Alpha Omega Epsilon

Alpha Omega Epsilon
ΑΩΕ
Founded	November 13, 1983 (1983-11-13) Marquette University, (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
Type	Social and Professional
Scope	International
Motto	Friendship Leadership Professionalism
Colors	Royal Blue      White      Silver
Symbol	Dolphin
Flower	White Carnation (Candidates) White Rose (Actives) Calla Lily (Alumnae)
Jewel	Sapphire
Publication	The Angle
Chapters	38 Active
Homepage	http://www.alphaomegaepsilon.org

Alpha Omega Epsilon (ΑΩΕ) is a social and professional sorority for women in engineering and technical sciences. The sorority was founded by twenty-seven female engineering students at Marquette University on November 13, 1983, and four months later on March 22, 1984, it became a recognized organization on the Marquette University campus. The idea of uniting female engineers and technical scientists of all curricula as Alpha Omega Epsilon has spread to other campuses. As a result, there are currently thirty-eight active chapters and three colonies of the sorority. Alpha Omega Epsilon enjoys a close working relationship with its male counterpart, ΣΦΔ - Sigma Phi Delta.

Alpha Omega Epsilon is a member of the Professional Fraternity Association at the international level; however, several of its chapters are members of their local Panhellenic Councils.

Purpose of Alpha Omega Epsilon

Alpha Omega Epsilon promotes ideals and objectives to help further the advancement of female engineers and technical scientists, while at the same time encouraging bonds of lifelong friendships among members. Alpha Omega Epsilon members value "friendship, leadership, and professionalism."

Friendship lies at the heart of every activity in which Alpha Omega Epsilon members participate.

Leadership opportunities at the chapter and international levels are available to Alpha Omega Epsilon members.

Professionalism is integral to promoting the purpose of Alpha Omega Epsilon; the sorority is dedicated to educating the community on the importance of women in technical fields and encouraging young women to pursue technical careers.

Sorority History

1980-1990

In the early 1980s, the Little Sisters of both Sigma Phi Delta and Triangle Fraternity at Marquette University, started meeting in hopes of forming an organization to increase the number of women in engineering. They decided to form a sorority, and Alpha Omega Epsilon was founded by 27 female engineering students on November 13, 1983. The first Alpha Chapter candidate class was initiated in the Fall of 1984.

Alpha Omega Epsilon Sorority Founding Members
Margaret Denzin (EECS)	Maureen Kerrigan (CE)	Lisa MacIsaac (BE)	Patricia Rogers (EE)	Sheri Weber (EE)
Marie Ferris (BE)	Susanne Koth (EE)	Ann Mahnke (BE)	Victoria Schlicht (EE)	Teresa Williamson (EE)
Brenda Kay Herold (EECS)	Linda Kresmer (EE)	Kathy Rectenwald (EE)	Kristin Schneider (EE)	Susan Wimmer (EE)
Deborah Hoffman (ME)	Lou Ann Lathrop (EE)	Eileen Robarge (EE)	Lori Ann Sienicki (EE)	Carmen Valazco (ME)
Kimberly Hubbard (EECS)	Catherine Lewis (BE)	Felice M. Roberts (EE)	Mary Ruth Szews (EE)	Lily Ying (EE)
	Chris Ludwig (EE)		Tu Quynh Tran (EE)

1990 - 2000

In 1990 the National Executive Board (NEB), the governing body for the future national organization, is founded by four members of the Sorority from the Alpha and Beta Chapters: Cindy Majcher (Alpha), Kathy Rectenwald (Alpha), Julie Whalen (Alpha), and Michelle Rohr (Beta). The NEB was composed of the Executive Director, Expansion Officer, Financial Officer, and Interchapter Relations Officer. Cynthia Majcher (Alpha) was elected the first Executive Director. In 1991, procedures to incorporate the organization in the state of Wisconsin began, and the national organization’s Constitution and Bylaws were drafted. Additionally, local Sorority Alpha Sigma Kappa at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis was established as the Epsilon Colony. During this time the Sorority’s scope increased from solely promoting women in engineering to promoting women in both engineering and technical sciences.

