Sigma Omicron Pi National History

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 of Σ, Ο, and Π 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 American Community for the next 15 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 ΣΟΠ on their campus. Since its inception, ΣΟΠ has grown in membership with student chapters at:

Beta Chapter: San Francisco State University, 1988
Gamma Chapter: San Jose State University, 1992
Delta Chapter: University of California, Davis, 1993
Epsilon Chapter: California State University, Sacramento, 1993
Zeta Chapter: University of California, Santa Cruz, 1995
Eta Chapter: University of Maryland, College Park, 1997
Theta Chapter: University of California, Irvine, 2001
Iota Chapter: Pennsylvania State University, 2001
Kappa Chapter: University of California, San Diego, 2002
Lambda Chapter: The Johns Hopkins University, 2002
Mu Chapter: University of California, Riverside, 2003

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. ΣΟΠ earned respectable reputation as a benefactor to the Asian American cause.

The purpose of ΣΟΠ 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 ΣΟΠ 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 - ΣΟΠ. We have based our sisterhood on four objectives - UNITY, FRIENDSHIP, LEADERSHIP and SERVICE. ΣΟΠ 's bright future is paved by its members’ dedication to friendships, trust, and loyalty. In addition, ΣΟΠ has a tradition of lifelong friendship that has prevailed for over 7 decades.