Sigma Omicron Pi

The sisterhood of ΣΟΠ (Sigma Omicron Pi) (also known as SOPi) was founded in 1930 to further the awareness of women in Asian culture. As strong women participating in various social, academic, and community activities, ΣΟΠ maintain the objectives of unity, friendship, leadership, and community service established over 70 years ago.

History

The sisterhood of Sigma Omicron Pi was established at San Francisco State University in 1930 by ten Asian American pursuing the interest of teaching. They chose the Greek letters, Σ, Ο and Π 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 15 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 [http://alpha.sigmaomicronpi.com] re-established ΣΟΠ on their campus. Since its inception, ΣΟΠ has grown in membership with student chapters at:

*Beta Chapter, San Francisco State University, 1988 [http://beta.sigmaomicronpi.com]
*Gamma Chapter, San Jose State University, 1992 [http://gamma.sigmaomicronpi.com]
*Delta Chapter, University of California, Davis, 1993 [http://delta.sigmaomicronpi.com]
*Epsilon Chapter, California State University, Sacramento, 1993 [http://epsilon.sigmaomicronpi.com]
*Zeta Chapter, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1995 [http://zeta.sigmaomicronpi.com]
*Eta Chapter, University of Maryland, 1997 (retired)
*Theta Chapter, University of California, Irvine, 2001 [http://theta.sigmaomicronpi.com]
*Iota Chapter, Pennsylvania State University, 2001 [http://iota.sigmaomicronpi.com]
*Kappa Chapter, University of California, San Diego, 2002 [http://kappa.sigmaomicronpi.com]
*Lambda Chapter, The Johns Hopkins University, 2002 [http://lambda.sigmaomicronpi.com]
*Mu Chapter, University of California, Riverside, 2003 [http://project-definition.com/ucrsopi/]
*Nu Chapter, State University of New York Binghamton, 2008

Though the sorority was 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. ΣΟΠ earned respectable reputation as a benefactor to the Asian American cause.

The purpose of ΣΟΠ 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 ΣΟΠ 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 - ΣΟΠ. We have based our sisterhood on four objectives - UNITY, FRIENDSHIP, LEADERSHIP and SERVICE. In addition, ΣΟΠ has a tradition of lifelong friendship that has prevailed for over 7 decades.

Founding Sisters

*Elizabeth Hall
*Frances Hall
*Dorothy Lau
*Gertrude Lee
*Hannah Lee
*Louise Lee
*Fannie Lim
*Nancy Lim
*Emma Lum
*Beatrice Ng

ICC History

The Inter-Chapter Council, also known as ICC, was created in 1994 with the intentions of uniting the expanding sisterhood of Sigma Omicron Pi under one central governing body. ICC Cabinet consists of 6 officers who are elected annually by the collegiate chapters. These officers are: President, VP Sisterhood, VP Philanthropy, VP External, Treasurer, and Secretary.

The Council also consists of all chapter presidents and 1 delegate from each chapter. ICC coordinates annual and semester events such as ICC Presents, Annual Sisterhood Conference, Friendship Day, UNITY, fundraisers, and philanthropies. All of which is aimed to promote UNITY, FRIENDSHIP, LEADERSHIP, and SERVICE in addition to strengthening our inter-chapter relations and sisterhood nationwide.

Notable Alumni

*Elizabeth Hall - San Francisco school district's first Chinese American principal in 1953. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/08/13/BA166500.DTL]
*Tiffany Lam - Miss Hong Kong 2002, Miss Chinese International 2003 runner up, and TVB actress.

External links

* [http://www.sigmaomicronpi.com Sigma Omicron Pi National Website]
* [http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~sopi/ehall.html In Memory of the last founding sister- Elizabeth Hall]