Jesus Christ says, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." The letter Gamma, the third letter in the Greek alphabet, represents Christ, which itself begins with "C", the third letter of the English alphabet. It is in the center to represent Christ being at the center of the fraternity and the lives of its members.

In addition, the Greek letters Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ΑΓΩ spells the word "ago", which means "I lead, I bring, I go."^[6]

The fraternity's colors are blue and gold. Its flower is the Easter Lily. Its mascot is the medieval knight. Its motto is "Fraternity for Eternity".^[7] The fraternity's Bible verse is II Timothy 2:15: "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline".

Activities

• Founders' Day – Scheduled annually on the last Saturday of February, the active and alumni members come together to celebrate the founding of the fraternity.^[8]
• All-AGO Pismo Beach Flag Football Tournament – Every October, the Kappa chapter hosts all chapters as they compete on the Pismo-Oceano Dunes against one another in a 7 on 7 flag football tournament.^[9]
• Annual alumni camping trip to Yosemite National Park.^[10]

Chapters

Following is a list of Alpha Gamma Omega chapters. Active chapters are indicated in bold. Inactive chapters are in italics.

Chapter	Charter date and range	Institution	Location	Status	References
Alpha	1927	University of California, Los Angeles	Los Angeles, California	Active
Beta	1938–1943, 1948	University of California, Berkeley	Berkeley, California	Active
Gamma	1962–1967, 1978–1994, 2014	California State University, Long Beach	Long Beach, California	Active
Delta	1964–1969		Los Angeles, California	Inactive
Epsilon	1965–1974,1979	San Diego State University	San Diego, California	Active
Zeta	1987–2020	University of California, Santa Barbara	Santa Barbara, California	Inactive
Eta	1987–19xx ?,2009–2020	California State University, Fresno	Fresno, California	Inactive
Theta	1989–1992	Arizona State University	Tempe, Arizona	Inactive
Iota	1992–-20xx ?	University of California, Davis	Davis, California	Inactive
Kappa	1992	California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo	San Luis Obispo, California	Active
Lambda	1993–1996	University of California, Irvine	Irvine, California	Inactive
Mu	1994–199x ?	Illinois State University	Normal, Illinois	Inactive
Nu	1996–199x ?	Baylor University	Waco, Texas	Inactive
Xi	1997	University of Colorado Boulder	Boulder, Colorado	Active
Omicron	1999–200x ?; 2017	University of North Carolina at Charlotte	Charlotte, North Carolina	Active
Pi	2001		Los Angeles, California	Active
Rho	2011–2020	Colorado State University	Fort Collins, Colorado	Inactive
Sigma	2012–201x ?		Riverside, California	Inactive
Tau	2013	Santa Clara University	Santa Clara, California	Active
Upsilon	2017	Appalachian State University	Boone, North Carolina	Active
Phi	2017–2020		Denver, Colorado	Active
Chi	2018	Liberty University	Lynchburg, Virginia	Active
Psi	2018	West Chester University	West Chester, Pennsylvania	Active
Omega	2019	University of Virginia's College at Wise	Wise, Virginia	Active

Notable members

• Bill Bright (Honorary), evangelist who founded Campus Crusade for Christ as a ministry for university students
• Percy Crawford (Alpha), founder of The King's College^[11]
• Harold Lindsell (Beta), founding faculty member of Fuller Theological Seminary, editor of Christianity Today^[12]
• Benjamin Weir (Beta), moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
• Beau Wirick (Pi), actor

See also

• Christian fraternities
• List of social fraternities

Notes and References

1. Web site: Alpha Gamma Omega Members. Alpha Gamma Omega. April 15, 2023.
2. Web site: Chapters of Alpha Gamma Omega. Alpha Gamma Omega. February 24, 2016.
3. Web site: Alpha Gamma Omega - CalLink . 2024-05-20 . University of California, Berkeley.
4. Web site: Alpha Gamma Omega . 2024-05-20 . Davis - LocalWiki.
5. Lurding, Carroll and Becque, Fran. (April 6, 2024) "Alpha Gamma Omega". Almanac of Fraternities and Sororities. Urbana: University of Illinois. Accessed May 19, 2024
6. Web site: About . 2024-05-20 . Alpha Gamma Omega Knights.
7. Web site: About AGO . 2024-05-20 . Alpha Gamma Omega . en-US.
8. Web site: 96th Annual Founder's Day . 2024-05-20 . Alpha Gamma Omega . en-US.
9. Web site: Pismo Flag Football Tournament (26th Annual) . 2024-05-20 . Alpha Gamma Omega . en-US.
10. Web site: 2017-07-05 . 8th Annual Alumni Camping Trip . 2024-05-20 . Alpha Gamma Omega . en-US.
11. Book: Crawford . Dan D. . https://archive.org/details/thirstforsoulsli0000craw/page/66/mode/1up . A Thirst For Souls: The Life of Evangelist Percy B. Crawford (1902–1960) . Susquehanna University Press . 2010 . 978-1575911489 . 66 . UCLA: "Atheism Was Rampant" . 2010007945.
12. Kucharsky. David E.. Johnson. Heather L.. March 2, 1998. Obituary: CT Editor Emeritus Lindsell. Christianity Today. 42. 3. 67. https://web.archive.org/web/20061028172800/https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1998/march2/8t3067.html. October 28, 2006. subscription. live.