Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.
Her Story
SISTERHOOD. LEADERSHIP. SERVICE.
Where It All Began
SEVEN YOUNG WOMEN, ONE UNITED VISION.
Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. was organized on November 12, 1922, in Indianapolis, Indiana, by seven young educators: Mary Lou Allison Gardner Little, Dorothy Hanley Whiteside, Vivian Irene White Marbury, Nannie Mae Gahn Johnson, Hattie Mae Annette Dulin Redford, Bessie Mae Downey Rhoades Martin, and Cubena McClure. The group became an incorporated national collegiate sorority on December 30, 1929, when a charter was granted to the Alpha chapter at Butler University. Since its inception, the dynamic women of Sigma Gamma Rho have built and sustained a well-known and well-respected reputation for leading positive change to help uplift the community through sisterhood, leadership, and service.
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Sigma Gamma Rho has welcomed more than 100,000 collegiate and professional women from every profession. The sorority has more than 500 chapters in the United States, Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Germany, South Korea, U.S. Virgin Islands, and the United Arab Emirates. The organization also has active affiliate groups devoted to empowering women at different stages in life. The Rhoer Club Affiliates (teenage girls) and Philos Affiliates (friends of the sorority) also assist alumnae chapters with various service efforts and programs.
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Sigma Gamma Rho’s commitment to service is expressed in its slogan, “Greater Service, Greater Progress.” The sorority has a proud history of providing positive and proactive community outreach nationally and internationally. The programs, partnerships, and sponsorships represent Sigma Gamma Rho’s commitment to promoting the greater good in education, service, and leadership development. In 2004, the National Headquarters moved from Chicago, Illinois to its current home in Cary, North Carolina. Sigma women are dedicated to helping each other and their personal success is recognized in The AURORA and through various awards.
Sigma Facts
ESTABLISHED:
NOVEMBER 12, 1922 AT BUTLER UNIVERSITY
SORORITY FLOWER:
YELLOW TEA ROSE
SORORITY MASCOT:
THE POODLE
SORORITY COLORS:
ROYAL BLUE AND GOLD
SORORITY SLOGAN:
GREATER SERVICE, GREATER PROGRESS
SORORITY MAGAZINE:
THE AURORA
SORORITY VISION:
We visualize a world in which all women and their families reach their full potential in all aspects of life and are able to create unlimited opportunities for future generations.
Our Chapter Legacy
Eta Theta Sigma Chapter was chartered in Silver Spring, MD, on October 20, 1990. ETS was deactivated after a year of service to the Silver Spring community. However, in 1993, eight dynamic sorors, under the leadership of Dr. Cheryl Simmons Gray, reactivated the chapter and served the Silver Spring community for more than two years. Those members are Dr. Jimmie Colson Jackson, Chandrai Jackson-Saunders, Rhonda Williams, Detrice Wallace, Towanda Maddox, Tondelaya Black, and Lisa Musgrove.
After about 22 years of inactivity, ETS was reactivated on October 22, 2016, by nine members of the sorority. These members are Faith Steele, Jennifer Gause, Tammy Hunter, Hazel Johnson, Tori Williams, Dawne Stanton, Tara Clark, Janice Cornish, and Laverne Mason. Soror Faith Steele coined “Excellence Through Sigma” during the chapter’s reactivation process in 2016. The phrase, which aligns with the chapter’s acronym, ETS, showcases the image we display and our work in the name of Sigma. The foundation of the Eta Theta Sigma chapter is built on four platforms:
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Service to the Community (military, displaced, and disenfranchised)
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Education and Leadership
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Sisterhood Building
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Family-Oriented Activities
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Since its reactivation, Eta Theta Sigma has grown significantly and completed the Sigma Family, including the establishment of all affiliates. Sorors, Philos, Rhoers, and Rhosebuds work collectively to enhance the lives of the greater Silver Spring, MD, community through scholarship, leadership, and sisterhood.
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