Interestingly, one of those newer houses was modeled after the chapter's original house. The original house is still on campus. Do you know where it is? ;)

Okay, you Arizona peoples are letting AZTheta lead you astray with her typical lane swerves :p Love her but y'all need to get your own architecture thread for reals :D

I had a friend many years ago who was an Alpha Xi Delta at Ole Miss in the 70's (plus a couple of relatives were there at the same time). AXD closed within a very few years of colonizing, after having little recruitment and retention success. Kappa Alpha Theta colonized in 1976, I think, while AXD was struggling. AXD never came close to building a house, which hurt them terribly during recruitment. KAT quickly built a big house on Rebel Drive, and that made them much more attractive to PNMs. AXD could have been a great asset to OM, but they are long gone. KAT is still there in their big house. Houses count big time at OM. It's just a fact. Whoever colonizes will surely come in with some beautiful architectural drawings to show off if they have any hope of success.

Kappa Alpha Theta colonized Ole Miss in 1978 and was Charted in 1979 the same year the house was built. Alpha Xi Delta was given the lovely Barnard Building to use until they could build a house but closed in 1976 befor they could do so. The house that Theta built was estimated to require $500,000 to build, but site issues and lack of competitive bids drove the cost up to near $1,000,000 and the completed size was only 2/3 of the originally planned square footage. Barnard is now completely renovated and the home for the Studies on Southern Culture. It was the original campus astronomy and science building and named for the school's pre-Civil War Chacellor F.P. Barnard who discovered Barnard's Star and was the first Episcopal Rector at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Oxford, Miss.

Tiny correction... we broke ground on the Theta house at Ole Miss in 1980. It was not completed until 1982.

I pledged in the Fall of 1979. Theta rushed on the hideous orange and brown carpet of the Student Union in 1980 & 1981 (we had Fall formal rush back then). I still have my Bid Day picture from back then. They were done in thirds, one picture of the house, one of us all looking serious & one "silly" picture.

In 1980, our "house" picture was of the building crew posing with a big Caterpiller machine in front of the foundation of the house! :D

So slightly off the OP's topic but I'm curious to how they used Barnard Observatory. I only know it from the 1990's and 2000's. Were there smaller rooms? Could anyone sleep there? Other side note, two of my good friends are Barnard great grandkids and he was also a Chancellor :D

Thank you ThetaLady! I was recalling the history I was told when I served on FCB 20 years ago so corrections are welcome! DZTurtle11, I saw old Ole Miss Year Book pictures of Barnard with Alpha Xi Deltas letters on the facade. Don't know how the inside looked :confused:

I can remember the very first time I saw a picture of the ADPi house at Ole Miss like it was yesterday. A few of us were looking at the picture and one of the sisters said, "Was Maxine (deceased Grand President for over 40 years) on drugs when she approved that?" We later found out that she has suffered from Alzheimer's in her later years. Coincidence? I think not.

Personally, I think a) that house simply didn't belong on Ole Miss Campus, especially for Alpha Delta Pi and b) I would go crazy mad with excitement if we were invited back - especially with a chance to build a more appropriate house.

I love columns, but especially when they don't "take over" the house, as in the Georgia Southern ADPi house.

Hi ladies!

I'm currently a Theta at Ole Miss. I wanted to add what we students have been hearing about the location for the new sororities coming in the next couple of years. It's currently sounding like they'll actually be located on Fraternity Row. We hear that Phi Tau, who has been having some difficulty with numbers the last few years, has been asked by the University to consider moving off campus, with the idea that one chapter will occupy that house. Then there is currently an empty lot where Chi Psi house used to be right next to SAE that has been heard will be the location of another house. As for the third one, no one really knows. There's a large parking area right by the Fraternity Row entrance to campus that seems like a viable location. Keep in mind as you read this, of course, that this is all rumor and that nothing has been confirmed by the administration or Panhellenic.

I'm not really sure how well having sororities interspersed with fraternities on Fraternity Row would be received, were these rumors actually proven to be true. They would certainly be very isolated from the rest of the sororities on campus, which would seem to put them at a disadvantage during recruitment. However, there aren't really many other places for these houses to go. Does anyone have any thoughts?

Hi Pyth!!

I graduated from EZ chapter in 1983, which is of course, about a million years ago! I know a LOT has changed on campus. Heck, we still had separate sex dorms & men were not allowed in the womens rooms & vice versa!

Having established how long ago I was there, I cannot possibly imagine any sorority house on Fraternity Row... I really can't. It is way across campus and as I recall, the men generally did not take good care of their houses. I really think that any sorority house built on Fraternity Row would put that organization at a tremendous disadvantage. It just doesn't fit.

1) I hope this isn't true.
2) I don't think you should spread a rumor like this.

Thetalady, I'm with you. All the more reason that it seems that the old ZTA and ADPi houses/lots should be made available to colonizing sororities if at all possible. It seems that sticking them in some odd or inappropriate location will be a big negative factor, and any new (vs. old, been on campus a bazillion years) sorority at OM needs as few strikes against it as possible as it seeks to get established. Does anyone know if other sororities considered colonizing when those lots/houses became available? Unlike the ADPi house, the ZTA house was/is a Southern style that could have been spruced up for a new sorority back then (or now) without the expense of tearing the whole thing down and rebuilding.

Ole Miss Panhellenic Recruitment Registration Opens on 5/14/12 at 12:00am.

Yes I DO!

I'll throw a photo in just for kicks.

Sorry, MaryPoppins, when I get the photos I'll start a new thread. Having an associational chaining brain in a linear sequential world = lots of chaos! :D and never a dull moment in my world. Sometimes the side convos are more interesting...

I've got one too, my Sister from another mother!:D