Alpha Epsilon Iota

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Alpha Epsilon Iota
ΑΕΙ
Founded	February 26, 1890; 131 years ago (1890-02-26) University of Michigan
Type	Professional
Affiliation	Independent
Emphasis	Medical
Scope	National
Colors	Black  , White   and Green
Symbol	Serpent
Flower	White Carnation
Jewel	Emerald
Publication	The Directory-Journal
Chapters	31, all dormant
Headquarters	USA

Alpha Epsilon Iota (ΑΕΙ) was a professional fraternity for women in the field of medicine.

History[]

Alpha Epsilon Iota was established as a medical fraternity for women on February 26, 1890 at the University of Michigan. It was thereby one of the earliest of the professional medical fraternities to serve women. It quickly expanded to a Beta chapter at the University of Chicago that same year, cementing its national intentions.^[1][2]

By the turn of the century two additional chapters had formed, with seven more added by 1910. Later, growth slowed for the most part, with a flurry of new groups in the 1920, but no new chapters after 1949.^[2]

The fraternity dissolved as a national organization in March, 1963. Some chapters continued on as local entities. Minnesota's Epsilon chapter remained active through the 1970s at which time there was a marked expansion of female enrollment in the growing medical school there, but ΑΕΙ sold its properties in 1979, splitting then into two groups, the AEI Foundation which continues to provide scholarships, and a networking organization called Minnesota Women Physicians.^[3]

Traditions and insignia[]

The colors of Alpha Epsilon Iota were black, white and green.

The fraternity flower is the White Carnation.

The official badge is described as a "black enameled faceted pentagon, having a gold star at the apex with an emerald inset. The three upper facets contained the Greek letters Α Ε Ι in gold, the two lower facets, a gold serpent."

The biannual publication is The Directory Journal.

Six grades of members were created: Collegiate, Graduate, Honorary, Affiliate, Non-graduate, and Associate.^[1]

Chapters[]

Chapter information from Baird's Manual (20th), which reports there were approximately 4,000 members.^[1][2]

• 1890 – Alpha – University of Michigan
• 1890 – Beta – University of Chicago (dormant 1940)
• 1899 – Gamma – University of Cincinnati (dormant 1933)
• 1899 – Delta – University of Illinois at Chicago
• 1901 – Epsilon – University of Minnesota (dormant 1982)
• 1902 – Zeta – Stanford University
• 1902 – Eta – Cornell University (dormant 1913)
• 1902 – Theta – Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania
• 1905 – Iota – University of California, San Francisco
• 1906 – Kappa – University of California, Los Angeles
• 1909 – Lambda – Syracuse University
• 1919 – Mu – Tulane University
• 1921 – Nu – University of Oklahoma
• 1922 – Xi – University of Oregon, Portland
• 1922 – Omicron – University of Kansas (dormant 1948)
• 1923 – Pi – Medical College of Virginia
• 1923 – Rho – University of Texas at Austin
• 1923 – Sigma – Ohio State University
• 1927 – Tau – University of Wisconsin–Madison
• 1927 – Upsilon – Southwestern Medical, Dallas
• 1927 – Phi – George Washington University
• 1927 – Chi – Washington University in St. Louis
• 1938 – Psi – LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans
• 1940 – Omega – University of Tennessee
• 1941 – Alpha-Alpha – Marquette University
• 1944 – Alpha-Beta – Hahnemann University (Drexel)
• 1948 – Alpha-Gamma – Baylor College of Medicine, Houston
• 1948 – Alpha-Delta – New York Medical
• 1948 – Alpha-Epsilon- Temple University
• 1949 – Alpha-Zeta – Creighton University
• 1949 – Alpha-Eta- Augusta University

References[]