Sigma Phi Omega

Sigma Phi Omega
ΣΦΩ
Founded	1949 (1949) University of Southern California
Type	Social-Service
Affiliation	Independent
Status	Active
Emphasis	Asian-Interest
Scope	National
Motto	"The Reward is in the Doing"
Pillars	Strength and Character
Colors	Kelly Green and   Maize Yellow
Symbol	White Dove
Flower	Yellow Rose
Chapters	9
Headquarters	United States
Website	www.sigmaphiomega.com

Sigma Phi Omega (ΣΦΩ), also known as Sigmas, is an Asian American interest sorority founded at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California

History

Sigma Phi Omega was founded at the University of Southern California in 1949, and is the oldest Asian American sorority at USC and UT Austin and third oldest Asian sorority in the United States. It was originally established as a social organization for Japanese and Japanese American women at USC and has since then come to consist of a diverse membership of women hailing from numerous racial and cultural backgrounds.

At its beginning, the founding mothers of Sigma Phi Omega were invited by Chi Alpha Delta, an Asian-American sorority from UCLA, to become one of their chapters. Chi Alpha Delta had been chartered in 1928 at UCLA, but was rendered inactive between 1942 and 1945 because the majority of its members were unable to attend UCLA due to World War II. After the end of the war, the sorority was reorganized in 1946.

However, the founding mothers decided to start their own organization. The Greek letters were chosen at random and were not used by any other existing College fraternities or sororities at that time. The Greek letters were, however, being used by a national high school fraternity. Although the Sigmas did not originate as a sorority, one could speculate that the choosing of Greek letters was a public way of voicing an unsatisfactory opinion about the treatment of Asian Americans, specifically Japanese Americans, by the campus and Greek organizations.

Founding mothers

• Miki Haga
• Joyce Ishibashi Tawa
• Ida Kado Watanabe
• Kazuko Kay Matsumoto
• Helen Morita Matsunaga
• Cherry Okimoto
• Akiko Sato Miyamoto
• Edna Tanaka Okui
• Helen Taniguchi Wakamatsu
• Miki Tanimoto
• Dottie Uno
• Julia Uriu
• Grace Wada Iino
• Betty Wakamatsu Nishikubo
• Chiyoe Yata Oki
• Mitzi Okamoto
• Thelma Sasada Yamamoto

Symbols

The motto of Sigma Phi Omega is ''The Reward is in the Doing''. Its pillars are Strength an Character. The sorority's colors are Kelly green amd maize yellow. Its symbol is the white dove. Its flower is the yellow rose.

Philanthropy

Sigma Phi Omega has chosen domestic violence awareness and prevention & Sexual Assault Awareness as its National Philanthropy. During the month of April each year, the chapters organize a week filled with seminars and fundraising events to bring awareness to their communities. Equally, throughout the month of October each year, all chapters of Sigma Phi Omega Sorority, Inc. organize a "SAFE (Stop Abuse For Everyone) WEEK" filled with seminars and discussions about domestic violence and fundraising events. Sigma Phi Omega works to educate college campuses and surrounding communities, specifically reaching out to Asian and Asian American women, in an effort to stop domestic violence and to raise awareness of sexual assault on college campuses.

While raising domestic violence awareness is Sigmas' main philanthropy, the chapters also sponsors and participate in AIDS walks, Habitat for Humanity, Canning for Hunger, Girls Inc., various shelters, clean cities programs, and more.

Many members of Sigma Phi Omega are also individually involved within their own community through tutoring and mentoring programs for the disadvantaged and younger students, as well as through various volunteering programs.

Service is one of the main pillars within the sisterhood of Sigma Phi Omega. By it they explain their pride in serving their communities and are inspired to contribute to make a difference in each other's lives and the lives of others.

Chapters

Sigma Phi Omega has installed nine chapters located in California and Texas, nine of which are active. Active chapter noted in bold, inactive chapters noted in italics.

Chapter	Status	Installed Date and Range	City	State	University	Reference
Alpha (Ά)	Inactive	1949	Los Angeles	CA	University of Southern California
Beta (Β)	Active	1973	Long Beach	CA	California State University, Long Beach
Gamma (Γ)	Active	May 1, 1991	Austin	TX	University of Texas
Delta (Δ)	Active	December 18, 1991	San Diego	CA	San Diego State University
Epsilon (Ε)	Active	April 21, 1995	Houston	TX	University of Houston
Zeta (Ζ)	Active	April 5, 1997	Berkeley	CA	University of California, Berkeley
Eta (Η)	Inactive	May 1, 1999–20xx ?	Waco	TX	Baylor University
Theta (Θ)	Inactive	May 20, 2005–202x ?	University Park (Dallas)	TX	Southern Methodist University
Iota (Ι)	Active	May 2, 2009	College Station	TX	Texas A&M University
Kappa (Κ)	Active	December 8, 2013	Richardson	TX	University of Texas at Dallas

Conventions

There are annual conventions held each summer as well as Mid-year Retreat, where sisters from different chapters gather to bring orders of business as well as bond. These conventions and retreats are hosted by the chapters in rotations.

Affiliations

Cousin fraternity (Texas):

• Delta Epsilon Psi

External links

• Official Website