In 1992 the NEB’s structure was changed, and the President assumed the role of the Executive Director, the Vice President assumed the role of the Expansion Officer, the Treasurer assumed the role of the Financial Officer, and the Secretary assumed the role of the Interchapter Relations Officer. The first National Convention was held in Rapid City, SD during the summer of 1992 with the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Chapters in attendance. In late 1992 the Epsilon Colony withdrew its intent to join Alpha Omega Epsilon, and the NEB decided to join the Professional Fraternity Association (PFA).

In 1993 the National Constitution and Bylaws were ratified and a decision was made to incorporate as a social organization, rendering the Sorority both a social and professional organization (due to the NEB’s affiliation with the PFA). The Articles of Incorporation for Alpha Omega Epsilon, Inc. were filed with the Secretary of State in Wisconsin.

In 1994 a proposal to start a National Foundation – whose goals were to establish academic, professional, leadership, and volunteer development programs including scholarships, conference attendance/sponsorship, and grants – was initiated. In November of that same year, the Sorority’s Risk Management Policy was finalized, and Alpha Omega Epsilon, Inc. received 501(c)(7) designation as a tax-exempt organization from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

In 1996, the NEB’s structure was changed for a second time to add a fifth office – the Interchapter Relations Officer – whose duties included overseeing the activities of the chapters. This allowed the Secretary to focus more on Sorority history and risk management. On December 5, 1996, the Alpha Omega Epsilon National Foundation, a non-profit organization that primarily focuses on academic development programs, professional and leadership development programs, volunteer development programs, and organizational grants, is established by four members of the Sorority from the Alpha and Beta Chapters: Cindy Benske (Alpha), Julie Whalen (Alpha), Julie Heinrich (Beta), and Michelle Vondenkamp (Beta). Cindy Benske is selected the first Chairman of the Alpha Omega Epsilon National Foundation Board of Directors.

On February 21, 1998, Eta Chapter was installed at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia marking the first international chapter of the Sorority. In March of that same year, the Alpha Omega Epsilon National Foundation received 501(c)(3) designation as a tax-exempt charitable organization from the IRS, retroactive to the date of founding.

On December 4, 1999, a Colony of Alpha Omega Epsilon was established at Trine University in Angola, IN.

2000-2010

In November 2000, a Colony petition was received from Rutgers University, but additional members were needed in the interest group before the petition could be approved.

During the summer of 2001, a constitutional change was approved which changed references in the National Constitution and Bylaws from “national” to “international” to recognize the Sorority’s status as an international organization due to the installation of the Eta Chapter at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In conjunction with this change, the NEB became the International Executive Board (IEB). Immediately following the 2001 convention, the General Liability and Directors and Officers Liability insurance policies were first purchased for the Sorority.

In April 2002, the Trine Colony was disbanded due to low membership numbers.

In February 2003 the Degree Recognition Committee was formed as a joint effort between the Sorority and the National Foundation to ensure that all technical science majors accepted for admission into the Sorority qualified for the scholarships the National Foundation awards to engineers and technical scientists. The National Foundation opened its Rings of Excellence Scholarships to Sorority members (and their families) in Canada.

In 2004, the Trine Colony was re-established at Trine University in Angola, IN on February 14. During the 2004 Convention, the International Executive Board structure was modified to include a sixth position, the Alumnae Relations Officer (ARO), whose main responsibilities included the creation and oversight of Alumnae Chapters. The first ARO was appointed in January of the following year.

In 2005, the Bradley University Colony was established on November 12. The 2005 convention was held in Vancouver, BC, Canada, marking the first convention in an international location. Following the PFA Conference in September, the Sorority’s domain name was changed from www.aoesorority.org to www.alphaomegaepsilon.org to be in line with the domain names of other Greek Sororities and Fraternities.

