Gamma Eta () is the first social

sorority Fraternities and sororities are social organizations at colleges and universities in North America. Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an undergraduate student, but continues thereafter for life. Some accept gradua ...

to be founded in the State of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. Eighteen women came together to create the sorority at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in Gainesville on October 18, 1995. Gamma Eta was chartered and incorporated on August 2, 1999. The main archive URL i
The Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage
Gamma Eta is composed of college-educated women of diverse cultural backgrounds, including

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

, African,

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, Middle Eastern (West Asia), and

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

. Gamma Eta is a part of the

National Multicultural Greek Council The National Multicultural Greek Council (NMGC) is an umbrella council for eleven multicultural fraternities and sororities (Greek Letter Organizations (GLOs)) in the United States. It was established in 1998. Affiliate organizations Organizat ...

History

Founding

In the years leading up to 1995, there were many questions regarding the role of the Latino community at the University of Florida. There was a low retention rate for Latino students and a large cultural disconnect at the University of Florida campus. In direct response to those issues, the Founding Mothers led the efforts to create Gamma Eta for women of diverse backgrounds to provide a social and academic support system.

Gamma Eta Society

First known as Gamma Eta Society, the founding mothers faced numerous barriers in becoming formally recognized as an official sorority. Despite these obstacles, the founders initiated the first Founding Class in the Spring of 1996. A few months after Gamma Eta's incorporation, the sorority was admitted to the local Multicultural Greek Council as an Associate Member on November 22, 1999.

Pillars of success

* Sisterhood * Strength * Unity * Diversity * Scholarship * Leadership * Service

Chapters

Active chapters noted in bold, inactive chapters noted in ''italics''.

Undergraduate chapters

Alumnae chapters

* Alpha Chi Alpha –

Greater Miami The Miami metropolitan area (also known as Greater Miami, the Tri-County Area, South Florida, or the Gold Coast) is the ninth largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States and the 34th largest metropolitan area in the world with a ...

* Alpha Chi Beta –

North Florida North Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida comprising the northernmost part of the state. Along with South Florida and Central Florida, it is one of Florida's three most common "directional" regions. It includes Jacksonville and near ...

* Alpha Chi Gamma –

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

* Alpha Chi Delta –

Northwest Arkansas Northwest Arkansas (NWA) is a metropolitan area and region in Arkansas within the Ozark Mountains. It includes four of the ten largest cities in the state: Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville, Springdale, Arkansas, Springdale, Rogers, Arkansas, ...

* Alpha Chi Epsilon –

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

* Alpha Chi Zeta – Gainesville

Philanthropy

Gamma Eta's national philanthropy is

breast cancer awareness Breast cancer awareness is an effort to raise awareness and reduce the stigma of breast cancer through education on symptoms and treatment. Supporters hope that greater knowledge will lead to earlier detection of breast cancer, which is assoc ...

in official partnership with the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Individual chapters at the collegiate and alumnae levels also support a secondary philanthropy.

References

External links

Gamma Eta Sorority, Inc. National Website
{{National Multicultural Greek Council Student societies in the United States 1995 establishments in Florida National Multicultural Greek Council Organizations established in 1995