Beta Sigma Omicron

Beta Sigma Omicron (ΒΣΟ) is a defunct national sorority. It was founded on December 12, 1888 and merged with Zeta Tau Alpha on August 7, 1964.

Beta Sigma Omicron
ΒΣΟ
FoundedDecember 12, 1888 (1888-12-12)
University of Missouri
TypeSocial
MottoWe Live to do Good
Colors  Ruby and   Pink
SymbolStars, Covenant, Lamp, Laurel
FlowerRed and Pink Carnations
JewelRuby
Patron Greek divinityHestia
PublicationThe Beta Sigma Omicron (open)
The Lamp (esoteric), and The Urn
Chapters61 chapters, 13 active at time of merger
Membersalmost 15,000 collegiate

History

Beta Sigma Omicron was founded at the University of Missouri on December 12, 1888 by Eulalie Hockaday, Kathering Turner and Maude Haines.[1]

As of 1909, the sorority had 10 active chapters and 3 alumnae associations. These 10 chapters were at Belmont College, Brenau College, Centenary College (Cleveland, TN),[2] Central College, Fairmont Seminary,[3] Hardin College, Liberty Ladies' College (Liberty, MO), Stephens College, Synodical College, Transylvania College.[4]

The sorority absorbed three of the four chapters of Pi Sigma Gamma, a small sorority that disbanded in 1932.[5]

Beta Sigma Omicron became an Associate member of the National Panhellenic Conference in 1930 and a full member in 1933.

At Beta Sigma Omicron's 1963 Convention (75th anniversary), a vote on absorption or disbanding was taken. Although Beta Sigma Omicron had chartered 61 chapters and had almost 15,000 initiated sisters, at the time of the anniversary, it only had 13 active chapters, and thus no longer met the National Panhellenic Conference's membership requirements. The vote was unanimous for absorption and Beta Sigma Omicron looked for an organization for merger. On August 7, 1964, Beta Sigma Omicron was absorbed by Zeta Tau Alpha.

Of the 13 active chapters: Howard College, Millsaps College, William Jewell College, University of Evansville, Thiel College, Westminster College, and Youngstown College were absorbed into Zeta Tau Alpha. Louisiana State University, Baldwin Wallace University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania were released (Zeta Tau Alpha already had chapters on their campuses) and three small chapters at urban schools in New York and Ohio chose to become local sororities.[6]

Symbols

The Badge is a monogram of the sorority letters, with the Omicron around the Beta and the Sigma superimposed on the Omicron.[7]

  • Colors - Ruby and Pink
  • Flower - Red and Pink Carnations
  • Jewel - Ruby
  • Open Motto - We Live to do Good
  • Insignia - Stars, Covenant, Lamp, Laurel
  • Patron - Hestia
  • Magazine - The Beta Sigma Omicron, first published in 1905, The Lamp (esoteric), and The Urn [6]
  • Convention - June 1910 in Louisville, KY

Chapter List

As of 1963, the chapters of Beta Sigma Omicron were:[1][8] (italic for chapters closed at that time.)

  • Pi - 1913 - Women's College of Alabama (inactive 1917)
  • Rho - 1914 - Colorado Women's College (inactive 1920)
  • Sigma - 1915 - Greenville Women's College (inactive 1930)
  • Tau - 1916 - Lindenwood College (inactive 1920)
  • Upsilon - 1916 - Belhaven (Mississippi) (inactive 1930)
  • Phi - 1918 - Grenada (Mississippi) (inactive 1920)
  • Alpha Alpha - 1926 - University of Wisconsin (inactive 1933)
  • Alpha Beta - 1926 - University of Indiana (inactive 1937)
  • Alpha Gamma - 1926 - University of Kentucky (inactive 1932)
  • Alpha Delta - 1926 - Illinois Wesleyan University (inactive 1936)
  • Alpha Epsilon - 1926 - UCLA (inactive 1933)[9]
  • Alpha Zeta - 1926 - Millsaps College
  • Alpha Eta - 1926 - University of New Mexico (inactive 1933)

...

The sorority would go on to eventually charter 63 chapters, including also these four that merged in to Beta Sigma Omicron from their dissolving national:


References
  1. William Raimond Baird (1912). Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities. G. Banta Company. pp. 474–475.
  2. Centenary College closed in 1929.
  3. This school was founded by Dr. Arthur Ramsey in 1899, near the area of 19th and Belmont Rd, according to a 11 July 1920 article in the Washington Post, accessed 26 Aug 2020. Baird's notes that it has closed, but does not note a date of closure.
  4. Ida Shaw Martin (1909). The Sorority Handbook. Roxburgh Press. pp. 67–68.
  5. Baird's (20th ed.) has an error in the name of this group, calling it "Pi Sigma Tau" in the essay on p.I-21.
  6. Fall 2014 Themis, page 50-51
  7. Mrs. Ida Shaw Martin (1919). The Sorority Handbook. Banta. pp. 84–85.
  8. Robson, John, ed. (1963). "Non NIC Members". Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities (17th ed.). Menasha, Wisconsin: Banta Publishing Company. p. 365.
  9. This original Beta Sigma Omicron chapter at UCLA may have merged with the Delta chapter of Pi Sigma Gamma, a small national that dissolved in 1932.
  10. The Berkeley chapter had previously been the Alpha chapter of Pi Sigma Gamma, a small national that dissolved in 1932. It merged with a Beta Sigma Omicron chapter there, that year.
  11. The Washington chapter had previously been the Beta chapter of Pi Sigma Gamma, a small national that dissolved in 1932. It became a new Beta Sigma Omicron chapter there, that year.
  12. The Hunter chapter had previously been the Gamma chapter of Pi Sigma Gamma, a small national that dissolved in 1932. It became a new Beta Sigma Omicron chapter there, that year.
  13. This chapter, coming from Pi Sigma Gamma, had previously been the Delta chapter of Pi Sigma Gamma, a small national that dissolved in 1932. It may have merged with the existing Beta Sigma Omicron Alpha Epsilon chapter there, that year.
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