On February 26, 2006, the Trine Colony was disbanded for a second time due to low membership numbers. Also in February of that year, the Kappa Chapter was deactivated due to waning membership. The 2006 Convention was held jointly with Sigma Phi Delta Engineering Fraternity in Chicago, Il. During that convention the IEB structure was changed again to modify the duties of the Vice President to include outreach to other Greek and Engineering Organizations and learning the duties of the President, to transfer the Vice President duty of expansion to the Director of Expansion, and to add the Director of Publications to oversee all of the Sorority’s publications including the website, newsletter, and standardization of materials. Regions and Regional Advisors were added to the Interchapter Relations Officer’s (ICR) realm of responsibility. Each Chapter was placed into a region to be overseen directly by a Regional Advisor (RA), with RAs reporting directly to the ICR.

In February 2007, the Bradley Colony was disbanded due to waning membership.

On April 16, 2007 tragedy struck both the Virginia Tech campus and the Sorority. Virginia Tech Colony Founder, Maxine Turner (Max), was killed during the Virginia Tech Massacre while sitting in her German class in Norris Hall. Max was an honors student from Vienna, VA set to graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering just one month later in May 2007. In honor and remembrance of the Sorority's fallen Sister, the National Foundation established the Maxine Shelley Turner Memorial Scholarship, and the Rho Chapter created a philanthropic event called Take it to the Max.

On March 8, 2008, the first Alumnae Chapter was activated as the Alumnae Chapter of the Delta Chapter of Alpha Omega Epsilon. On November 13, 2008, the Sorority celebrated its milestone 25th Anniversary. A weekend of activities in Milwaukee, WI was attended by actives and alumnae from eleven Chapters across the United States.

The Sorority launched its newly redesigned website in January 2009. At the 2009 convention, the IEB presented the Sorority’s strategic plan which laid the groundwork for the long-term goals of the Sorority.

2010 - Present

On April 24, 2010, the Sorority's first double-lettered Chapter, Beta Alpha, was installed at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX.

Chapters and Colonies

Chapter and colony information obtained from sorority website resource.

