Alpha Chi Omega - Columbia University

Our Story

Alpha Chi Omega was founded in 1885 at DePauw University as the first women’s musical fraternity. Though being musical is no longer a requirement for membership today (to be very honest, we’re probably not as musically inclined as our founders likely thought we would be), the spirit of sisterhood and support, love and loyalty, and passion and philanthropy, has remained and grown stronger.

Being a sister of Alpha Chi Omega provides endless opportunities for women, including academic support, leadership opportunities, service projects, social programming, friends for a lifetime, and the support of an international network of over 200,000 real, strong women. It’s great to see our current sisters and alumni succeed in all their endeavors, be it in athletics, the arts, or their academic careers.

At Alpha Chi, we stress sisterhood, chapter, and personal development. We unconditionally support every woman we call as a sister in her pursuits. We also hold our national philanthropy, Domestic Violence Awareness, very close to our hearts with our annual Runway Warriors, a benefit fashion show held every October with all proceeds going towards organizations we work with such as Sanctuary for Families, Womankind, and the Joyful Heart Foundation. We celebrate the cultural, ethnic, racial, sexual, disability, and economic diversity our sisters represent. We also have worked hard to create The Rachel B. Swett Endowment Fund, a scholarship fund in honor of a sister who passed away while studying abroad in 2010, and an inner-chapter scholarship, Pie with Alpha Chi, to help members with expenses and dues.

Here at Alpha Chi, we are family, and hopefully you feel the warmth too.