The Gamma Xi Chapter of the national sorority Gamma Phi Beta was established at the university on May 15, 1964. The national organization was founded at Syracuse University in 1874. Gamma Phi Beta was the first women’s Greek-letter organization to use the term sorority. In 1882 the word was coined for the Syracuse chapter by one of the campus Latin professors. The sorority has been inactive since January 31, 1977, when it became the first sorority to withdraw from the Panhellenic Building.