Delta Phi Omega

Delta Phi Omega is a nationally based, South Asian-interest, multicultural sorority in the United States. It is a social, service, and philanthropy-based Greek letter organization whose main focus is to empower women and promote cultural awareness through involvement with their universities and communities.
It is a member of the National APIDA Panhellenic Association. Delta Phi Omega Sorority, Inc. is the largest South Asian interest-based sorority in the nation. It has over 2,600 sisters in 25 chapters and 26 colonies across the country.

History

On December 6, 1998, sixteen South Asian women formed Delta Phi Omega at the University of Houston. The sixteen Honorable National Founding Mothers are Simran Bakshi-Guiterrez, Heena Bhakta-Palmer, Leena Cherian-Joseph, Bonna Choudhari, Rita Dhanani-Rauniyar, Anita Jari-Kharbanda, Amitha Nikam-Verma, Avni Patel, Jesika Patel, Jolly Patel, Shevon Patel, Sonal Amit Patel, Arati Shah, Deepa Swamy-Kurian, Manisha Vakharia-Patel, and Sarika Wadhawan.
Delta Phi Omega was envisioned as an organization that would focus on the diverse Indian culture through participation in various community and service projects, promote the advancement of South Asian women, and unite women in the South Asian community.
It is a member of the National APIDA Panhellenic Association. Delta Phi Omega Sorority, Inc. is the largest South Asian interest-based sorority in the nation. It has over 2,000 sisters in 25 chapters and 26 colonies across the country.

Symbols

Delta Phi Omega's motto is "We Dreamt, We Saw, We Conquered". Its pillars are sisterhood, honesty, loyalty, respect, and friendship.
The sorority's colors are red, black, and silver. Its flower is the white orchid. Its mascot is the Bengal tiger. The sorority's jewels are ruby red and diamond.

Activities

The sorority's annual national initiatives are "Be The Change" National Community Partner and Literacy Through Unity Week. The annual Literacy Through Unity Week raises awareness of children's education and literacy, along with fundraising at the respective universities and cities to support related charities. Events associated with Literacy Through Unity Week include community service projects, movie nights, books and panel discussions, fundraising nights, and Informationals by nonprofit organizations such as Asha for Education, Pratham, and CARE.

Organization

In 2001, sisters foresaw a rapid expansion of Delta Phi Omega and recognized the need for a central governing body. Therefore, they founded the first National Council of Delta Phi Omega on February 1, 2002, which became the administrative entity of the sorority. The National Council ensures the continuity of the original purpose, mission, and ideals of the National Founding Mothers. Its functions also include handling matters of controversy, coordinating national-level programs, and overseeing chapter compliance with national policies. Each year at the national conference women are elected to the National Council, board, and regional director positions.
After the National Council, the next tier is the National Board, which is made up of positions that are more geared towards expansion and maintaining the sorority on an organizational level, keeping records, and ensuring everything continues to run smoothly and professionally.
Following the National Board are Regional Directors. Delta Phi Omega is currently divided into nine regions, with each region consisting of about four to nine schools. The final tier is an Alumna Advisor, which each charter has.

Chapters

In the following list, active chapters and charters are listed in bold and inactive chapters and charters are in italics.

Chapter	Charter date and range	Institution or region	Location	Status
Alpha		University of Houston	Houston, Texas	Active
Beta		University of Texas at San Antonio	San Antonio, Texas	Active
Gamma		Philadelphia Citywide	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Active
Delta		DePaul University	Chicago, Illinois	Active
Eta		Florida International University	Miami, Florida	Active
Epsilon		University of Texas at Austin	Austin, Texas	Active
Zeta		University of Maryland, College Park	College Park, Maryland	Active
Theta		University of Oklahoma	Norman, Oklahoma	Active
Kappa		Virginia Commonwealth University	Richmond, Virginia	Active
Iota		Northeastern University	Boston, Massachusetts	Active
Pace University charter		Pace University	Pleasantville, New York	Active
Pace University charter		Pace University	New York City, New York	Active
Sigma		University of Florida	Gainesville, Florida	Active
University of Texas at Arlington charter		University of Texas at Arlington	Arlington, Texas	Active
University of Washington charter		University of Washington	Seattle, Washington	Active
Stony Brook University charter		Stony Brook University	Stony Brook, New York	Active
Penn State University charter		Penn State University	University Park, Pennsylvania	Active
University of North Texas charter		University of North Texas	Denton, Texas	Active
Texas Women's University charter		Texas Woman's University	Denton, Texas	Active
Lambda		University of South Florida	Tampa, Florida	Active
Mu		University of Illinois at Chicago	Chicago, Illinois	Active
New Jersey Institute of Technology charter		New Jersey Institute of Technology	Newark, New Jersey	Active
University of Maryland, Baltimore County charter		University of Maryland, Baltimore County	Baltimore, Maryland	Active
University of California, San Diego charter		University of California, San Diego	San Diego, California	Active
Nu		Oregon State University	Corvallis, Oregon	Active
Pi		Texas A&M University	College Station, Texas	Active
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill charter		University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	Chapel Hill, North Carolina	Active
Purdue University charter		Purdue University	West Lafayette, Indiana	Inactive
Xi		University of Tennessee	Knoxville, Tennessee	Active
Omicron		University of Georgia	Athens, Georgia	Active
Indiana University at Bloomington charter		Indiana University Bloomington	Bloomington, Indiana	Active
Boston University charter		Boston University	Boston Massachusetts	Active
Baylor University charter		Baylor University	Waco, Texas	Active
Emory University charter		Emory University	Atlanta, Georgia	Active
University of California, Davis charter		University of California, Davis	Davis, California	Active
University of Rochester charter		University of Rochester	Rochester, New York	Active
Upsilon		Rutgers University–New Brunswick	New Brunswick, New Jersey	Active
Rho		University of Alabama at Birmingham	Birmingham, Alabama	Active
Phi		Wayne State University	Detroit, Michigan	Active
University of Miami charter		University of Miami	Coral Gables, Florida	Active
Alpha Alpha		University of Minnesota	Minneapolis, Minnesota	Active
George Mason University charter		George Mason University	Fairfax, Virginia	Active
Tau		Georgia State University	Atlanta, Georgia	Active
East Carolina University charter		East Carolina University	Greenville, North Carolina	Active
Psi		University of Central Florida	Orlando, Florida	Active
Alpha Gamma		Texas Tech University	Lubbock, Texas	Active
Chi		Rutgers University–Newark	Newark, New Jersey	Active
Omega				Memorial
Alpha Beta		University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	Urbana, Illinois	Active
College of William & Mary charter		College of William & Mary	Williamsburg, Virginia	Active
Binghamton University charter		Binghamton University	Binghamton, New York	Active
Alpha Delta		University of Connecticut	Storrs, Connecticut	Active
University of South Carolina charter		University of South Carolina	Columbia, South Carolina	Active
Ohio State University charter		Ohio State University	Columbus, Ohio	Active
Hofstra University charter		Hofstra University	Hempstead, New York	Active
Adelphi University charter		Adelphi University	Garden City, New York	Active
Saint Louis University charter		Saint Louis University	St. Louis, Missouri	Active
City College of New York charter		City College of New York	New York City, New York	Active
Syracuse University charter		Syracuse University	Syracuse, New York	Active