Delta Gamma History

Delta Gamma was founded in 1873 in Oxford, Mississippi, at Lewis School by three young women who were unable to go home for the Christmas break. Together, Anna Boyd, Mary Comfort and Eva Webb created a club of "mutual helpfulness."

They chose the Greek letters Delta and Gamma because of their desire to "do good." It remains  motto today and a driving force in all we do. Delta Gamma is a sisterhood built on a commitment to making the world better through not only service, but also a deep appreciation for each individual.

What started with three women in Oxford, Mississippi, has since grown into an international Fraternity with 150 collegiate chapters and more than 215 alumnae groups. Delta Gamma's sisterhood continues to inspire women through the values that were built into our very first Constitution. Article II, written by our Founders in 1873, states:

"The objects of this Fraternity shall be to foster high ideals of friendship among women, to promote their educational and cultural interests, to create in them a true sense of social responsibility and to develop in them the best qualities of character."

While the Constitution spells out the values of a Delta Gamma woman in Article II, you can't tell the story of Delta Gamma without speaking of hope. The original pin of the Fraternity was the letter "H," which the Founders meant to stand for hope. A few years before she died, Founder Mary Comfort Leonard described the first pin:

"We went to a local jeweler and had our pin made, the letter 'H,' which stood for hope, for we hoped for great results and have not been disappointed…" 

Delta Gamma Fraternity does not discriminate in its membership selection on the basis of race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, color, creed, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, physical disability or other characteristics protected by state, provincial or federal law. Membership is open to all individuals who identify as women. Those selected for membership in Delta Gamma must have good scholarship, be of good character and standing, have an interest in activities that will enhance the academic atmosphere at the college or university, and have a sincere desire to contribute to the work of Delta Gamma. 

All efforts are in place to guarantee those selected for membership in Delta Gamma have good scholarship, are of good character and standing, have an interest in activities which will enhance the academic atmosphere at the college, university or community, and have a sincere desire to contribute to the work of Delta Gamma. The Executive Offices will continue to work with the individual chapters to ensure that all policies and procedures are followed at all times. 

For a complete list of our policies, please visit our library.

 

In the spring of 2007 UAFS welcomed Greek life to its campus. The Alpha Iota chapter and Executive Offices of Delta Gamma came and conducted an intensive interview process, picking out the finest women on campus to start the Eta Omicron chapter. After the young women had their pref night, bids were handed out to what would be our founding members. On April 14, 2007, the Eta Omicron chapter of Delta Gamma was founded.

Fall 2007 was an exciting time for the new chapter as they were able to hold their first formal recruitment bringing in even more fabulous women.

After a busy year of new things, Eta O showed itself to be successful receiving awards at Numa's, including Greek Organization of the year in Spring of 2008.

Fall 2008 welcomed one of its largest pledge classes after formal recruitment and Eta O continued to do good on campus and in the community.

In the spring of 2009 Delta Gamma's representative was crowned Homecoming Queen, and the chapter's current president was named Greek Woman of the year.

In Fall 2009 Eta O welcomed another large pledge class and the very first Anchor Bowl was hosted.

After informal recruitment, several new members were added in the Spring of 2010. Delta Gamma again proved itself by receiving Chapter Excellence, Greek Woman of the Year, recognition for community service, campus involvement, and other various awards. Eta O was also very excited to send their ATC and president to convention in Denver, CO.

Fall 2010 had another successful recruitment and Anchor Slam, the chapter welcomed many new opportunities for service growth and member development while continuing to grow its sisterhood.

In Spring 2011 Delta Gamma's representative for homecoming was crowned queen and for the second year in a row Eta O was awarded with Chapter Excellence, Advisor of the Year, Greek Woman of the Year, and recognized for their campus involvement. Eta O also walked away as the Champions of Homecoming 2011.

In the Fall of 2011 Eta O welcomed another large new member class of 27 women. This Fall also held a very successful Anchor Slam.

In the Spring of 2012 Eta O sent their president to Convention. Community and campus involvement remained high while a focus on academics brought even more success in the classroom.

In the Fall of 2012 another new member class welcomed. Eta O held another outstanding Anchor Slam with the most sponsors and teams Eta O had ever had. 

