"The Sigma Gamma Zeta Sorority was founded in the fall of 1940 to provide sociability and a common meeting situation for women who had returned or transferred to the campus of Eau Claire State Teachers College in order to finish degrees after having their schooling interrupted by marriage, illness, or other circumstance." The group was founded by Mrs. Margaret Christofferson and Mrs. Lyla Flagler, who taught at Eau Claire from 1918-1952, assisted by Mrs. Elizabeth Ayer and Miss Laura Sutherland. In 1973, the Lyla Flagler Award Fund was created. - Lyla Flagler Award Fund article (inside Box 1, Scrapbook 2). "Sigma Gamma Zeta" stands for service, cooperation, and friendship.

In March 1979, Sigma Gamma Zeta was reactivated, with some differences, as Sigma Gamma Zeta II, a scholastic honor society to award scholarships and other support for male and female adult students. To be eligible a student must have a grade point aberage among the top twenty percent of all sophomore students or above, be twenty-five or older, and be enrolled for a minimum of six academic credits (red brochure, inside Box 1, scrapbook 2).

As of 2022, through the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Foundation, a scholarship is named in Lyla Flagler's honor, the Lyla Flagler Scholarship (Sigma Gamma Zeta) Fund. It provides one $700 scholarship. Non-traditional students who formerly attended the UW-Eau Claire without graduating and returned to complete their degrees are eligible to apply for this scholarship award. Recipients must have financial need, have a FAFSA on file with the Financial Aid Office, and should have had an above-average scholastic record when they first attended the University.