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Alpha Omicron Pi (ΑΟΠ, AOII) is an
international women's fraternity promoting friendship for a lifetime, inspiring
academic excellence and lifelong learning, and developing leadership skills
through service to the Fraternity and community. ΑΟΠ was founded on January 2,
1897 at Barnard College on the campus of Columbia University in New York. Its
founders were Stella George Stern Perry, Helen St. Clair Mullan, Elizabeth
Heywood Wyman, and Jessie Wallace Hughan. The four founders met in the Columbia
Law Library to begin their fraternity and to forever seal their friendships and
the friendships of all future members. The philosophy which the founders guided
their principles included membership to women who share their belief in lifelong
friendship, service and love. Membership is offered to women regardless of
ethnicity, religion or socio-economic background.
Today, Alpha Omicron Pi is an international
women's fraternity, with 204 collegiate chapters and 320 alumnae chapters in
Canada and the U.S.A. Its international headquarters is located in Brentwood,
Tennessee, and it is a member group of the National Panhellenic Conference,
which is the governing council of the 26 member women's fraternities and
sororities. It is the only member to the NPC to have one official color
(cardinal), as all the other members have two to four official colors.
Like many other Greek organizations for
women, Alpha Omicron Pi is a fraternity, not a sorority, although both terms are
often used. The term sorority was not yet in widespread use at the time
of Alpha Omicron Pi's founding, and therefore it is officially a "fraternity for
women." The fraternity is based around the values of service, scholarship, and
leadership. |