Eta Omicron also introduced another foundation event, A Night for Sight, which was a huge success.

In the Spring of 2013 Eta Omicron was awarded with Advisor of the Year, New Member of the Year, and walked away with Third place during Greek Week.

Eta Omicron was also ranked number one overall for the highest Greek GPA.

In the Fall of 2013 another large pledge class was welcomed yet again. Eta Omicron's representative for homecoming was crowned queen and Eta O also placed second overall that week while maintaining the highest GPA in Greek life.

In the Spring of 2014 Eta Omicron placed second overall in Greek week and during the semester a member of the chapter was crowned Miss UAFS.

In June of 2014 our president was sent to convention where Eta O recieved the award for Excellence in Fraternity Ritual. 

In Fall of 2014 we welcomed a very large pledge class full of amazing girls! Our chapter had the largest Anchor Slam we have ever held with over 30 teams participating! We had a member crowned Homecoming Queen and our chapter placed first in Homecoming. We received first in Sorority GPA, also.

In Spring 2015 we had four new members join our chapter. We won Greek Games and got awarded Greek Woman of the Year and Greek New Member of the Year. Eta Omicron had a very successful Anchor Splash and first ever Delta Gammburgers. 

In Fall 2015, we initiated 23 new members into our chapter.  We held yet another successful Anchor Splash event with Delta Gamburgers and participated yet again in Homecoming, that year we donated parade float funds to the United Way and won second place overall.  Eta O also received the Patricia Paterson Danielson award from Executive Offices.

In Spring of 2016, Anchor Slam raised over $1,800 for Service for Sight. Eta Omicron placed  second overall at Greek Week and at the annual NUMA’s awards, Eta O received Greek Organization of the Year and also the Community Service Organization of the Year. Also, individual members of Eta O were awarded with New Member of the Year, Greek Woman of the year, Chancellors Spirit, and Student Leader of the Year awards. Also, the Advisor of the Year award was presented to our ATC. One of our very own Eta O sisters was crowned Miss UAFS 2016. We also received the honor of having one of our Eta O sisters be chosen as a Collegiate Development Consultant or CDC, the first CDC chosen from the Eta Omicron chapter EVER. And one of our members was crowned Miss Pi Kappa Phi 2016.

In the Summer of 2016 our president went to convention in Orlando Fl, where Eta O received a nomination for Outstanding Chapter and won the Outstanding Innovation in Fraternity Programming award for our region.

In Fall 2016 we had nine girls serve as Omega Chi’s. We welcomed an excited and motivated pledge class of 24 new members. We brought back two Eta O events, Night for Sight and Anchor Bowl which allowed us to raise thousands of dollars for Service for Sight. We also hosted Scoops for Troops to raise money for the troops.

In Spring of 2017 Delta Gamma won the UAFS homecoming competition. We hosted Anchor Slam and raised thousands of dollars for Service for Sight. Ten Eta Omicron sisters graduated. At the annual NUMA’s awards, Eta Omicron received the Fall Excellence Award. Also, individual sisters of Eta O were awarded Greek Woman of the Year, and Sorority New Member of the Year.

In the Summer of 2017 one of our sisters went with her mom and a group of Delta Gammas and their mothers from other chapters to Italy. We sent sisters to UIFI, Lewis Institute, and AFLV. We had Eta Omicron members represent us in all camps during Cub Camp for new members.

In Fall of 2017 we welcomed a new member class of 23. We have sisters representing all fraternities on campus as women representatives. Eta O hosted another successful Anchor Bowl, raising money for Service for Sight. We excitedly brought in two new members through COB. A celebration of World Sight Day was held where we puffy painted and made braille cards with students on campus. Two of our sisters went to the Arkansas Student Leadership Forum. We were thrilled to host Savvy Shields, Miss. America 2017, for the panhellenic community to speak on her platform. We had one senior graduate a semester early.

In the Spring of 2018 one of our sisters won Miss. Heart of the Ozarks with vision issues as her philanthropy. The chapter won second in Yell Like Hell, first in the homecoming food drive, our sister won homecoming queen. The chapter won homecoming overall! We again, hosted another successful Anchor Slam donating money to Service for Sight and the School of the Blind. One of our sisters won Miss. Pi Kappa Phi 2018.