Lambda Sigma

  Blue and   GoldSymbolBlue DiamondPublicationThe Diamond
   The Tide (through 1976)Chapters38Founded asSociety of CwensHeadquartersLambda Sigma
c/o Neal Edman, Exec. Sec.
2509 North Mercer Street
New Castle, Pennsylvania 16105
United StatesWebsiteOfficial website

Lambda Sigma (ΛΣ) is an American college honor society for second-year students. Originally named the Society of Cwens, the society was established at the University of Pittsburgh in Fall 1922 as a women's honors society and became a national organization with the 1925 foundation of chapters at Miami University and the University of Missouri.^[2] The society is "dedicated to the purpose of fostering leadership, scholarship, fellowship, and the spirit of service among college students, and to promoting the interests of the college or university in every possible way".^[3]

History

Society of Cwens

In the early 1920s, the University of Pittsburgh Dean Thyrsa Amos saw the need for a society for outstanding sophomore women. On 7 November 1922, twelve sophomore women responded to invitations and met at Heinz House, electing to found a society to sponsor activities for all freshmen and sophomore women and to "select for membership in the spring those freshman women who displayed the finest Pitt spirit, showed good scholarship and expressed interest in activities through fine participation in them".^[4][1] The society was named Cwens, from the word cwēn, meaning "lady" or "queen" in Anglo-Saxon. The emblem selected was a golden crown resting upon a scepter.^[1]

Soon afterward, Beta and Gamma chapters were founded at Miami University and the University of Missouri, with the first Society of Cwens conference held in May 1925 on the Miami campus. A charter was obtained to certify Cwens as a national organization; a petition was submitted, and on 16 June 1926, the certificate of incorporation was approved and the charter of the National Society of Cwens was recorded in the Common Pleas Court of Allegheny County.^[1] Titles of officers in the organization were given Anglo-Saxon names, and a national convention (called the Witan) was held twice annually, rotating among the colleges and universities having Cwen chapters. The society's publication was called The Tid.^[1]

The 1972 Witan, held in Pittsburgh on the campus of Duquesne University, observed the Fiftieth Anniversary of the society and climaxed in a "feast" in the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh. This ceremony, detailed in the book of rituals (the Hydan-Bok), is a revered event in the history of the organization.^[1]

Foundation of Lambda Sigma

However, in 1975, the Title IX Education Amendments mandated the abolishment of single-sex organizations in institutions of higher learning.^[1] In October 1975, Cwens chapter presidents gave authority to the National Executive Board to disband the society and to formulate plans for a national sophomore honor society for both men and women. The National Board disbanded the National Society of Cwens, founding the Lambda Sigma Society as a direct descendant on 6 March 1976.^[1] The Society of Cwens's goal of fostering leadership, scholarship, fellowship, and service remains the same in the child organization.^[4][1]

Symbols

Lambda Sigma's official symbol is composed of the Greek letters Lambda and Sigma in gold imposed on a blue lozenge. The letters are emblematic of the society's ideals of leadership and scholarship.^[4][2] The society's colors are blue and gold. Its symbol is the blue diamond.

Membership

Membership in any chapter may not exceed 50 students, or 10 percent of the freshman class – whichever is lower.^[2] Students who achieve GPA within at least the top 35 percent of the class at the time of selection are eligible for selection in the spring term following their completion of at least one academic term.^[2] These new members selected to Lambda Sigma become active during their second year.^[4]

Chapters

Lambda Sigma has 39 active chapters. Active chapters noted in bold, inactive chapters noted in italics:^[4][3]

