Alpha Omicron Pi Rho Delta

del United Nations, The Samford Crimson, as well as many other honor societies and activities. Here at Rho Delta, our sisters take pride in their sisterhood and bonds with one another, always looking to better each other and the community. Whether it is through raising awareness and funds for our philanthropy, or dancing the night away at formals, we take pride in ourselves and show exemplary behavior and passion in everything that we do. Visit www.samford.edu/greeklife


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AOII INTERNATIONAL:

Mission Statement:
"Women Enriched through Lifelong Friendships." The Object of Alpha Omicron Pi:
The object of the Fraternity shall be to encourage a spirit of Fraternity and love among its members; to stand at all times for character, dignity, scholarship, and college loyalty; to strive for and support the best interest of the colleges and universities in which chapters are installed, and in no way to disregard, injure, or sacrifice those interests for the sake of prestige or advancement of the Fraternity or any of its chapters. We are inspired and committed to our founding principles and are guided by the following values:

• trusting and respecting each other
• building lifelong friendships
• contributing time, talent and financial resources
• promoting integrity
• developing leaders
• striving for excellence
• encouraging innovation and creativity
• using teamwork and collaboration
• acting philanthropically
• being a living example

Our Founding:
Barnard College, in the late 1890’s, was the first separate college for women to be affiliated with a great men’s university such as Columbia University. AOII’s four Founders were in the class of 1898, young, and unlike most of the women who had entered Barnard in previous years. They were friendly, adventurous, frank and merry, and enthusiastically devoted to each other and to the class of ‘98. Determined to make a democratic, unostentatious society, the four women, Stella George Stern, Helen St. Clair, Elizabeth Heywood, and Jessie Wallace climbed a little winding stair into the stackroom of the old Columbia Library. This little room was rarely used and stored Anglo-Saxon tomes and ancient vellum manuscripts. While the four sat in a deep window seat, pigeons outside and snow lightly falling, they pledged one another at the beginning of the year 1897. Barnard College welcomed the new fraternity and it was not long before the first chapter, Alpha, was flourishing. The fraternity became national with the installation of Pi Chapter at Sophie Newcomb Memorial College, New Orleans, on September 8, 1898. Over the next 100 years, AOII has added to the ranks 180 collegiate chapters and initiated over 141,000 members. AOII has thrived and continued to grow throughout the changing 20th century. Despite several wars, the Great Depression, the women’s suffrage movement and the social unrest of the 1960’s, AOII has continued to hold true to its ideals. Founder Stella Perry once wrote, “that which makes our bond is promise certain of success. For our purpose cannot fail.”