Chapters

Chapter	Greek	University	Location	Date Founded	Region	Status
Alpha	Α	Marquette University	Milwaukee, WI	November 13, 1983	Central	Active
Beta	Β	South Dakota School of Mines & Technology	Rapid City, SD	January 1, 1985	Central	Active
Gamma	Γ	North Carolina State University	Raleigh, NC	April 20, 1991	East	Active
Delta	Δ	Milwaukee School of Engineering	Milwaukee, WI	August 1, 1992	Central	Active
Epsilon	Ε	University of Southern California	Los Angeles, CA	October 11, 1996	West	Active
Zeta	Ζ	Syracuse University	Syracuse, NY	April 26, 1997	East	Active
Eta	Η	University of British Columbia	Vancouver, BC	February 21, 1998	West	Active
Theta	Θ	University of Illinois	Urbana-Champaign, IL	February 27, 1999	Central	Active
Iota	Ι	University of Michigan - Dearborn	Dearborn, MI	April 1, 2000	Central	Active
Kappa	Κ	North Dakota State University	Fargo, ND	April 28, 2001	Central	Inactive
Lambda	Λ	Ohio State University	Columbus, OH	June 2, 2001	East	Inactive
Mu	Μ	Northern Illinois University	Dekalb, IL	March 28, 2004	Central	Active
Nu	Ν	University of Delaware	Newark, DE	April 3, 2004	East	Active
Xi	Ξ	Clemson University	Clemson, SC	August 21, 2004	East	Active
Omicron	Ο	University of Wisconsin – Madison	Madison, WI	December 12, 2004	Central	Active
Pi	Π	University of Virginia	Charlottesville, VA	April 23, 2005	East	Active
Rho	Ρ	Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University	Blacksburg, VA	January 22, 2006	East	Active
Sigma	Σ	Georgia Institute of Technology	Atlanta, GA	February 4, 2006	East	Active
Tau	Τ	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	Troy, NY	April 23, 2006	East	Active
Upsilon	Υ	University of Maryland	College Park, MD	April 30, 2006	East	Active
Phi	Φ	Lamar University	Beaumont, TX	November 17, 2007	Central	Active
Chi	X	The George Washington University	Washington, DC	March 29, 2008	East	Active
Psi	Ψ	Binghamton University	Binghamton, NY	March 21, 2009	East	Active
Omega	Ω	South Dakota State University	Brookings, SD	January 23, 2010	Central	Active
Beta Alpha	BA	Texas Tech University	Lubbock, TX	April 24, 2010	Central	Active
Beta Beta	BB	University of British Columbia at Okanagan	Kelowna, BC	March 26, 2011	West	Active
Beta Gamma	BΓ	San Diego State University	San Diego, CA	December 3, 2011	West	Active
Beta Delta	BΔ	Florida Atlantic University	Boca Raton, FL	January 21, 2012	East	Active
Beta Epsilon	BE	University of Pennsylvania	Philadelphia, PA	January 28, 2012	East	Active
Beta Zeta	BZ	University of Missouri	Columbia, MO	April 21, 2012	Central	Active
Beta Eta	BH	West Virginia University	Morgantown, WV	August 25, 2012	East	Active
Beta Theta	BΘ	Stony Brook University	Stony Brook, NY	November 10, 2012	East	Active
Beta Iota	BI	California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo	San Luis Obispo, CA	December 1, 2012	West	Active
Beta Kappa	BK	University of North Carolina - Charlotte	Charlotte, NC	January 26, 2013	East	Active
Beta Lambda	BΛ	Lehigh University	Bethlehem, PA	February 22, 2014	East	Active
Beta Mu	BM	Drexel University	Philadelphia, PA	March 1, 2014	East	Active
Beta Nu	BN	Auburn University	Auburn, AL	March 30, 2014	East	Active
Beta Xi	BΞ	Washington University in St. Louis	St. Louis, MO	April 19, 2014	Central	Active
Beta Omicron	BO	Rutgers University	New Brunswick, NJ	May 3, 2014	East	Active
Beta Pi	BΠ	Oklahoma State University	Stillwater, OK	April 11, 2015	Central	Active

Colonies

Colony	University	Location	Date Established	Region
Alabama	University of Alabama	Tuscaloosa, AL	November 16, 2013	East
Kansas State	Kansas State University	Manhattan, KS	February 21, 2015	Central
NYU	New York University	New York, NY	February 26, 2015	East

Notable Alpha Omega Epsilon Sisters

• Maxine Shelly Turner, Chemical Engineering student and Rho Chapter Founding Member, was killed in the Virginia Tech Massacre.

References

1.^ http://marquettesororities.com/site/organizations/2615?rp=34530.

2.^ Alpha Omega Epsilon - The First 25 Years, 2008, blurb.com.

3.^ http://www.aero.umd.edu/news/news_story.php?id=3503.

4.^ http://www.aoefoundation.com/VTscholarship.html.

5.^ http://www.aoe.org.vt.edu/community/philanthropy.php.

6.^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070421/virginia-tech-turner/.

7.^ http://www.remembrance.vt.edu/2007/biographies/maxine_shelly_turner.html.

8.^ http://www.alpha-sigma-kappa.org/history.aspx. Retrieved April 23, 2011.

9.^ http://www.aoefoundation.com. Retrieved April 23, 2011.

10.^ http://www.alphaomegaepsilon.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=929&Itemid=98. Retrieved April 23, 2011.

11.^ http://www.professionalfraternity.org/#_p.Membership%2FFraternal%20Members. Retrieved February 18, 2012.

External links

• Alpha Omega Epsilon Official Website