# Alpha Iota Omicron

Alpha Iota Omicron (ΑΙΟ) is a South Asian interest and multicultural collegiate fraternity located in the United States. It was established at University of Michigan in 1998 and has chartered ten chapters in the United States and Canada. Alpha Iota Omicron was a founding member of the APIA Greek Alliance, the former name of the National APIDA Panhellenic Association

## History

Alpha Iota Omicron was founded on October 16, 1998, at the University of Michigan as a South Asian interest fraternity by eighteen students. It was the first South Asian fraternity in the United States and was part of a movement in the late 1990s of creating Greek letter organizations as cultural epicenters for South Asians. Its founding fathers were:
* Mehul Bipin Amin
* Srujan Kumar Bodepudi
* Samir Dhanani
* Ram Dharmarjan
* Parijat Vimal Gandhi
* Sagar Janveja
* Nihar Harihar Kulkarni
* Ravikanth Maddipati
* Salil Mehta
* Amit Patel
* Amit Pradipkumar Patel
* Suketu Jayanti Patel
* Vikas Raman Patel
* Mohit Rastogi
* Sandeev Sarna
* Ronjit Sing Sandhu
* Sanjay Sharma
* Vishal Sharma
The fraternity was built on the core principles or pillars of Brotherhood, Networking, Community Service, and Cultural Competence. Over the years, Alpha Iota Omicron has expanded nationally, chartering ten chapters across the United States and Canada.
One of the fraternity's activities is participating in step shows. Members of the Alpha chapter performed their first step show at the Indian American Student Association Cultural Show in October 2000. A member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity helped to train the dancers. However, Alpha Iota Omicron's step dancing varies from traditional African American fraternities by including movements from South Asian dances.
Alpha Iota Omicron was a founding member of the APIA Greek Alliance, the former name of the National APIDA Panhellenic Association.

## Symbols

Alpha Iota Omicron's motto is Sic Parvis Magna. Its colors are black, blue, and silver. The fraternity’s mascot is the wolf. Its nickname is AIO.

## Chapters

In the following list, active chapters and colonies are listed in bold and inactive chapters are in italics.
| Chapter | Charter date and range | Institution | Location | Status |
| Alpha | October 16, 1998 – 202x ? | University of Michigan | Ann Arbor, Michigan | Inactive |
| Beta | 2002–2023 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | Champaign, Illinois | Inactive |
| Gamma | 2005–202x ? | Georgia Tech | Atlanta, Georgia | Inactive |
| Delta | March 3, 2007 – 202x ? | Georgia State University | Atlanta, Georgia | Inactive |
| Epsilon | 2006–20xx ? | Northwestern University | Evanston, Illinois | Inactive |
| Zeta | 2012 | Saint Louis University | St. Louis, Missouri | Active |
| Eta | 201x ?–20xx ? | University of Toronto | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | Inactive |
| Theta | | | Chicago, Illinois | Colony |
| Iota | | | Santa Cruz, California | Colony |
| Kappa | | University of California, Berkeley | Berkeley, California | Inactive |
| Lambda | | Rutgers University–New Brunswick | New Brunswick, New Jersey | Colony |
* ↑ This colony was established in 2018 at the University of Chicago but is now citywide, no longer affiliated with an institution.
* ↑ This colony was established in 2018 at the University of California, Santa Cruz. It is now a citywide chapter, not affiliated with a specific institution.
* ↑ Established in 2019, this was a colony that went inactive before being officially chartered.
* ↑ Chapter is not recognized by the university.