Sigma Sigma Omicron

Sigma Sigma Omicron, also known as Sigma Phi Beta, was an American college sorority. It was established at New York University in New [York City, New York] in 1920. It changed its name to Sigma Phi Beta in 1927 and merged with Phi Alpha Chi in 1928. Sigma Phi Beta merged into Phi Omega Pi in 1933.

History

Sigma Sigma Omicron

Sigma Sigma Omicron was formed on at New York University in New York City, New York. Its primary founder was Vera Bartone Goelier, supported by other students of the junior, sophomore, and freshman classes.
Gamma chapter was installed at Hunter University in April 1921, followed by Zeta chapter at Newark State Teachers College in May. By 1927, it had chartered nine chapters, mainly at teachers' colleges. Eventually, some of those chapters lost their charter because the National Panhellenic Conference did not allow its member sororities to have chapters at normal schools.

Sigma Phi Beta

Sigma Sigma Omicron changed its name to Sigma Phi Beta on July 28, 1927. The reason for this name change was unknown but coincided with merger discussions with Phi Alpha Chi. It merged with the three chapters of Phi Alpha Chi on January 7, 1928 after "having found their interests and purposes similar". The Alpha chapters of the two sororities were renamed New York Alpha and California Alpha with the merger. The other chapters retained their names except for the Gamma chapter of Phi Alpha Chi, which became the Delta chapter of Sigma Phi Beta.
Sigma Phi Beta held its first biennial national convention on June 21–24, 1929 in New York City, New York. In 1929, it had ten alumnae clubs. In, it had ten active chapters, with 1,000 members. It eventually chartered fifteen chapters. It was an associate member of the National Panhellenic Conference. On, Sigma Phi Beta merged into Phi Omega Pi, which itself was partly absorbed by Delta Zeta in, with some chapters disbanded or released to other sororities.

Symbols

The insignia of Sigma Sigma Omicron consists of a circle, helmet, pyramid, sabre, and a sheaf of wheat.
The sorority's membership badge is a "pearl bordered circular shield of purple enamel, displaying sorority letters in gold, and jeweled additionally with six amethysts set at prescribed points outside a circlet of pearls". This description is accurate for both Sigma Sigma Omicron and Sigma Phi Beta, with the difference being the Greek letters in gold on the purple enamel. Its pledge pin is a "crescented Norman shield divided vertically into two equal sections, one enameled in purple, the other in white, and displaying diagonally a gold sabre".
Sigma Sigma Omicron's colors were purple and white. Its flowers were violets with a white rose. Its jewels were amethyst and pearl. The sorority's publication was ''The Talaria.''

Chapters

Sigma Sigma Omicron

Following are the chapters of Sigma Sigma Omicron, with inactive chapters and institutions indicated in italics.

Chapter	Charter date and range	Institution	Location	Status
Alpha	– January 7, 1928	New York University Washington Square	New York City, New York	Merged	,
Beta	1921–19xx ?	Teachers College of New York City	New York City, New York	Inactive
Gamma	– January 7, 1928	Hunter College	New York City, New York	Merged
Epsilon	1921 – January 7, 1928	Montclair State Teachers College	Montclair, New Jersey	Merged
Zeta	– June 1926	Newark State Teachers College	Union Township, New Jersey	Inactive
Eta	1923–1924	Syracuse University	Syracuse, New York	Inactive
Theta	– January 7, 1928	Wittenberg College	Springfield, Ohio	Merged
Iota	1924–1927	Howard College	Birmingham, Alabama	Inactive
Kappa	– January 7, 1928	Hamilton College	Lexington, Kentucky	Merged

Sigma Phi Beta

Following are the chapters of Sigma Phi Beta, with inactive chapters indicated in italics.

Chapter	Charter date and range	Institution	Location	Status
New York Alpha	– October 1, 1933	New York University	New York City, New York	Merged	,
Gamma	– October 1, 1933	Hunter College	New York City, New York	Merged
Epsilon	1921 – October 1, 1933	Montclair State Teachers College	Montclair, New Jersey	Merged
Theta	– October 1, 1933	Wittenberg College	Springfield, Ohio	Merged
Kappa	– October 1, 1933	Transylvania University	Lexington, Kentucky	Merged
California Alpha	– October 1, 1933	University of California	Berkeley, California	Merged
Beta	– 1931	Ohio State University	Columbus, Ohio	Inactive
Delta	– October 1, 1933	Alabama Polytechnic Institute	Auburn, Alabama	Merged
Lambda	1929 – October 1, 1933	University of Illinois	Champaign, Illinois	Merged
Mu ?	1930 – October 1, 1933	University of California at Los Angeles	Los Angeles, California	Merged
Nu	1930 – October 1, 1933	Utah State Agricultural College	Logan, Utah	Merged