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The History of Gamma Iota Sigma and

The Alpha Alpha Chapter

Knowledge, Friendship, Integrity, and Fidelity

A Grand Chapter or Executive Committee of Gamma Iota Sigma was formed from the original fraternity planning committee, appointed by the Griffith Foundation. The first Grand Chapter President was Warren L. Weeks, then a Griffith Foundation trustee. It was his commitment to the concept of a national student organization that lead to the eventual formation of Gamma Iota Sigma. (There currently exists a Warren L. Weeks, Sr. Scholarship presented each year to a student member. Nominations for the award are made by local chapters.) The rationale behind establishing a national student organization, as envisioned by the founders was:

A national fraternity has more prestige than a local society or club;
It would facilitate communication and participation with chapter members throughout the country;
By combining with others, the impact of the fraternity name as a visible entity would be enhanced;
By emphasizing scholarship and leadership qualities, ties between the college membership and industry leaders would be developed; and
There would be a synergism of academic creativity beyond the boundaries of any given university.

The Grand Chapter, initially consisting solely of Griffith Foundation trustees, has now evolved to a distinctly separate organization of insurance professionals, most of whom were members of Gamma Iota Sigma chapters while attending college.

	The Gamma Iota Sigma Logo is an inverted triangle with rounded points. These three points of the triangle represent friendship, knowledge and integrity.
	The Gamma Iota Sigma Key is based on the fire mark of The Union Insurance Society. These four clasped hands signify the four purposes of the Fraternity - Knowledge, Friendship, Fidelity, and Integrity. The four clasped hands are molded to a golden shield and this shield signifies Protection. Being of gold, the shield signifies Durability.

The Greek letters Gamma Iota Sigma represent the letters C.I.S. for Collegiate Insurance Society. Gamma Iota Sigma, however has a more complex meaning. These letters in Greek spell earth. Inasmuch as all life, all material things, subject to insurance have their origin in earth.

The Alpha Alpha Chapter

The Upsilon Chapter of Ferris State University visited Olivet College in 1985 and made a presentation to the insurance students about starting a collegiate chapter at Olivet College. The Alpha Alpha Chapter was chartered September 23, 1986 at a banquet in the Olivet College Oaks Dining Room with 56 student and associate charter members. The Alpha Alpha, known as the "first of the first" was the first chapter at a small liberal arts college. We hosted the Gamma Iota Sigma annual management conference first time in 1988. We earned our first Edison L. Bowers Award (best chapter in the nation) in 1989. Our first advisor, Professor Mike Hubbel, was the Grand Chapter President from 1992 to 1995. We have continued to be a winner of national, and now international, awards each year since our chartering.