Sigma Omega Psi

Sigma Omega Psi (ΣΩΨ) was a historically Jewish Fraternity founded in 1914 and which merged into Alpha Epsilon Pi (ΑΕΠ) in 1940.

Sigma Omega Psi
ΣΩΨ
Founded	1914; 110 years ago (1914) College of the City of New York
Type	Social
Affiliation	Independent
Status	Merged
Merge Date	1940
Successor	Alpha Epsilon Pi
Emphasis	Jewish
Scope	National
Publication	The Shield
Chapters	21
Headquarters	New York City, New York United States

History

Sigma Omega Psi was founded in 1914 at College of the City of New York.^[1] Its purpose was as Greek letter college fraternity for Jewish students and to foster the spirit of true brotherly love and self-sacrifice.^[2] Its publication was The Shield.^[3]

The fraternity held its Sixteenth Annual Convention at the Park Central Hotel in New York City on December 29 through 31, 1936.^[3][4] Its Seventeenth Annual Convention was held in Boston, Massachusetts on December 29 through 31, 1937.

By 1940, only five chapters would be active, and the decision was made to merge into Alpha Epsilon Pi.

At the time of the Union, only the chapters at Worcester Poly, Boston University, Tufts, Lowell, and New York University were active. The first three became Epsilon Deuteron chapter, Zeta Deuteron chapter, and Eta Deuteron chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi, respectively. The chapter at Lowell could not be merged due to National Interfraternity Council requirements^[5][6] and the chapter at New York University was merged with Alpha Epsilon Pi's Alpha chapter.^[7] Subsequently, the chapters at Syracuse, MIT and CCNY were reactivated by Alpha Epsilon Pi and considered to be revivals of the chapters of Sigma Omega Psi at those schools.^[7]

Chapters

More than twenty chapters were founded by 1940 including:^[8][7]

Chapter	Chartered/Range	Institution	Location	Status	Reference
Alpha	1914–1935	College of the City of New York	New York City, New York	Inactive	[9]
Beta	1915–1926	Columbia University	New York City, New York	Inactive	[9]
Gamma	1916–1940	New York University College of Medicine	New York City, New York	Inactive	[9]
Delta	1919–1940	New York University	New York City, New York	Merged	[9][lower-alpha 1]
Epsilon	1921–192x ?	Syracuse University	Syracuse, New York	Inactive	[9]
Zeta	1919–19xx ?	New York University College of Dentistry	New York City, New York	Inactive	[9]
Eta	June 23, 1920–1941	Lowell Textile Institute	Lowell, Massachusett	Inactive	[5][6][9][lower-alpha 2]
Theta	May 3, 1919–1940	Worcester Polytechnic Institute	Worcester, Massachusetts	Merged	[10][9][lower-alpha 3]
Iota	1919–1940	Boston University	Boston, Massachusetts	Merged	[9][lower-alpha 4]
Kappa	1928–1931	Northeastern University	Boston, Massachusetts	Inactive	[9]
Lambda	19xx ?–19xx ?	New York Law School	New York City, New York	Inactive	[9]
Mu	May 1921–1940	Tufts College	Medford, Massachusetts	Merged	[11][12][13][lower-alpha 5]
Nu	1921–19xx ?	New York State School of Applied Agriculture	Farmingdale, New York	Inactive	[9]
Xi	1922–1935	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Cambridge, Massachusetts	Inactive	[9]
Omicron	19xx ?–19xx ?	College of Physicians and Surgeons (Columbia University)	New York City, New York	Inactive	[9]
Pi	May 26, 1923–19xx ?	Harvard University	Cambridge, Massachusetts	Inactive	[14]
Rho	1926–1931	University of Alabama	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	Inactive	[1]
Sigma				Unissued ?
Tau	September 1926–1933	Temple University	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Inactive	[15][9]
Upsilon	192x ?–19xx ?	St. John's College	New York City, New York	Inactive	[9]
Phi	1927–c. 1934	Cornell University	Ithaca, New York	Inactive

1. Merged with the Alpha chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi.
2. Chapter became the Pi chapter of Alpha Epsilon fraternity with the expectation of joining AEPi when Lowell received regional accreditation. Instead, it became the Alpha Epsilon chapter of Pi Lambda Phi in 1949 after Lowell Textile's 1948 accreditation.
3. Chapter was formed from the Six Ten Club, established in 1919. It became the Epsilon Deuteron chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi.
4. Became the Zeta Deuteron chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi.
5. Became Eta Deuteron chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi.

Alumni Clubs

Sigma Omega Psi had three alumni clubs^[3]

Notable members

• Nathaniel L. Goldstein - New York Attorney General 1943-1954.^[16]

References

1. "Our History". Alpha Epsilon Pi. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
2. Jewish National Organizations in the United States 1928-1929 American Jewish Yearbook, pp. 230. via AJC Archives.
3. Jewish National Organizations in the United States 1937-1938 American Jewish Yearbook, p. 671. via AJC Archives.
4. Pickout. Vol. 32. Lowell, Massachusetts: Lowell Textile Institute. 1937. pp. 107, 135 – via Internet Archive.
5. Pickout. Vol. 36. Lowell, Massachusetts: Lowell Textile Institute. 1941. pp. 72–73 – via Internet Archive.
6. Pickout. Lowell, Massachusetts: Lowell Textile Institute. 1953. p. 111 – via Internet Archive.
7. Anson, Jack L.; Marchenasi, Robert F., eds. (1991). Baird's Manual of American Fraternities (20th ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Baird's Manual Foundation, Inc. p. VIII -22. ISBN 978-0-9637159-0-6
8. Pickout. Lowell, Massachusetts: Lowell Textile Institute. 1938. p. 108 – via Internet Archive.
9. Lurding, Carroll and Becque, Fran. (December 3, 2022) Almanac of Fraternities and Sororities. Urbana: University of Illinois. Accessed December 30, 2022.
10. The Journal of Worcester Polytechnic Institute July 1919
11. The Jumbo. Vol. 27. Medford, Massachusetts: Tufts University. Office for Campus Life. 1953. hdl:10427/41687X584.
12. The Jumbo. Medford, Massachusetts: Tufts University. Office for Campus Life. 1938. hdl:10427/C534G2746 – via Tufts Digital Archive.
13. The Jumbo Book. Medford, Massachusetts: Tufts University. Office for Campus Life. 1934. hdl:10427/3B591P570.
14. Sanua, Marianne Rachel (2003). Going Greek : Jewish college fraternities in the United States, 1895-1945. Internet Archive. Detroit : Wayne State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8143-2857-6.
15. Templar. Vol. 8. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Temple University. 1930. p. 199 – via Temple University Libraries.
16. New York (State) (1840). "Manual for use of the Legislature of the State of New York". New York Manual for the Use of the Legislature: 470 – via Hathi Trust.