Name	Chartered	Institution	Location	Status	Notes	Reference
Alpha	November 7, 1922	University of Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Active		[5][6]
Beta	April 6, 1925	Miami University	Oxford, Ohio	Inactive		[5][6]
Gamma	1925	University of Missouri	Columbia, Missouri	Inactive		[5][6]
Delta	June 4, 1927	Pennsylvania State University	State College, Pennsylvania	Inactive		[5][6]
Epsilon	November 19, 1927	Allegheny College	Meadville, Pennsylvania	Active		[5][6][7]
Zeta	1927	Muskingum University	New Concord, Ohio	Active		[5][6]
Eta	May 2, 1929	Carnegie Mellon University	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Active		[5][6]
Theta	March 12, 1931	University of Kentucky	Lexington, Kentucky	Inactive		[5][6]
Iota	March 1, 1941	University of Mississippi	Oxford, Mississippi	Active		[5][6]
Kappa	October 20, 1945	Seton Hill University	Greensburg, Pennsylvania	Inactive		[5][6]
Lambda	October 27, 1945	University of Mississippi	Westminster College	Active		[5][6]
Mu	March 11, 1948 - 2006; March 25, 2014	Eastern Kentucky University	Richmond, Kentucky	Active		[5][6][8]
Nu	October 18, 1952	University of Louisville	Louisville, Kentucky	Inactive		[5][6]
Xi	April 11, 1953	Grove City College	New Wilmington, Pennsylvania	Inactive		[5][6]
Omicron	December 5, 1954	Northern Illinois University	DeKalb, Illinois	Active		[5][6]
Pi	May 18, 1957	Auburn University	Auburn, Alabama	Active		[5][6]
Rho	May 3, 1959	Thiel College	Greenville, Pennsylvania	Active		[5][6]
Sigma	May 16, 1959	Alfred University	Village of Alfred	Inactive		[5][6]
Tau	November 20, 1960	University of Kansas	Lawrence, Kansas	Active		[5][6]
Upsilon	November 18, 1961	Morehead State University	Morehead, Kentucky	Inactive		[5][6]
Phi	1963 ?	Union College	Barbourville, Kentucky	Inactive		[5][6]
Chi	May 2, 1964	Louisiana Tech University	Ruston, Louisiana	Active		[5][6]
Psi	May 9, 1965	University of Central Missouri	Warrensburg, Missouri	Inactive		[5][6]
Omega	May 14, 1965	Pittsburg State University	Pittsburg, Kansas	Active		[5][6]
Alpha Alpha	November 19, 1966	University of Mount Union	Alliance, Ohio	Inactive		[5][6]
Alpha Beta	March 22, 1969	University of Oklahoma	Norman, Oklahoma	Inactive		[5][6]
Alpha Gamma	September 29, 1969	Duquesne University	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Active		[5][6][9]
Alpha Delta	October 25, 1970	University of Southern Mississippi	Hattiesburg, Mississippi	Active		[5][6]
Alpha Epsilon	March 14, 1971	Mansfield University of Pennsylvania	Mansfield, Pennsylvania	Active		[5][6]
Alpha Zeta	April 30, 1972	Texas A&M University	College Station, Texas	Active		[5][6]
Alpha Eta	May 4, 1974	Penn State Erie, The Behrend College	Erie, Pennsylvania	Active	[a]	[5][6][10]
Alpha Theta	November 17, 1974	Slippery Rock University	Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania	Active		[5][6]
Alpha Iota	November 1978	Mississippi State University	Starkville, Mississippi	Active		[5][6]
Alpha Kappa	January 19, 1979	Georgia Institute of Technology	Atlanta, Georgia	Active		[5][6]
Alpha Lambda	April 5, 1981	D'Youville College	Buffalo, New York	Active		[5][6]
Alpha Mu	Spring 1981	Berry College	Mount Berry, Georgia	Active		[5][6]
Alpha Nu	November 13, 1982	Butler University	Indianapolis, Indiana	Inactive		[5][6]
Alpha Xi	May 1983	Texas Tech University	Lubbock, Texas	Inactive		[5][6]
Alpha Omicron	January 25, 1983	Penn State Beaver	Beaver, Pennsylvania	Inactive		[5][6]
Alpha Pi	November 25, 1984	Lawrence University	Appleton, Wisconsin	Active		[5][6]
Alpha Rho	January 18, 1987	Robert Morris University	Moon Township, Pennsylvania	Inactive		[5][6]
Alpha Sigma	January 31, 1987	Gannon University	Erie, Pennsylvania	Active		[5][6]
Alpha Tau	Spring 1988	University of Alabama	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	Active		[5][6]
Alpha Upsilon	October 1991	Mount Saint Clare College	Clinton, Iowa	Inactive		[5][6]
Alpha Phi	November 1991	Ferrum College	Ferrum, Virginia	Active		[5][6]
Alpha Chi	April 5, 1992	Notre Dame College	South Euclid, Ohio	Inactive		[5][6]
Alpha Psi	June 4, 1995	University of Toledo	Appleton, Wisconsin	Active		[5][6]
Alpha Omega	December 10, 1995	Westfield State University	Westfield, Massachusetts	Active		[5][6]
Beta Alpha	February 25, 1996	University of Montevallo	Montevallo, Alabama	Inactive		[5][6]
Beta Beta	September 1996	Mississippi University for Women	Columbus, Mississippi	Inactive		[5][6]
Beta Gamma	October 4, 1998	University of Pikeville	Pikeville, Kentucky	Active		[5][6]
Beta Delta	April 28, 2000	Middle Tennessee State University	Murfreesboro, Tennessee	Active		[5][6]
Beta Epsilon	January 27, 2002	Washington University in St. Louis	St. Louis, Missouri	Active		[5][6]
Beta Zeta	2005	Pace University (NYC)	New York City, New York	Active		[5][6]
Beta Eta	April 2006	Pace University (Pleasantville)	Pleasantville, New York	Active		[5][6]
Beta Theta	September 12, 2006	Urbana University	Urbana, Ohio	Inactive		[5][6]
Beta Iota	November 19, 2008	Texas A&M University–Kingsville	Kingsville, Texas	Inactive		[5][6][11]
Beta Kappa	October 3, 2008	George Mason University	Fairfax, Virginia	Active		[5][6][12]
Beta Lambda	October 5, 2009	University of North Carolina at Pembroke	Pembroke, North Carolina	Active		[5][6][13]
Beta Mu	April 12, 2010	Alvernia University	Reading, Pennsylvania	Active		[5][6][14]
Beta Nu	September 3, 2013	Minnesota State University, Mankato	Mankato, Minnesota	Inactive		[5][6][15][16]
Beta Xi	April 20, 2015	Jackson State University	Jackson, Mississippi	Active		[5][6][17]
Beta Omicron	March 16, 2016	University of West Alabama	Livingston, Alabama	Active		[5][6][18]
Beta Pi	October 25, 2018	Jacksonville State University	Jacksonville, Alabama	Active		[19]

Notes

References

External links

• Official website
• From CMU's The Tartan: "Sophomore honor society serves community"
• ACHS Lambda Sigma entry
• Lambda Sigma chapter list at ACHS