Gamma Alpha Chi


Gamma Alpha Chi was an American professional advertising fraternity for women. It was founded at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri in 1920 and merged into Alpha Delta Sigma in 1971.

History

Gamma Alpha Chi was formed at the University of Missouri on February 9, 1920. It was a professional women's fraternity for advertising. It was founded under the leadership of Ruth Prior Midyette, with the guidance of Walter Williams who was the dean of the Department of Journalism. Its founding members were:
Mrs. Herbert Smith was the fraternity's founding patroness.
Gamma Alpha Chi added a second chapter at the University of Texas at Austin in February 1921. A third chapter was established at the University of Washington in 1923. By 1930, the fraternity had chartered seven chapters. Any female student who was preparing for a career in advertising was eligible for membership.
The first national convention was in May 1926, during Journalism Week. This convention formed the National constitution elected the first National Officers and selected GAC-O-GRAMS, the Alpha chapter publication as the national publication.
Gamma Alpha Chi was affiliated with the Advertising Federation of America and the Advertising Association of the West. Its national officers were president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer.
In May 1967, the women's fraternity had initiated 8,500 members at 52 chapters, 39 of which were active. On, the fraternity merged with Alpha Delta Sigma, a professional advertising men's fraternity, also formed at the University of Missouri. The new advertising fraternity for men and women was called Alpha Delta Sigma. It merged with American Advertising Federation by 1973, becoming an honor society for advertising.

Symbols

The badge of Gamma Alpha Chi was an octagon-shaped shield with a fountain pen at a diagonal behind the shield. Originally, the pen had been on the horizontal axis, but some time after 1928, it was changed to a diagonal. It was rendered in gold and had a black field. On the face of the badge were a star indicating truth in advertising and the image of the Western Hemisphere indicating universality of advertising behind the letters ΓΑΧ. The badge of pledging is simply the fraternity colors, gold and brown.
The colors of Gamma Alpha Chi were gold and brown. Its flower was the Ophelia or yellow rose. Its motto was "Truth and Service". The fraternity's publication was Gac-O-Grams.

Chapters

Following is a list of Gamma Alpha Chi chapters.
ChapterCharter date and rangeInstitutionLocationStatus
Alpha – University of MissouriColumbia, MissouriMerged
Beta– 1955University of Texas at AustinAustin, TexasInactive
Gamma–1947; 1955 – University of WashingtonSeattle, WashingtonMerged
Delta1924–1940;
1945 – 		University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignUrbana, IllinoisMerged
Epsilon–1941;
1949 – 		University of Nebraska–LincolnLincoln, NebraskaMerged
Zeta1927 – University of OregonEugene, OregonMerged
Eta – University of Southern CaliforniaLos Angeles, CaliforniaMerged
Theta1929–1945Washington State UniversityPullman, WashingtonInactive
Iota1929–1931University of California, BerkeleyBerkeley, CaliforniaInactive
KappaUnassigned ?
Lambda – University of IowaIowa City, IowaMerged
Mu – University of OklahomaNorman, OklahomaMerged
Nu – University of KansasLawrence, KansasMerged
Xi – 1955Syracuse UniversitySyracuse, New YorkInactive
Omicron–1950Roosevelt UniversityChicago, IllinoisInactive
Pi – Indiana University BloomingtonBloomington, IndianaMerged
Rho – 1954Butler UniversityIndianapolis, IndianaInactive
Sigma – City College of New YorkNew York City, New YorkMerged
Tau1948–1950University of California, Los AngelesLos Angeles, CaliforniaInactive
Upsilon – San Jose State UniversitySan Jose, CaliforniaMerged
Phi – University of Colorado BoulderBoulder, ColoradoMerged
Chi – Ohio State UniversityColumbus, OhioMerged
Psi – University of MiamiCoral Gables, FloridaMerged
Omega – Southern Methodist UniversityDallas, TexasMerged
Alpha Alpha – University of Wisconsin–MadisonMadison, WisconsinMerged
Alpha Beta1950–1954;
1961 – 		University of HoustonHouston, TexasMerged
Alpha Gamma – University of FloridaGainesville, FloridaMerged
Alpha Delta – Florida State UniversityTallahassee, FloridaMerged
Alpha Epsilon – Fordham UniversityNew York City, New YorkMerged
Alpha Zeta – University of GeorgiaAthens, GeorgiaMerged
Alpha Eta – Temple UniversityPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaMerged
Alpha Theta – Marquette UniversityMilwaukee, WisconsinMerged
Alpha Iota – Arizona State UniversityTempe, ArizonaMerged
Alpha Kappa – Michigan State UniversityEast Lansing, MichiganMerged
Alpha Lambda – Texas Tech UniversityLubbock, TexasMerged
Alpha Mu – University of ArizonaTucson, ArizonaMerged
Alpha Nu – University of Texas at AustinAustin, TexasMerged
Alpha Xi – University of Maryland, College ParkCollege Park, MarylandMerged
Alpha Omicron – California State University, Long BeachLong Beach, CaliforniaMerged
Alpha Pi – New York UniversityNew York City, New YorkMerged
Alpha Rho – California State University, ChicoChico, CaliforniaMerged