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Alpha Omicron Pi ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, AOII, Alpha O) is an international sorority founded on January 2, 1897, at Barnard College on the campus of Columbia University in Manhattan, New York City.<ref name="Baird's">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Baird's Manual Online">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} The main archive URL is The Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage.</ref>
"AOII," and "Alpha O," the familiar names of the fraternity,<ref>For convenience, all women's fraternities are collectively known as sororities to distinguish them from men's groups, while legal documents and more formal writing may refer to a group as a women's fraternity.</ref> is open to women regardless of ethnicity, religion or socio-economic background,<ref>To Dragma. Fall/Winter 2012,</ref> with over 140 active collegiate chapters and 159 active alumnae chapters in Canada and the U.S.A.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The fraternity is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee, and is a member of the National Panhellenic Conference.<ref name="Baird's" /> Major symbolism includes the color cardinal, the ruby and the 'Général Jacqueminot' rose. The fraternity publishes a magazine for the benefit of members, named To Dragma.<ref name="Baird's" />
Alpha Omicron Pi was founded on the ideas found in the object of the fraternity—character, dignity, scholarship, and college loyalty.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
HistoryEdit
The sorority was founded January 2, 1897, at Barnard College.<ref name=":04">Template:Cite news</ref> Its founders were Jessie Wallace Hughan, Helen St. Clair Mullan, Elizabeth Heywood Wyman, and Stella George Stern Perry. They pledged one another in the Columbia Law Library to begin their fraternity. Within one week of its founding, the four founders used their initiation ritual for the first time to initiate Anne Richardson Hall.<ref name="Baird's" /><ref name="Baird's Manual Online" />
National expansion began in 1898 with the founding of Pi chapter at Sophie Newcomb College, now part of Tulane University, in New Orleans. Stella George Stern Perry, who was then the president of the fraternity, contacted a New Orleans classmate, Evelyn Reed, who expressed compatible ideas about fraternities. Reed's sister, Katherine Reed, became the first pledge of Pi chapter. After being initiated by Perry, Katherine Reed found others to initiate.<ref name="Baird's" /><ref>ΑΟΠ's national website notes the Tulane expansion, accessed 26 Aug 2018.</ref>
In 1905, Alpha Omicron Pi joined the National Panhellenic Conference.<ref name=":03">Template:Cite news</ref>
In 1967, the fraternity partnered with the Arthritis Foundation.<ref name=":0" /> In 1999, the fraternity's national council voted to establish {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Properties, a branch which manages individual chapter housing, including safety, finances, and maintenance. The subsidiary was then officially formed in 2001, but did not begin to transfer local housing contracts to national corporation control until 2009.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
SymbolsEdit
Members of the fraternity wear three different pins depending on membership status. New members who have not been initiated wear a gold sheaf of wheat pin (the sheaf itself being the official symbol of the fraternity) bound by a ribbon bearing the letters {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, symbolizing individuals bound together by friendship.<ref name=":04" /> After initiation, members may wear the membership badge, featuring the Greek letters {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, stacked on a narrow gold bar, with the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} surrounded in pearls and a ruby at the apex of the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}.<ref name=":04" /> When the fraternity establishes a new charter, the founding members wear gold rose charter member pins which symbolize new growth.<ref name=":1" />
Alpha Omicron Pi has one official color, cardinal.<ref name=":04" /> Its official flower is the 'Général Jacqueminot', or Jacqueminot rose.<ref name=":04" /> Alternatively, a deep red rose may be used.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref>
The fraternity's official jewel is the ruby, while its mascot is the giant panda, which the fraternity unofficially adopted in 1976 but made official in 2017.<ref name=":1" /> The mascot is the panda due to their friendliness and having no natural enemies.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Its publication is To Dragma.<ref name=":04" />
PhilanthropyEdit
Alpha Omicron Pi participates in fundraising and volunteer efforts via its philanthropic arm, the Alpha Omicron Pi Foundation. The foundation allocates grants to the fraternity's philanthropy, arthritis research, as well scholarships, educational grants, and emergency funds for fraternity members.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The funds also support conference speakers, training events, and personal development programs for members.<ref name=":02">Template:Cite news</ref>
The fraternity is partnered with the Arthritis Foundation.<ref name="Baird's" /><ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> The partnership began in 1967, with the fraternity members contributing volunteer hours and fundraising events to raise money for arthritis research and camps for juvenile arthritis. Stuffed panda bears are collected each year to give to children attending Arthritis Foundation camps and conferences. The fraternity's national campaign for arthritis awareness is “AOII Goes Blue,” with local chapters creating individual chapter events. "Strike Out Arthritis!" (SOA) It is the fraternity's signature fundraising event. SOA Events are held each year at Major League Baseball games, since the fraternity cites "strong relationships [with] Major League Baseball teams."<ref name=":0" />
Other programs the fraternity supports are Sisters for Soldiers, where members collect items and write letters to soldiers.<ref name=":0" />
ProgramsEdit
The Ruby Fund consists of money raised by alumnae and collegiate members and awarded to past initiated sisters in need of financial help from sisters. Applications for assistance are reviewed and ultimately chosen by the Foundation's Ruby Fund Committee.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ChaptersEdit
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MembersEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Since 1897, the fraternity has initiated over 209,000 members in 205 collegiate chapters across the United States and Canada, with 136 active chapters.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="Baird's Manual Online" />
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
Template:National Panhellenic Conference Template:Fraternities and Sororities Template:Authority control