HISTORY | betachapter

The sisterhood of Sigma Omicron Pi was established at San Francisco State University in 1930 by ten Asian American women 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

Theta Chapter

University of California, Irvine, 2001

Gamma Chapter

San Jose State University, 1992

Iota Chapter

Pennsylvania State University, 2001

Delta Chapter

University of California, Davis, 1993

Kappa Chapter

University of California, San Diego, 2002

Epsilon Chapter

California State University, Sacramento, 1993

Lambda Chapter

The Johns Hopkins University, 2002

Zeta Chapter

University of California, Santa Cruz, 1995

Mu Chapter

University of California, Riverside, 2003

Eta Chapter

University of Maryland, 1997, retired 2000

Nu Chapter

Binghamton University, 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 respectablereputation 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.