Alpha Epsilon Iota

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

Alpha Epsilon Iota
ΑΕΙ
Founded	February 26, 1890; 135 years ago (1890-02-26) University of Michigan
Type	Professional
Affiliation	Independent
Status	Defunct
Defunct date	March 1963
Successor	Some chapters continued as locals
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	United States

History

Alpha Epsilon Iota was established as a medical fraternity for women on February 26, 1890 at the University of Michigan. Its Founders were:

• Lotta Ruth Arwine-Suverkrup
• May Belle Stuckey Reynolds
• Ada Fenimore Bock
• Anna Ward Croacher
• Lily Mac Gowan-Fellows^[1]

Founded prior to the turn of the 20th Century, Alpha Epsilon Iota 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]

Name	Chartered	Institution	Location	Status	Notes	Reference
Alpha	February 26, 1890–19xx	University of Michigan	Ann Arbor, MI	Dormant
Beta	1890–1940	University of Chicago	Chicago, IL	Dormant
Gamma	1899–1933	University of Cincinnati	Cincinnati, OH	Dormant
Delta	1899–19xx	University of Illinois at Chicago	Chicago, IL	Dormant
Epsilon	1901–1982	University of Minnesota	Minneapolis, MN	Dormant	Reverted to local
Zeta	1902–19xx	Stanford University	Stanford, CA	Dormant
Eta	1902–1913	Cornell University	Ithaca, NY	Dormant
Theta	1902–19xx	Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania	Philadelphia, PA	Dormant
Iota	1905–19xx	University of California, San Francisco	San Francisco, CA	Dormant
Kappa	1906–19xx	University of California, Los Angeles	Los Angeles, CA	Dormant
Lambda	1909–19xx	Syracuse University	Syracuse, NY	Dormant
Mu	1919–19xx	Tulane University	New Orleans, LA	Dormant
Nu	1902–19xx	University of Oklahoma	Norman, OK	Dormant
Xi	1922–19xx	University of Oregon, Portland	Portland, OR	Dormant
Omicron	1922–1948	University of Kansas	Lawrence, KS	Dormant
Pi	1923–19xx	Medical College of Virginia	Richmond, VA	Dormant
Rho	1923–19xx	University of Texas at Austin	Austin, TX	Dormant
Sigma	1923–19xx	Ohio State University	Columbus, OH	Dormant
Tau	1927–19xx	University of Wisconsin–Madison	Madison, WI	Dormant
Upsilon	1927–19xx	University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center	Dallas, TX	Dormant
Phi	1927–19xx	George Washington University	Washington, D.C.	Dormant
Chi	1927–19xx	Washington University in St. Louis	St. Louis County, MO	Dormant
Psi	1938–19xx	LSU Health Sciences Center	New Orleans, LA	Dormant
Omega	1940–19xx	University of Tennessee	Knoxville, TN	Dormant
Alpha-Alpha	1941–19xx	Marquette University	Milwaukee, WI	Dormant
Alpha-Beta	1944–19xx	Hahnemann University (Drexel)	Philadelphia, PA	Dormant
Alpha-Gamma	1948–19xx	Baylor College of Medicine	Houston, TX	Dormant
Alpha-Delta	1948–19xx	New York Medical	Valhalla, NY	Dormant
Alpha-Epsilon	1948–19xx	Temple University	Philadelphia, PA	Dormant
Alpha-Zeta	1949–19xx	Creighton University	Omaha, NE	Dormant
Alpha-Eta	1949–19xx	Augusta University	Augusta, GA	Dormant