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Sigma Alpha of Chi Omega

The Sigma Alpha chapter of the Chi Omega Fraternity is the collegiate chapter at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Sigma Alpha Chi Omegas at a sisterhood event in the fall of 2008.

History

Sigma Alpha History

Chi Omega Sigma Alphas of 1917

The Sigma Alpha chapter of the Chi Omega fraternity was founded on January 4, 1913 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. In 2013, the Sigma Alpha chapter will be celebrating its centennial year. Chi Omega was the third sorority on campus following that of Delta Zeta on October 24, 1902 and Delta Delta Delta in 1911.

Each pledge class, specified by the year the member went through the recruitment process, varies in size due to the influx in women participating in recruitment. For the past three years, pledge class have been between 43-55 women. After Spring 2009 Initiation, Sigma Alpha will have about 175 members.

Chi Omega National Headquarters divides the country into eight regions. These include the Plains/Mountains, Great Lakes, West, Panhandle, Mid Atlantic, Northeast, Central South, and Southeast. Sigma Alpha is part of the Great Lakes region and is one of the 11 Chi Omega collegiate chapters in Ohio. After Texas having 13 collegiate Chi Omega chapters, Ohio and North Carolina both having eleven are tied for second place for most collegiate chapters.

National History

Chi Omega has a rich history dating back to its founding at the University of Arkansas on April 5, 1895. Born in the late 19th century, Chi Omega’s four women founders grew to adulthood as a rapidly expanding economy fostered industrialization and urbanization. And they were instilled with the spirit of America, with values of independence, innovation, and adventure. They could not have known how influential their lives would be.

The Fraternity’s Five Founders, Jobelle Holcombe, Jean Vincenheller, Ina May Boles, Alice Simonds, and Dr. Charles Richardson, wrote the Chi Omega Constitution and Ritual. Dr. Richardson, a dentist by trade, crafted the first badge out of dental gold. The organization grew locally that first year with 11 out of the 14 original members returning to the university in September of 1895. During this time, Chi Omega began to acquire a reputation for determination and poise, and for doing things well. Chi Omega was founded with the intent of becoming a national organization and it expanded into every part of the country. Whenever a new chapter was installed, members in other chapters wore Chi Omega's colors beneath their pins and sent letters of welcome and congratulations. By 1904, Chi Omega extended through Texas, Nebraska and California, and as far north as Virginia and Washington, D.C. The Fraternity realized the need to enter the Northeast, and over the next few years founded chapters in Pennsylvania, Maine, and New York City. In the early 1900s, social service was regarded as a collegiate activity of the highest importance and Chi Omegas gave countless hours of time, unbounded energy, and hard-earned monies to their local communities. Chi Omega was the first women’s fraternity to undertake a major gift to a university. Mary Love Collins and Dr. Richardson scouted a location for a Greek Theatre at the University of Arkansas. The theatre still stands, with five words engraved on the frieze: Knowledge, Integrity, Courage, Culture, and Intelligence. Over the last century, Chi Omega has grown to an organization with over 300,000 initiates from 174 collegiate chapters. [1]

Mission & Vision

Our mission is a Sisterhood that provides a network of friends and lifelong development for collegiate and alumnae members.

Chi Omega is committed to:
Personal integrity
Excellence in academic and intellectual pursuits
Inter-generational participation
Community service
Leadership development
Social enrichment

Our vision is to be the primer national women's organization in the 21st century.

To establish renewed value and respect for all women by promoting:
High moral standards and ethics
Personal growth
Professional development
A network of friendship and support
FOR LIFE.

