Gamma Alpha Omega

Gamma Alpha Omega
ΓΑΩ
Founded	January 25, 1993; 31 years ago (January 25, 1993) Arizona State University
Type	Service
Affiliation	Independent
Former affiliation	NALFO
Status	Active
Scope	National
Motto	Nos Una Crescemus "United We Will Grow"
Pillars	Honesty, Integrity, Leadership, Scholarship, and Unity
Colors	Forest Green,   Navy Blue, and   White
Flower	White thornless rose
Jewel	White diamond, blue sapphire, and green emerald
Mascot	White Bengal tiger with blue eyes
Publication	The ROSE Vine
Philanthropy	Education (mentoring youth)
Chapters	28 collegiate 13 alumnae
Members	1,500 lifetime
Nickname	Gammas, Tigresas
Fruit	Classic red Apple
Headquarters	P.O. Box 1916 Tempe, Arizona 85280 United States
Website	www.gammaalphaomega.org

Gamma Alpha Omega (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 January 25, 1993 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

ΓΑΩ's official logo, the White Rose within a Blue Diamond.

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.^[5][7]

The sorority notes five "pillars" important to its culture: honesty, integrity, leadership, scholarship and unity.^[5]

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.^[8]

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.^[10]

Chapter name	Installed Date and Range	College / University	City	State	Status	Reference
Alpha	January 25, 1993	Arizona State University	Phoenix	Arizona	Active	[10][11]
Beta	1993	University of Arizona	Tucson	Arizona	Active	[10][11]
Gamma	January 24, 1997	University of Washington	Seattle	Washington	Active	[10][11]
Delta	1998	Washington State University	Pullman	Washington	Active	[10][11]
Epsilon	1998–20xx ?	University of Wisconsin–Parkside	Somers	Wisconsin	Inactive	[10][11]
Zeta	Reserved				Reserved	[10]
Eta	1999	University of Idaho	Moscow	Idaho	Active	[10][11]
Theta	1999	University of Wisconsin Oshkosh	Oshkosh	Wisconsin	Active	[10][11]
Iota	1999	Texas Tech University	Lubbock	Texas	Active	[10][11]
Kappa	2000	Oregon State University	Corvallis	Oregon	Active	[10][11]
Lambda	2000	University of Houston	Houston	Texas	Active	[10][11]
Mu	2001	University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee	Milwaukee	Wisconsin	Active	[10][11]
Nu	2001	Baylor University	Waco	Texas	Active	[10][11]
Xi	2001	University of Houston–Downtown	Houston	Texas	Active	[10][11]
Omicron	2002	Northern Arizona University	Flagstaff	Arizona	Active	[10][11]
Pi	2002	California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt	Arcata	California	Active	[10][11]
Rho	2003–20xx ?	California State University, Northridge	Northridge, Los Angeles	California	Inactive	[10][11]
Sigma	2003	University of the Pacific	Stockton	California	Active	[10][11]
Tau	2008–20xx ?	University of Illinois	Champaign–Urbana	Illinois	Inactive	[10][11]
Upsilon	2009	University of Oregon	Eugene	Oregon	Active	[10][11]
Phi	2010–20xx ?	University of Wisconsin–Whitewater	Whitewater	Wisconsin	Inactive	[10][11]
Chi	2011	University of Wisconsin–Madison	Madison	Wisconsin	Active	[10][11]
Psi	2011	Eastern Washington University	Cheney	Washington	Active	[10][11]
Omega					Memorial	[11]
Alpha Alpha	2012–20xx ?	University of New Mexico	Albuquerque	New Mexico	Inactive	[10][11]
Alpha Beta	2013	California State University, Fresno	Fresno	California	Active	[10][11]
Alpha Gamma	2017–20xx ?	New Mexico Highlands University	Las Vegas	New Mexico	Inactive	[10][11]
Alpha Delta	2018	Heritage University	Yakama Indian Reservation Toppenish	Washington	Active	[10][11]
Alpha Epsilon	2019	Texas A&M University	College Station	Texas	Active	[10][11]
Alpha Zeta	2020	Carroll University	Waukesha	Wisconsin	Active	[11]

See also

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

References

1. "Greek Spot Light: Gamma Alpha Omega". sydney.primo.exlibrisgroup.com. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
2. "Gamma Alpha Omega – Confidence. Courage. Commitment. Character". Retrieved 2019-04-14.
3. "Gamma Alpha Omega Sorority Inc. | National Herstory". www.uwosh.edu. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
4. "National". Gamma Alpha Omega Sorority, Inc. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
5. From the national website's Quick Facts page, accessed 4 Jul 2021.
6. "WSU | GAO". wsugreek.orgsync.com. Retrieved 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.