Pat Summitt, an initiate of the Chi Omega chapter at the University of Tennessee-Martin, passed away early today at the age of 64. Summitt was coach of the University of Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team from 1974-2012 during which she coached the team to eight NCAA national championships. She is the only coach in NCAA history with at least 1,000 victories. She won a Presidential Medal of Freedom and is a member of the Naismith Hall of Fame. The graduation rate for her players who completed their eligibility at Tennessee was 100 percent!.
She played on the first Olympic women’s basketball team and has a silver medal to prove it. She also coached the 1984 gold medal team.
In 1971, while a student at the University of Tennessee-Martin,, Summitt became a member of the Xi Zeta Chapter of Chi Omega. According to a Chi Omega press release, Summitt “remained involved with the Fraternity during her 40-plus years of membership, speaking at local and national events for Chi Omega and inspiring Sisters all over the country.” In 1988, she was awarded Chi Omega’s Malinda Jolley Mortin Woman of Achievement Award.
In 2014, the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees approved the naming of one of the four new sorority structures being built on the UT-M campus. The Chi Omega lodge will be called the Pat Head Summitt Chi Omega House.
Pat Summitt and her Chi Omega sister Lyn Harris, Chi Omega’s Archivist.
Founders’ Day greetings to Sigma Chi and Sigma Tau Gamma. Sigma Chi was founded on June 28, 1855 and Sigma Tau Gamma on June 28, 1920.
Sigma Chi was founded at Miami University in Miami, Ohio. It is one of the Miami Triad. Sigma Tau Gamma was founded at Central Missouri State Teachers College, now the University of Central Missouri, in Warrenton, Missouri. Warrenton is where the fraternity headquarters is located.
© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2016. All Rights Reserved. If you enjoyed this post, please sign up for updates. Also follow me on twitter @GLOHistory and Pinterest www.pinterest.com/glohistory/