Sorority Facilities

History of Sorority Suites

Since sorority life at Miami University, no sorority houses have ever been the residence of chapter members. Many rumors have been passed down over the years of Miami students as to why none have ever existed. Two popular theories include: It's because a lady donated a large amount of money to the university with the stipulation that sororities couldn't build houses and/or the Oxford City Council considers a house a brothel if a certain number of women live in a single residence. The real reason lies in the history of women and their roles on Miami's campus. Women were not allowed to move off campus until the Board of Trustees voted in late 1966 to allow undergraduate women at the age of 21 to move off campus with the permission of their parents. Following in 1972 was a policy allowing sophomore women to live off campus as well. "Both the university and the sororities have found it preferable for the women to remain on campus," said Bob Schmidt, an archivist at Miami since 1994. "When sororities first came to Miami in the early 1900s, the university was very protective of all of its women students and took great pains to ensure that they were housed in a manner suitable for young women of the day. As time passed, the sororities themselves found it financially easier to maintain their suites on campus." [2]

Suites and Sorority Living Learning Communities

Central quad is the home to all of the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) sorority suites. Richard Hall, Hamilton Hall, MacCracken Hall, and Minnich Hall comprise Central quad. Due to housing restrictions and increased number of sorority women, Porter Hall has also been used in recent years. As part of the Second Year Initiative, sorority women who live on-campus with their sorority sisters can participate in the Sorority Living Learning Community (LLC). The purpose of the Sorority LLC is to live out the five pillars of the Greek community (Scholarship and Learning, Service and Philanthropy, Leadership, Community and Brotherhood and Sisterhood), recognize the impact that various issues have on women, and to work to advance the position of women on campus. [3] Suite rental is about $5,500 per semester paid to the University by the chapter.

MacCracken Hall is the current home of the Sigma Alpha of Chi Omega suite.

Since the decision was made for the 2009-2010 school year to require all sophomore students to live on campus as part of the Second-Year Initiative, the class of 2012 will therefore be the first class to feel the full effect of this decision. This affects Sigma Alpha in the way sorority corridor systems are fulfilled. Beginning in the 2009-2010 academic year, all sophomore Sigma Alphas will be required to live in the Chi Omega corridor. The corridor is a section of the MacCracken Hall residence hall that is reserved for Chi Omegas. Many members see this as an opportunity to bond with other members similar to the manner of a sorority house.

The Sigma Alpha Chapter of Chi Omega has been located in Richard Hall in previous years but currently is located in 106 MacCracken Hall. Only initiated members are given access to the suite through a keypad. The suite has an office, a kitchen (includes a stove, microwave, refrigerator/freezer, and oven), television, couches, a piano, meeting tables, chapter awards, and the most recent composite picture of the chapter.

Recruitment

All NPC sororities at Miami participate in Spring Recruitment. All active members of Sigma Alpha are required to participate in Spring recruitment which occurs a week before the start of second semester, in early January. Open House lasts for three days. A specific number of “parties” are held per day. Parties are the time when the potential new members come though to the suite and have conversations with the new members. After Open House, comes First Round, then Second Round, and finally Pref Round. The culmination of the recruitment process is Bid Day/Night where the new members receive their bid from a chapter. Each round has a specific theme ranging from philanthropy to sisterhood and campus involvement. Open House and First Round can be overwhelming for potential new members when they walk into the suite since active members are cheering, chanting, and singing. There is a lot of energy in the room and contrary to what many say, Recruitment is a time for the entire chapter to come together. Second Round and Pref Round are more subdued and serious and really reflect the spirit of a particular chapter.

Chapter Statistics

Recruitment

2009 Pledge Class

For the past five years, Sigma Alpha has had pledge to initiation ratios above 90%. It is calculated by the dividing the number of the initial pledge class size by the number of initiates. The pledge process is eight weeks long. New members are taught by the New Member Educator about the history, traditions, and responsibilities of membership over this period. They are not invited to Chapter meetings until they are initiated so they have their own new member meetings as a group. Typically advisers or members of the Executive board also attend these meeting as well.

