Gamma Alpha Omega

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.

Gamma Alpha Omega
ΓΑΩ
Founded	January 25, 1993; 32 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	Diamond, sapphire, and 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

History

Gamma Alpha Omega was founded at the University of Arizona on January 25, 1993 as a multicultural sorority for Latina women.^[1][2][3] It founders were eight Latina students: Amy Alvarez, Annette Escalante, Patsy Guardado, Clara Lopez, Valerie Mendoza, Roxana Quinones, Sandra Saenz, and Michelle Seañez.^[4]

Gamma Alpha Omega was formed to promote "achievement and quest of higher education amongst all women". ^[2] Although established by Latinas it was open from the start to women of all backgrounds.^[5] Its mission is noted with four goals:^[6][2]

• 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.

The sorority founded its second chapter at the University of Arizona on August 8, 1993.^[3][7] On January 24, 1997, Gamma Alpha Omega expanded beyond Arizona with the founding of Gamma chapter at the University of Washington.^[3][5] 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.^[8]

Gamma Alpha Omega incorporated in the state of Arizona in April 2001.^[9] In January 2016, Gamma Alpha Omega withdrew from NALFO alongside several other founding fraternity and sorority members of the council.^[8]

Symbols

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

Gamma Alpha Omega's motto is Nos Una Crescemus or "United We Will Grow".^[2] Its pillars are honesty, integrity, leadership, scholarship and unity.^[2]

At its founding the sorority chose the colors forest green, navy blue and white.^[2][6] Its mascot is a white Bengal tiger with blue eyes.^[2][10] Its flower is the white thornless rose.^[2][10] Its jewels are the emerald, sapphire and diamond.^[2][10] Its fruit is the red apple.^[2][10]

The sorority publishes a digital magazine twice annually called The ROSE Vine.^[11] Its nicknames are the Gammas and Tigresas.^[6][12]

Activities

Gamma Alpha Omega's national philanthropies are Emeralds for Education and HIV Awareness.^[6][13] Emeralds of Education is a youth mentoring program established by the sorority in 2011.^[13]

Governance

Governance of the sorority is vested in a National Executive Board, including a national president, vice president, vice president of collegiate affairs, vice president of communication, vice president of expansion, vice president of finance, vice president of programming, vice president of standards, and vice president of alumnae affairs.^[14] In addition, its national administration also contains regional and national directors that assist with the different regions, areas, and departments with the national office and headquarters.^[14] Its national headquarters are in Tempe, Arizona.^[3]

The sorority meets in a national convention every two years during odd-numbered years.^[15] Regional conferences are held in the off years between national conventions.^[15]

Chapters

Collegiate chapters

In the following list of Gamma Alpha Omega collegiate chapters, active chapters noted in bold and inactive chapters or institutions noted in italics.^[3][16]

Chapter	Charter date and range	Institution	Location	Status	Reference
Alpha	January 25, 1993	Arizona State University	Phoenix, Arizon	Active	[2]
Beta	August 8, 1993	University of Arizona	Tucson, Arizona	Active	[7][17]
Gamma	January 24, 1997	University of Washington	Seattle, Washington	Active	[5]
Delta	1998	Washington State University	Pullman, Washington	Active	[18]
Epsilon	1998–20xx ?	University of Wisconsin–Parkside	Somers, Wisconsin	Inactive
Zeta	1998–200x ?	Loyola University Chicago	Chicago, Illinois	Inactive
Eta	1999	University of Idaho	Moscow, Idaho	Active	[19]
Theta	1999–xxxx ?; 2022	University of Wisconsin Oshkosh	Oshkosh, Wisconsin	Active	[20]
Iota	October 29, 1999	Texas Tech University	Lubbock, Texas	Active	[21]
Kappa	2000	Oregon State University	Corvallis, Oregon	Active	[6]
Lambda	2000	University of Houston	Houston, Texas	Active
Mu	2001	University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Active
Nu	April 12, 2002	Baylor University	Waco, Texas	Active	[22]
Xi	2001	University of Houston–Downtown	Houston, Texas	Active	[10]
Omicron	2002	Northern Arizona University	Flagstaff, Arizona	Active	[23]
Pi	2002–20xx ?	California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt	Arcata, California	Inactive
Rho	2003–20xx ?	California State University, Northridge	Northridge, Los Angeles, California	Inactive
Sigma	2003	University of the Pacific	Stockton, California	Active	[24]
Tau	2008–20xx ?	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	Champaign–Urbana, Illinois	Inactive
Upsilon	2009	University of Oregon	Eugene, Oregon	Active	[25][26]
Phi	2010–20xx ?	University of Wisconsin–Whitewater	Whitewater, Wisconsin	Inactive
Chi	September 30, 2011	University of Wisconsin–Madison	Madison, Wisconsin	Active	[12]
Psi	2011	Eastern Washington University	Cheney, Washington	Active	[27]
Omega				Memorial
Alpha Alpha	2012–20xx ?	University of New Mexico	Albuquerque, New Mexico	Inactive
Alpha Beta	2013	California State University, Fresno	Fresno, California	Active	[28]
Alpha Gamma	2017–20xx ?	New Mexico Highlands University	Las Vegas, New Mexico	Inactive
Alpha Delta	2018	Heritage University	Toppenish, Washington	Active	[29]
Alpha Epsilon	September 4, 2019	Texas A&M University	College Station, Texas	Active	[13]
Alpha Zeta	2020	Carroll University	Waukesha, Wisconsin	Active	[30]
Alpha Eta	February 17, 2024	Xavier University	Cincinnati, Ohio	Active	[31]

Alumnae chapters

Following are the alumnae chapters of Gamma Alpha Omega.^[16]

Chapter	Location	Status	References
Greater Phoenix Alumnae Chapter	Phoenix, Arizona	Active
Greater Seattle Alumnae Chapter	Seattle, Washington	Active
Greater Milwaukee Alumnae Chapter	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Active
Greater Houston Alumnae Chapter	Houston, Texas	Active
Chicago Alumnae Chapter	Chicago, Illinois	Active
Greater Whitewater Alumnae Chapter	Whitewater, Wisconsin	Active
Madison Alumnae Chapter	Madison, Wisconsin	Active
Dallas/Ft.Worth Alumnae Chapter	Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas	Active
Palouse Alumnae Chapter	Palouse, Washington and Idaho	Active
Corvallis Alumnae Chapter	Corvallis, Oregon	Active
Portland Alumnae Chapter	Portland, Oregon	Active
Fresno Alumnae Chapter	Fresno, Texas	Active
TriCities Alumnae Chapter	Tri-Cities, Washington	Active

See also

• List of Latino fraternities and sororities
• List of social sororities and women's fraternities