Gamma Alpha Omega Explained

Gamma Alpha Omega (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ΓΑΩ) is a Latina-founded Greek letter intercollegiate sorority, established in 1993 on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. The sorority has installed 28 collegiate chapters and 13 alumnae chapters.

History

Gamma Alpha Omega was founded on by eight Latina women.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Founders

Michelle Seañez Amy Alvarez Patsy Guardado Clara Lopez

Sandra Saenz Valerie Mendoza Roxana Quinones Annette Escalante[4]

From the beginning the organization was "dedicated to promoting the achievement and quest of higher education amongst all women", thus while established by Latinas it was open from the start to women of all backgrounds. Its mission is noted with four goals:

• Increase the number of women with college educations and advanced degrees.
• Provide mentors for youth, women and underrepresented communities,
• Support individual leaders in each member
• Provide lifelong support for sisters, rooted in the pillars of Honesty, Integrity, Leadership, Scholarship and Unity.^[5]

Milestones

In 1997, Gamma Alpha Omega expanded beyond Arizona with the founding of Gamma chapter at the University of Washington on January 24 of that year.

In 2000, the sorority became a founding member of the National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations (NALFO) when it emerged as a national association of Latino fraternal groups.

April 2001, marked a milestone for Gamma Alpha Omega, when the organization was officially recognized as an incorporated entity in the state of Arizona.^[6]

In 2012, Gamma Alpha Omega chartered the first double letter chapter for the Sorority at the University of New Mexico.

In 2016, Gamma Alpha Omega withdrew from NALFO alongside several other founding fraternity and sorority members of the council. This was due to a variety of reasons.

Symbols and traditions

At its founding the sorority chose the colors Forest Green, Navy Blue and White as identifiers, along with a mascot of a "White Bengal Tiger with Blue Eyes". Further symbolism has been added over the years, including a flower, the "White Thornless Rose", and three jewels, the Green Emerald, Blue Sapphire and White Diamond. The official colors were refined with adoption of the sorority's branding guide.^[7]

The sorority notes five "pillars" important to its culture: honesty, integrity, leadership, scholarship and unity.

The sorority recognizes high-functioning chapters as "Diamond Standard" chapters.^[8]

The sorority publishes a digital magazine twice annually called The ROSE Vine.

Governance

Governance of the sorority is vested in a National Executive Board which manages the affairs of the organization on a day-to-day basis. The sorority meets in a national convention every two years during odd-numbered years. Regional conferences are held in the off years between national conventions.

National leadership

As of July 1, 2021, national officers include:^[9]

• National President
• Vice President
• VP of Expansion
• VP of Communications
• VP of Collegiate Affairs
• VP of Programming
• VP of Standards
• VP of Finance
• VP of Alumnae Affairs

In addition, the National Administration also contains regional and national directors that assist with the different regions, areas, and departments with the National Office & Headquarters of Gamma Alpha Omega.

Chapters

These are the chapters of Gamma Alpha Omega. Active chapters noted in bold, inactive chapters or institutions noted in italics. Chapter information from the national website or the referenced Baird's Manual online archive.

Chapter name	Installed Date and Range	College / University	City	State	Status	Reference
Alpha		Arizona State University	Phoenix	Arizona	Active	[10] [11]
Beta		University of Arizona	Tucson	Arizona	Active
Gamma		University of Washington	Seattle	Washington	Active
Delta		Washington State University	Pullman	Washington	Active
Epsilon	–20xx ?	University of Wisconsin–Parkside	Somers	Wisconsin	Inactive
Zeta	Reserved				Reserved
Eta		University of Idaho	Moscow	Idaho	Active
Theta		University of Wisconsin Oshkosh	Oshkosh	Wisconsin	Active
Iota		Texas Tech University	Lubbock	Texas	Active
Kappa		Oregon State University	Corvallis	Oregon	Active
Lambda		University of Houston	Houston	Texas	Active
Mu		University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee	Milwaukee	Wisconsin	Active
Nu		Baylor University	Waco	Texas	Active
Xi		University of Houston–Downtown	Houston	Texas	Active
Omicron		Northern Arizona University	Flagstaff	Arizona	Active
Pi		California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt	Arcata	California	Active
Rho	–20xx ?	California State University, Northridge	Northridge, Los Angeles	California	Inactive
Sigma		University of the Pacific	Stockton	California	Active
Tau	–20xx ?	University of Illinois	Champaign–Urbana	Illinois	Inactive
Upsilon		University of Oregon	Eugene	Oregon	Active
Phi	–20xx ?	University of Wisconsin–Whitewater	Whitewater	Wisconsin	Inactive
Chi		University of Wisconsin–Madison	Madison	Wisconsin	Active
Psi		Eastern Washington University	Cheney	Washington	Active
Omega					Memorial
Alpha Alpha	–20xx ?	University of New Mexico	Albuquerque	New Mexico	Inactive
Alpha Beta		California State University, Fresno	Fresno	California	Active
Alpha Gamma	–20xx ?	New Mexico Highlands University	Las Vegas	New Mexico	Inactive
Alpha Delta		Heritage University	Yakama Indian Reservation Toppenish	Washington	Active
Alpha Epsilon		Texas A&M University	College Station	Texas	Active
Alpha Zeta		Carroll University	Waukesha	Wisconsin	Active

See also

• National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations
• List of social sororities and women's fraternities

Notes and References

1. Web site: Greek Spot Light: Gamma Alpha Omega. sydney.primo.exlibrisgroup.com. 2019-04-14.
2. Web site: Gamma Alpha Omega – Confidence. Courage. Commitment. Character.. en-US. 2019-04-14.
3. Web site: Gamma Alpha Omega Sorority Inc. National Herstory. www.uwosh.edu. 2020-02-19.
4. Web site: National. Gamma Alpha Omega Sorority, Inc.. en. 2019-04-10.
5. From the national website's Quick Facts page, accessed 4 Jul 2021.
6. Web site: WSU GAO. wsugreek.orgsync.com. 2019-04-14.
7. From the national website's Resources page, accessed 4 Jul 2021.
8. From the national website's Programming page, accessed 4 Jul 2021.
9. From the national website's Leadership page, accessed 4 Jul 2021.
10. Noted in the Baird's Manual Online Archive, accessed 4 Jul 2021.
11. Noted on ΓΑΩ's Official website, list of chapters, accessed 4 Jul 2021.