Sigma Psi Zeta

Sigma Psi Zeta Sorority, Inc., also known as Sigmas or SYZ, is a progressive multicultural American sorority. It was founded on March 23, 1994, at the University at Albany and incorporated in New York on March 15, 1996. It is the third-largest Asian-interest sorority in the nation. It is a part of the National APIDA Panhellenic Association (NAPA).

WWW Official Site

History

Plans for the Sigma Psi Zeta sorority were formed in the fall semester of 1993 at New York at Albany|SUNY Albany] by a group of female undergraduates from different backgrounds. The sorority was formed in part to address the dual difficulties faced by Asian women. Its founding mothers were Gina Han, Sally Hsieh, Jean Kim, Jenny Kim, Sandra Lam, Winnie Liu, Yan-Chieh Liu, Michelle Macaraig, Sung-Yon Noh, and Loan Trang.
On March 23, 1994, the sorority was officially recognized by the university. Within a year, a second chapter was formed at SUNY University at Binghamton. The sorority was incorporated in New York on March 15, 1996.
Internally, the sorority uses the term "womxn" instead of "woman" or "women". Similarly, it uses "sxsters" or "syzters" in place of "sisters". Similar terminology has been adopted by other multicultural organizations.

Symbols

The sorority's colors are red and gold and its flower is a yellow rose with baby's breath. Its motto is "Lead from the front."

Activities

Sigma Psi Zeta is a cultural, social, educational, and community service–oriented Greek organization. Its philanthropic focus is to combat violence against women in its various forms. Sigma Psi Zeta is an official partner of the White House initiative, It's On Us, which launched as a result of the ARC3 Survey.
Since 1999, Sigma Psi Zeta's philanthropy has been to combat violence against women. The sorority has worked against violence against women in many forms and has focused specifically on Asian women who are historically objectified and disempowered. Local chapters and colonies participate in events such as the Take Back The Night rallies and the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence's Domestic Violence Awareness month.

Membership

Sigma Psi Zeta has 35 active units in the states/commonwealths of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, Washington D.C., and Wisconsin.

Chapters

Following are the chapters of Sigma Psi Zeta. The sorority differentiates between three levels of organization at its campus units. Chapter status appears to be the ultimate goal. Newer or emerging groups are called charters. The third type is denoted as Interest Groups; an interest group must have permission to form from campus administration and must include at least ten members.
Active groups are listed here in bold, inactive groups are listed in italics.

Chapter	Charter date and range	Institution	Location	Status
Alpha		University at Albany, SUNY	Albany, NY	Active
Beta charter	– xxxx ?, 20xx ?	Binghamton University	Binghamton, NY	Active
Gamma	– 20xx ?	Saint John's University	Jamaica, NY	Inactive
Delta		University at Buffalo	Buffalo, NY	Active
Epsilon	– 20xx ?	SUNY Oneonta	Oneonta, NY	Inactive
Zeta	– 20xx ?	Pace University	New York, NY	Inactive
Eta		Stony Brook University	Stony Brook, NY	Active
Theta charter	– 20xx ?; 202x ?	University of Massachusetts Amhers	Amherst, MA	Active
Iota		University of Rochester	Rochester, NY	Active
Kappa charter	– 20xx ?; 20xx?	Virginia Tech	Blacksburg, VA	Active
Lambda		University of Virginia	Charlottesville, VA	Active
Mu	– 201x ?	SUNY Geneseo	Geneseo, NY	Inactive
Nu		Drexel University	Philadelphia, PA	Active
Xi		University of Nebraska–Lincoln	Lincoln, NE	Active
Omicron	– 202x ?	Stanford University	Stanford, CA	Inactive
Pi		George Washington University	Washington, D.C.	Active
Rho		University of Washington	Seattle, WA	Active
Tau		University of Maryland, College Park	College Park, MD	Active
Upsilon		University of Pennsylvania	Philadelphia, PA	Active
Phi		University of Colorado Boulder	Boulder, CO	Active
Chi	– 201x ?	Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania	Shippensburg, PA	Inactive
Alpha Alpha	– 201x ?	Yale University	New Haven, CT	Inactive
Alpha Beta		Northwestern University	Evanston, IL	Active
Alpha Gamma charter		Villanova University	Villanova, PA	Active
Alpha Delta		Rutgers University	New Brunswick, NJ	Active
Alpha Epsilon		University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign	Champaign, IL	Active
Alpha Zeta charter		Saint Joseph's University	Philadelphia, PA	Active
Alpha Eta	– 20xx ?	New York City	New York City	Inactive
Alpha Theta		Wichita State University	Wichita, KS	Active
Alpha Iota		University of California, Berkeley	Berkeley, CA	Active
Alpha Kappa		University of Minnesota	Minneapolis, MN	Active
Alpha Lambda		Rochester Institute of Technology	Rochester, NY	Active
Alpha Mu		University of Kansas	Lawrence, KS	Active
Alpha Nu		George Mason University	Fairfax, VA	Active
Alpha Xi charter		Syracuse University	Syracuse, NY	Active
Alpha Omicron charter		Indiana University Indianapolis	Indianapolis, IN	Active
Alpha Pi charter		University of Wisconsin–Madison	Madison, WI	Active
Alpha Rho		Stevens Institute of Technology	Hoboken, NJ	Active
Alpha Tau charter		New York University	New York City, NY	Active
Alpha Upsilon		Northeastern University	Boston, MA	Active
Alpha Phi charter		Western Michigan University	Kalamazoo, MI	Active
Alpha Chi charter		Washington State University	Pullman, WA	Active
Alpha Psi charter		Temple University	Philadelphia, PA	Active