Eta Upsilon Gamma

Eta Upsilon Gamma was an American collegiate junior sorority. It formed in 1901, and was active through at least 1968. The sorority was a founding member of the National Junior College Panhellenic.

History

Eta Upsilon Gamma was founded as a junior college sorority in November 1901 at Christian College in Columbia, Missouri. Its founders were Bess Dain Browning, Caroline Mabry Christie, Anna Hudson Lewis, Eula Gray Pfeuffer, Nell Mackey Powell, and Anne McDonald Smith.
The Beta chapter was established at Hardin College and Conservatory of Music in 1902. This was followed in 1903 by Gamma at the Liberty Ladies' College, Delta at Forest Park University, and Epsilon at Central College for Women. Its first six chapters were all chartered at colleges in Missouri.
Eta Upsilon Gamma was overseen by a national board or grand council, consisting of a grand president, grand vice-president and editor, grand secretary, grand treasurer, grand organizer, and a Panhellenic representative. Officers were elected at the annual national conclave or convention. The sorority held its first conclave in Columbia, Missouri in 1904.
By 1909, Eta Upsilon Gamma had established an alumni association. That same year, the sorority made the news for deposing two of its national officers, Eva Marie Myers who was the grand president and Mattie Lou Catron grand organizer, for getting married. The Eta Upsilon Gamma constitution specified that its grand chapter officers "must be neither betrothed or married". It continued, "Man has no place in the organization of the sorority, and the rule against the members who yield to him is rigidly enforced." In addition, members who allowed a man to wear their sorority badge were fined $25 ; failure to pay this fine resulted in expulsion from the sorority.
The Alpha chapter at Christian College built its chapter house in the summer of 1910 and dedicated it on May 18, 1911. It was not a residential house but was used for meetings, social events, and for alumnae accommodations. The Zeta chapter at Lindenwood College dedicated its chapter house in 1914. In September 1914, Eta Upsilon Gamma was a founding member of the National Junior College Panhellenic.
In 1919, the sorority had nine active chapters and two alumnae associations. It had initiated 1,500 members and had 170 active members. In 1921, it had seven active chapters and six alumnae associations, with 2,000 total members and 100 active members.
As the sorority's host institutions became four-year colleges, some chapters left to join National Panhellenic Conference members. Eta Upsilon Gamma decided to become a regular collegiate sorority. At this time, it withdrew the charter of any chapters hosted at junior colleges. In an article in the January 1926 Banta's Greek Exchange, the sorority's vice president wrote an article noting, "The junior college does not define or limit the field of Eta Upsilon Gamma." Baird's Manual shows 26 chapters of which twelve were active and fourteen were inactive. On June 16, 1932, a delegation from Eta Upsilon Gamma had lunch with President Herbert Hoover.
In November 1951, the sorority celebrated its fiftieth anniversary by establishing a Memorial Art Library at Christian College, consisting of circulating fine art reproductions. In February 1962, Eta Upsilon Gamma had initiated 8,000 members and had nine active chapters. The sorority's date of dissolution is unknown. Its last known national convention was held in August 1968. The Omega chapter at Potomac State School was active until 1975 when it became a local sorority.

Symbols

The Eta Upsilon Gamma insignia was designed in 1908 by Zeta chapter members Edna Hanna and Jae Fonte. The insignia consisted of a shield that featured a lamp on top of an equilateral triangle and the motto "Be Strong in the Truth", supported by a unicorn. The sorority's badge was a diamond-shaped shield in black enamel bearing in center clasped hands, with the Greek letters "ΗΥΓ" above it and a skull and cross bones below. The badge could be set in pearls. The pledge pin was gold, with clasp hands.
The sorority also had a scholarship pin in the shape of a gold Greek lamp with a small diamond in its blue flame and the Greek letters "ΗΥΓ" in black enamel. It was worn by the member with the highest average grades in each chapter. The lamp symbolized higher scholarship and the diamond in its flame represented the light or torch of knowledge.
The sorority's colors were olive green and gold. Its jewels were the diamond and the pearl. Its flower was the red carnation as of 1909 and the yellow rose as of 1919. Its insignia were clasped hands, a skull and cross-bones, a diamond, a lamp, a triangle, and a unicorn. Its original flag was olive green with the Greek letters "ΗΥΓ" in gold; a later version also featured the sorority's coat of arms.
The sorority's open motto was "Be Strong in the Truth". Its bi-annual publication was The ''Adamas'', first published in 1909. Its nickname was Gamma.

