Sigma Omicron Pi

The sisterhood of Sigma Omicron Pi was established at San Francisco State University in 1930 by ten Asian American women: Elizabeth Hall, Frances Hall, Dorothy Lau, Gertrude Lee, Hannah Lee, Louise Lee, Fannie Lim, Nancy Lim, Emma Lum, and Beatrice Ng, pursuing the interest of teaching. They chose the Greek letters, Sigma, Omicron, and Pi to represent themselves as the "Sisters of Pedagogy." The Constitution was derived from an existing "Honorary Society of Education." The sorority was active in the Asian Community for the next fifteen years. At the advent of World War II, the organization was forced to become inactive. In 1946, a group of women from the University of California, Berkeley re-established Sigma Omicron Pi on their campus. Since its inception, Sigma Omicron Pi has grown in membership with student chapters at: Beta Chapter: San Francisco State University, 1988 Gamma Chapter: San Jose State University, 1992 Delta Chapter: University of California, Davis, 1993 Epsilon Chapter: California State University, Sacramento, 1993 Zeta Chapter: University of California, Santa Cruz, 1995 Eta Chapter: University of Maryland, 1997, retired 2000 Theta Chapter: University of California, Irvine, 2001 Iota Chapter: Pennsylvania State University, 2001 Kappa Chapter: University of California, San Diego, 2002 Lambda Chapter: The Johns Hopkins University, 2002 Mu Chapter: University of California, Riverside, 2003 Nu Chapter: Binghamton University, State University of New York, 2008 Though the sorority no longer centered around the interest of teaching, it still maintained its commitment to the Asian American community. All of the chapters became extremely involved in their respective communities, volunteering their time at community agencies and raising money to donate to favorable charities. Sigma Omicron Pi earned a respectable reputation as a benefactor to the Asian American cause. The purpose of Sigma Omicron Pi is to promote unity, lifelong friendships, leadership, and community service. This organization offers women a supportive network of sisters to achieve academic and social growth. The sisterhood of Sigma Omicron Pi provides an environment where sisters may utilize and develop their organizational skills. Each one of our sisters has different interests and aspirations, yet we all share one common ground - SOPi. We have based our sisterhood on four objectives: UNITY, FRIENDSHIP, LEADERSHIP and SERVICE. In addition, Sigma Omicron Pi has a tradition of lifelong friendship that has prevailed for over eight decades.