Alpha Chi Omega
Beta Omega ✩ University of Toledo
Beta Omega Chapter, Toledo OH
Alpha Chi Omega was founded on October 15, 1885, at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. At a time when women were just beginning to occupy seats in college classrooms, seven female students were encouraged by Professor James Hamilton Howe, dean of DePauw’s School of Music, to form a women’s society within the school.
Inspired, our Founders formed the sixth women’s fraternity in the country—the first to be in a music school. Sure they would be the last, the founders chose Alpha and Omega—the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet—to form their name, with “Kai” (meaning “and”) in the middle, later changed to the Greek letter Chi.
Dedicated to advancing “the intellectual, social and moral culture” of its members, our founders’ vision has grown to include our women’s Fraternity, the Alpha Chi Omega Foundation and the National Housing Corporation. Together, they serve more than 200,000 members in more than 130 collegiate chapters and 200 alumnae chapters nationwide.
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Our Goal
Alpha Chi Omega, we’re about finding and shaping real, strong women. That’s been our slogan since our re-branding in 2008. It’s been our reality since 1885. Being an Alpha Chi means being a part of an organization that allows individuals to be themselves, allows them to learn how to make the most of their life, and allows them to realize their greatest potential, and run with it. It means every individual receives the encouragement, inspiration, fun and friendship of 200,000 other real, strong women at their side. It means that she gets a four-year collegiate learning and leadership program that supplements and complements what she’ll get from her college or university. It means she’ll have opportunities for lifetime, leadership, and engagement with real, strong women who are making a difference for themselves, their fellow members, and the world around them.