Philanthropy

In 1962, Eta Upsilon Gamma's national philanthropy was the Crippled Children's Society. During World War I, the sorority raised funds for the Red Cross; some members volunteered for Y.M.C.A. canteen work in France.

Chapters

Eta Upsilon Gamma installed over thirty chapters. Following is a list of Eta Upsilon Gamma chapters, with inactive chapters and institutions in italics.

Chapter	Charter date and range	Institution	Location	Status
Alpha	–1915	Christian College	Columbia, Missouri	Inactive
Beta	–1931	Hardin College	Mexico, Missouri	Inactive
Gamma	–1913	Liberty Ladies' College	Liberty, Missouri	Inactive
Delta	–1912	Forest Park University	St. Louis, Missouri	Inactive
Epsilon	–1925	Central College for Women	Lexington, Missouri	Inactive
Zeta	– 1920	Lindenwood College	St. Charles, Missouri	Inactive
Eta	–1909	Pleasant J. Potter College	Bowling Green, Kentucky	Inactive
Theta	–1915	Boscobel College	Nashville, Tennessee	Inactive
Iota	–1914	Judson College	Marion, Alabama	Inactive
Kappa	–	Brenau College	Gainesville, Georgia	Merged
Lambda	–1920	Colorado Women's College	Denver, Colorado	Inactive
Mu	–1920	Ward–Belmont College	Nashville, Tennessee	Inactive
Nu	–1937	Greenville Woman's College	Greenville, South Carolina	Inactive
Xi	– 1919	Centenary Female College	Cleveland, Tennessee	Inactive
Omicron	–1932	Belhaven College	Jackson, Mississippi	Inactive
Pi	–1938	Stephens College	Columbia, Missouri	Inactive
Rho	–1921	Fulton Female Synodical College	Fulton, Missouri	Inactive
Sigma	–1923	Eastern College	Manassas, Virginia	Inactive
Tau	–1931	Logan College	Russellville, Kentucky	Inactive
Upsilon	–1932	Hamilton College	Lexington, Kentucky	Inactive
Phi	–1926	Hedding College	Abingdon, Illinois	Inactive
Chi	– April 22, 1967	Rider College	Trenton, New Jersey	Merged
Psi	–1954	Northeastern Oklahoma Junior College	Miami, Oklahoma	Inactive
Omega	–1975	Potomac State School	Keyser, West Virginia	Inactive
Alpha Alpha	–196x ?	Bliss College	Columbus, Ohio	Inactive
Alpha Beta	–19xx ?	Dodd College	Shreveport, Louisiana	Inactive
Alpha Gamma	–1939	Mississippi Synodical College	Holly Springs, Mississippi	Inactive
Alpha Delta	–1933	Crane Junior College	Chicago, Illinois	Inactive
Alpha Epsilon	–1968	Woodbury College	Los Angeles, California	Merged
Alpha Zeta	19xx ?–19xx ?	Greenbrier College	Lewisburg, West Virginia	Inactive
Alpha Eta	–19xx ?	Bergen College	Teaneck, New Jersey	Inactive
Alpha Theta		University of Texas at Austin	Austin, Texas	Inactive
Alpha Iota	–19xx ?	West Virginia Training School for Dental Hygienists	Charleston, West Virginia	Inactive
Alpha Kappa	–1961	Tennessee Wesleyan College	Athens, Tennessee	Merged
Alpha Lambda	–19xx ?	Sacramento City College	Sacramento, California	Inactive
Alpha Mu	– 19xx ?	Draughon's College of Commerce	Kansas City, Missouri	Inactive
Alpha Nu	–19xx ?	Miller-Draughon College	Cincinnati, Ohio	Inactive
Alpha Xi	– 1967	Angelo State University	San Angelo, Texas	Withdrew