The Pledge to Initiation ratios are as follows:
2003-04: 97.30%
2004-05: 91.89%
2005-06: 100.00%
2006-07: 100.00%
2007-08: 100.00%

Sigma Alpha has also met or exceeded quota for the past four academic years as well:
2004-05: 39 quota- 39 accepted
2005-06: 43 quota- 43 accepted
2006-07: 49 quota- 54 accepted
2007-08: 45 quota- 49 accepted

Scholarship

The Sigma Alpha chapter of Chi Omega has high standards of scholarship for its members. Freshmen who participate in Recruitment must have a 2.8 GPA and sophomores must have a 3.0 GPA to be eligible for membership. For the 2008 spring semester, the Sigma Alpha chapter had earned the highest all member GPA of a 3.37 among the sororities. The cumulative GPA was 3.33, second in the overall rankings. [4]

Many students and parents have a negative connotation of joining a sorority. However, Greek life has shown to improve the college experience, connect the student more to the university or college and also to improve academic performance. Many studies have been conductedto see if non-Greek students have higher GPAs than non-Greek students. [5] Studies have also been conducted that show more Greek students have high GPAs than low GPAs and non-Greek students would be more likely to have low GPAs than high GPAs. [6] This idea of academic success is supported by Miami’s sorority academic performance and especially by the Sigma Alpha Chi Omegas. The spring 2008 all sorority cumulative GPA was 3.25, the all women cumulative GPA was 3.18, and the unaffiliated women cumulative GPA was 3.15. [7]

Chapter Structure

The Executive Board is made up of eight positions: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, New Member Educator, Personnel Chair, Recruitment Chair, and Panhellenic Delegate. The Secretary is also in charge of seven Directors: Social, Sisterhood, Scholarship, Philanthropy, Campus Activities, Career & Personal Development, and Public Relations. Each Director has a committee to help with planning and execution of their positions. Every active member is required to be on a committee. Below the Directors are also some other appointed positions selected by the Exec board. Some of these positions include: historian, suite manager, ritual chair, and intramural chair.

Freshman and sophomore members are encouraged to be active within committees as a way to grown into a leadership position within Sigma Alpha. Sophomores typically fill the Director roles and Juniors primarily fulfill the Executive board.

Philanthropy Involvement

National Philanthropy

Since 2002, Chi Omega’s national philanthropy is the Make-A-Wish Foundation [8]. In the first four years of service with Make-A-Wish, Chi Omega nationally has raised over $2 million and given over 100,000 volunteer hours. The Make-A-Wish Foundation presented two awards to the Fraternity at the Make-A-Wish Sponsor Recognition Luncheon held in Phoenix, AZ in 2004. Chi Omega received the Wishmaker award for volunteer hours given and the Gold Sponsor Award for funds raised. Chi Omega is recognized by the Make-A-Wish Foundation as a Cause Champion, raising $500,000+ annually. [9]

Sigma Alpha Philanthropy Involvement

Sigma Alpha hosts an annual fundraiser in the spring, King of the Wing-a chicken wing eating contest, to raise money to grant wishes to children with life threatening illnesses. For the last three years, the event is co-sponsored with another sorority and two other fraternities. Teams register for the event and all proceeds are split among the chapters’ philanthropies. In the fall, Sigma Alpha sponsors Wish Week. The Philanthropy chair and her committee get local restaurants and uptown businesses to sponsor a day of the week to donate a portion of its sales to Make-A-Wish. In the spring semester of 2008, Sigma Alpha chapter also had a silent auction during it’s Mom’s Weekend raising money for Make-A-Wish. And in the fall of 2009, a raffle during Dad’s Weekend also raised money as well. In the academic year of 2007-2008, the Sigma Alpha chapter raised $4,285 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

In addition, members of Sigma Alpha have become trained Wish Granter’s at the local branch of Make-A-Wish. They work directly with families of wish children to grant the child’s wish. Members act as a liaison between the families and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

External links

Chi Omega National Headquarters [10]
Sigma Alpha Chapter Website [11]
Miami University Panhellenic Association [12]
Cliff Alexander Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life & Leadership [13]