Alpha Iota Omicron () is a South Asian interest and multicultural collegiate fraternity located in the United States. It was established at University of Michigan in 1998 and has chartered ten chapters in the United States and Canada. Alpha Iota Omicron was a founding member of the APIA Greek Alliance, the former name of the National APIDA Panhellenic Association
History Alpha Iota Omicron was founded on October 16, 1998, at the University of Michigan as a South Asian (Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi) interest fraternity by eighteen students. It was the first South Asian fraternity in the United States and was part of a movement in the late 1990s of creating Greek letter organizations as cultural epicenters for South Asians. Its founding fathers were:
The fraternity was built on the core principles or pillars of Brotherhood, Networking, Community Service, and Cultural Competence. Over the years, Alpha Iota Omicron has expanded nationally, chartering ten chapters across the United States and Canada.
One of the fraternity's activities is participating in step shows. Members of the Alpha chapter performed their first step show at the Indian American Student Association Cultural Show in October 2000. A member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity helped to train the dancers. However, Alpha Iota Omicron's step dancing varies from traditional African American fraternities by including movements from South Asian dances.
Alpha Iota Omicron was a founding member of the APIA Greek Alliance, the former name of the National APIDA Panhellenic Association.
Symbols Alpha Iota Omicron's motto is . Its colors are black, blue, and silver. The fraternity’s mascot is the wolf. Its nickname is AIO.
Chapters In the following list, active chapters and colonies are listed in bold and inactive chapters are in italics. Chapter Charter date and range Institution Location Status Alpha – 202x ? University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan Inactive Beta 2002–2023 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, Illinois Inactive Gamma 2005–202x ? Georgia Tech Atlanta, Georgia Inactive Delta – 202x ? Georgia State University Atlanta, Georgia Inactive Epsilon 2006–20xx ? Northwestern University Evanston, Illinois Inactive Zeta 2012 Saint Louis University St. Louis, Missouri Inactive Eta 201x ?–20xx ? University of Toronto Toronto, Ontario, Canada Inactive Theta Chicago, Illinois Colony Iota Santa Cruz, California ColonyKappaUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeley, CaliforniaInactive Lambda Rutgers University–New Brunswick New Brunswick, New Jersey Colony
See also
List of social fraternities and sororities List of Asian American fraternities and sororities Cultural interest fraternities and sororities
References
External links Alpha Iota Omicron chapters