Gamma Alpha Omega

Gamma Alpha Omega is a Latina-founded Greek letter intercollegiate sorority, established in 1993 on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. The sorority has installed 28 collegiate chapters and 13 alumnae chapters.

History

Gamma Alpha Omega was founded at the Arizona State University on as a multicultural sorority for Latina women. It founders were eight Latina students: Amy Alvarez, Annette Escalante, Patsy Guardado, Clara Lopez, Valerie Mendoza, Roxana Quinones, Sandra Saenz, and Michelle Seañez.
Gamma Alpha Omega was formed to promote "achievement and quest of higher education amongst all women". Although established by Latinas it was open from the start to women of all backgrounds. Its mission is noted with four goals:

Increase the number of women with college educations and advanced degrees.
Provide mentors for youth, women and underrepresented communities,
Support individual leaders in each member
Provide lifelong support for sisters, rooted in the pillars of Honesty, Integrity, Leadership, Scholarship and Unity.

The sorority founded its second chapter at the University of Arizona on August 8, 1993. On January 24, 1997, Gamma Alpha Omega expanded beyond Arizona with the founding of Gamma chapter at the University of Washington. In 2000, the sorority became a founding member of the National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations when it emerged as a national association of Latino fraternal groups.
Gamma Alpha Omega incorporated in the state of Arizona in April 2001. In January 2016, Gamma Alpha Omega withdrew from NALFO alongside several other founding fraternity and sorority members of the council. It would then rejoin the association in December 2025.

Symbols

Gamma Alpha Omega's motto is Nos Una Crescemus or "United We Will Grow". Its pillars are honesty, integrity, leadership, scholarship and unity.
At its founding the sorority chose the colors forest green, navy blue and white. Its mascot is a white Bengal tiger with blue eyes. Its flower is the white thornless rose. Its jewels are the emerald, sapphire and diamond. Its fruit is the red apple.
The sorority publishes a digital magazine twice annually called The ROSE Vine. Its nicknames are the Gammas and Tigresas.

Activities

Gamma Alpha Omega's national philanthropies are Emeralds for Education and HIV Awareness. Emeralds of Education is a youth mentoring program established by the sorority in 2011.

Governance

Governance of the sorority is vested in a National Executive Board, including a national president, vice president, vice president of collegiate affairs, vice president of communication, vice president of expansion, vice president of finance, vice president of programming, vice president of standards, and vice president of alumnae affairs. In addition, its national administration also contains regional and national directors that assist with the different regions, areas, and departments with the national office and headquarters. Its national headquarters are in Tempe, Arizona.
The sorority meets in a national convention every two years during odd-numbered years. Regional conferences are held in the off years between national conventions.

Chapters

Collegiate chapters

In the following list of Gamma Alpha Omega collegiate chapters, active chapters noted in bold and inactive chapters or institutions noted in italics.

Chapter	Charter date and range	Institution	Location	Status
Alpha		Arizona State University	Phoenix, Arizon	Active
Beta		University of Arizona	Tucson, Arizona	Active
Gamma		University of Washington	Seattle, Washington	Active
Delta		Washington State University	Pullman, Washington	Active
Epsilon	–20xx ?	University of Wisconsin–Parkside	Somers, Wisconsin	Inactive
Zeta	–200x ?	Loyola University Chicago	Chicago, Illinois	Inactive
Eta		University of Idaho	Moscow, Idaho	Active
Theta	–xxxx ?; 2022	University of Wisconsin Oshkosh	Oshkosh, Wisconsin	Active
Iota		Texas Tech University	Lubbock, Texas	Active
Kappa		Oregon State University	Corvallis, Oregon	Active
Lambda		University of Houston	Houston, Texas	Active
Mu		University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Active
Nu		Baylor University	Waco, Texas	Active
Xi		University of Houston–Downtown	Houston, Texas	Active
Omicron		Northern Arizona University	Flagstaff, Arizona	Active
Pi	–20xx ?	California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt	Arcata, California	Inactive
Rho	–20xx ?	California State University, Northridge	Northridge, Los Angeles, California	Inactive
Sigma		University of the Pacific	Stockton, California	Active
Tau	–20xx ?	University of [Illinois Urbana-Champaign]	Champaign–Urbana, Illinois	Inactive
Upsilon		University of Oregon	Eugene, Oregon	Active
Phi	–20xx ?	University of Wisconsin–Whitewater	Whitewater, Wisconsin	Inactive
Chi		University of Wisconsin–Madison	Madison, Wisconsin	Active
Psi		Washington University">Washington (state)">Washington University	Cheney, Washington	Active
Omega				Memorial
Alpha Alpha	–20xx ?	University of New Mexico	Albuquerque, New Mexico	Inactive
Alpha Beta		California State University, Fresno	Fresno, California	Active
Alpha Gamma	–20xx ?	New Mexico Highlands University	Las Vegas, New Mexico	Inactive
Alpha Delta		Heritage University	Toppenish, Washington	Active
Alpha Epsilon		Texas A&M University	College Station, Texas	Active
Alpha Zeta		Carroll University	Waukesha, Wisconsin	Active
Alpha Eta		Xavier University	Cincinnati, Ohio	Active

Alumnae chapters

Following are the alumnae chapters of Gamma Alpha Omega.

Chapter	Location	Status
Greater Phoenix Alumnae Chapter	Phoenix, Arizona	Active
Greater Seattle Alumnae Chapter	Seattle, Washington	Active
Greater Milwaukee Alumnae Chapter	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Active
Greater Houston Alumnae Chapter	Houston, Texas	Active
Chicago Alumnae Chapter	Chicago, Illinois	Active
Greater Whitewater Alumnae Chapter	Whitewater, Wisconsin	Active
Madison Alumnae Chapter	Madison, Wisconsin	Active
Dallas/Ft.Worth Alumnae Chapter	Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas	Active
Palouse Alumnae Chapter	Palouse, Washington and Idaho	Active
Corvallis Alumnae Chapter	Corvallis, Oregon	Active
Portland Alumnae Chapter	Portland, Oregon	Active
Fresno Alumnae Chapter	Fresno, Texas	Active
TriCities Alumnae Chapter	Tri-Cities, Washington	Active