Our History:

When Florida State University was Florida State College for Women, the spirit of Odd-Even was predominant in college life. To recognize outstanding girls who had contributed to their college, two women’s honoraries were formed. The odd year honorary was called Spirogira and the even year was known as Esteren. The spirit of service, leadership, and loyalty were the ultimate aims of the honoraries. In 1947, when Florida State College for women became the Florida State University, Spirogira and Esteren continued. Less emphasis was placed on the Odd-even tradition as men were admitted to the University for the first time. In the same year, a male honorary was formed and named Gold Key with the same objectives. In 1948, Spirogira and Esteren merged to become Garnet Key. During the next two decades, both Gold and Garnet Key grew and flourished.


In 1974, women were admitted to Gold Key and men became eligible for membership into Garnet Key. Two years later, the two groups merged to form Garnet and Gold Key which served until the Spring of 1980 when the two groups met to incorporate FSU Gold Key. To start off the new millenium, the group wanted to go back and remember all aspects of their history and tradition and changed the name one last time to Garnet and Gold Key in the year 2000.