The country’s oldest and largest Native American greek letter organization is now on the campus of Western Carolina University.
Under the direction of Ashley Oxendine, Alpha Pi Omega Sorority, Inc., initiated six new members at WCU, forming the school’s first multicultural Greek organization. The six women represent 4 tribes, including the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the Seminole Nation and the Creek Nation.
“This expansion process has been in the works for some time,” said Grand Expansion Director Cho Werito. “Interested women at WCU first contacted us more than two years ago. We are very happy to see these women join our sisterhood.”
The group at Western Carolina will be able to apply for provisional chapter status at the sorority’s national convention in July 2011. With chapters at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, UNC-Pembroke and North Carolina State University, Western Carolina is the sorority’s fourth undergraduate site in North Carolina.
Alpha Pi Omega Sorority, Inc., was founded in 1994 at UNC-Chapel Hill. With more than 400 sisters representing 70 tribes, it has 13 chartered chapters in five states, a provisional chapter in Massachusetts, and expansion sites in Wisconsin and Kansas.