About Chi Omega: Our History
The Founders
Our Founding
Determined to have the same sense of belonging and status the fraternity men enjoyed, one small band of young women, with the help of a local dentist (an initiate of Kappa Sigma), established the secrets, symbolism and rites that today bind together over 300,000 women from over 170 campuses and in more than 250 alumnae chapters.- Founding Date: April 5, 1895 at the University of Arkansas
- Chi Omega is referred to as a "fraternity" because the term "sorority" was not yet in place
- First Chapter Name: Psi Chapter
- Founding Members: 5 founders - 14 original members
- First secret was that Chi Omega didn't have any secrets. The founders wore ribbons tied together on their blouses to tease the boys. The colors of the ribbons were olive and crushed plum. Why? Because they were the ugliest colors the founders put together!
- Dr. Richardson crafted the first pin out of dental gold
- Chi Omega was founded on Six Purposes
Early Years
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 naturally and easily into every part of the country. Whenever a new chapter was installed, members in other chapters wore the 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.
Over the last century, Chi Omega has grown to an organization with over 300,000 initiates from over 170 collegiate chapters. The Chi Omega Foundation was founded in 1982 to fund the educational goals of the Fraternity. Chi O Creations, our in-house boutique, opened in 1989.
Chi Omega Executive Headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee
The Six Purposes
Since 1895, six purposes have guided the direction of every chapter and brought its members unequaled opportunities for personal growth and development. Today, they are still valid as these intelligently interpreted purposes help to preserve and enhance the best values of American culture. Chi Omega's Six Purposes Are:- Friendship
- High Standards of Personnel
- Sincere Learning and Creditable Scholarship
- Participation in Campus Activities
- Career Development
- Community Service
The Symphony
On the eve of her initiation, Ethel Switzer Howard articulated what it meant to be a Chi Omega sister. Her words reflect the ideals of every member of the Fraternity, and still hold true today. Every Chi Omega carries the Symphony in her heart, and most have a favorite line upon which they often reflect.to place scholarship before social obligations and character before appearances;
to be, in the best sense, democratic rather than 'exclusive', and lovable rather than 'popular';
to work earnestly, to speak kindly, to act sincerely,
to choose thoughtfully that course which occasion and conscience demand;
to be womanly always; to be discouraged never;
in a word, to be loyal under any and all circumstances to my Fraternity
and her highest teachings and to have her welfare ever at heart that she may be
a symphony of high purpose and helpfulness in which there is no discordant note.
- Ethel Switzer Howard, Xi Chapter, Northwestern University, 1904
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