On April 15, 1900, Chi Omega (Pi Chapter), the first national sorority on UT’s campus, was chartered. Chi Omega Fraternity was founded at the University of Arkansas in 1895. It was the first Greek-letter organization in the South. Its colors are cardinal and straw; its flower is the white carnation; and its mascot is the owl. In the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, fraternities, sororities, other student organizations, and classes all had a distinctive yell. Chi Omega’s yell was “We’ll try, We’ll vie / We’ll never die! / Chi, Chi, Omega, Chi!”
Among its campus traditions is the Greek Tea. In 1950, in celebration of its 50th anniversary at the university, Chi Omega installed permanent Westminster chimes for Ayres Hall. Also in 1950 alumnae of Chi Omega donated the funds for an ornamental brass light post at an entrance to the new Carolyn P. Brown Memorial University Center.
In 1988 the Chi Omega intramural flag football team traveled to the nationals in New Orleans, and while they did not win the tournament, Sandy Smith was named to the All American team, becoming the first female UT student to be named to an all-American intramural team.
Among nationally prominent Chi Omega Alumnae are Pat Head Summitt; Nell Harper Lee (author of To Kill A Mockingbird); Marcia F. Clark, brigadier general, USAF Reserves; Dr. Marion Fay, the first woman to be president of a medical college; Susan Holmes, astronaut; and Martha Layne Collins, former governor of Kentucky.
Chi Omega broke ground in 2011 for its $4.6 million, 16,800-square-foot house in Sorority Village, which was built to house 42 residents. Barber McMurry was the architect, and Merit Construction was the contractor.