Indianapolis
 

I'm planning a trip to Indianapolis to visit the 14 NPC hq there. Can anyone give me any information as to which ones are close to one another? I need to figure out in which order I plan to visit before I contact the headquarters to set up my tours. Thanks! (I'm planning to do 4 on day one, 6 on day two, and 4 on day three, if that helps)

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Hey SWTX -

Not sure if ASA was on your list, but I believe we're in a state of "flux" right now while our new HQ is being built. So you might want to skip us, unless you want to get pressed into helping :)

There's something about me coming to visit HQ - I was at Chi Omega as they were moving their boutique, KD had just finished working on their mail room, AOII was cleaning up from a big training workshop, Phi Mu's hq still had that "new car smell", and Tri Delt had a non-sorority workshop that had rented their training facility. Either it's me, or our hqs are just happening places!

I went to high school right around most of the NPC offices. A good number of them are off of W. 86th Street near Michigan Road, or right in that general area. I know there is a very nice Holiday Inn around there complete with an indoor waterpark if you're looking for a hotel.

I honestly can't remember all the sororities that have headquarters in the 86th Street area, but when I'm over there on Friday I will take a look!

What a great idea for a trip! I'll have to do that some day too.

When are you going?

There are a bunch of Fraternities and Sororities on Founders Road: DU, Theta, Theta Chi, Sigma Kappa, Alpha Xi Delta
ATO is on Pennsylvania Street
AGD is on Vincennes Road (very close to Founders)
Delta Tau Delta is in Fishers
Alpha Chi Omega is on Castle Creek Pkwy (near the Delt HQ)
ASA is on Zionsville Rd, on the NW side of Indy

Just an FYI, ATO is on Pennsylvania downtown, which is a good 20-30 minutes from the main cluster of Indy HQs.

I lived pretty much next door to the Delta Tau Delta HQ for a while, its right on Allisonville on the northeast side, also about 20 minutes from the main Greek cluster off 86th.

ZTA is also on Founder's Road.

Ooops, missed another. Sigma Delta Tau is in Carmel Indiana

Thanks - I'm planning on going the week after Easter. Anyone want to tour with me??? :)

Wow. Wish I could. Sounds like it would be a great Road Trip!

If you live near a HQ you really should visit. It is so inspiring! I have loved every one I've toured, and I can't wait to get to the mother lode in Indianapolis.

Being close to Columbus I should really go check out Delta Gamma's and Kappa's. I have always wondered if HQ's gave tours to non-members and this thread gave me the answer.

Yeah, I would love to go to Kappa's HQ. One of my sisters got to go. Luckyyyyy!

I proposed a rode trip, but California is pretty far from Ohio...

That is a cool idea about visiting other org's HQs though. I'm sure they are all pretty impressive.

I'll never forget when I went to tour SAI's HQ over the summer. I called up on a Saturday and when Ruth Seiber Johnson actually answered the phone I got so nervous, I hung up! I called back about 15min later and this time talked to her--asked her if I could come by. It's in Asheville, NC only an hour from my sister who I was visiting at the time.

It was a beautiful place. I loved it. And, I got a personal tour from our very own, well known, Ring of Excellence recipient, Ruth Sieber Johnson. She told me that she always comes in on Saturday to tend the garden, but usually doesn't pick up the phone. She said, "Something told me to pick up the phone today."

My sister (AGD), her sister-daughter, & their dear friend (SAE) came with us. So, yes, tour away.

I honestly wonder if there was some stuff she didn't show me because non-members were there....hmmm....

My sister went to her IHQ over fall break. It looks like a beautiful place.

Visiting other NPC HQs
 

When I contacted KD, they were a little hesitant - then I forwarded them a copy of an article I had written for The Crescent, and told them I was president of my APH - so they knew I wasn't some hack journalist looking for a negative sorority story (!).
But I've found that sororities are (rightly) so proud of their HQ, and thrilled with the fact that someone who isn't a member is interested and has a knowledge of their org (yes, I admit I study up before my visits) that they are wonderfully hospitable.

eta - Asheville is so beautiful, SAI - glad you enjoyed your visit.

Our Headquarters is on Founders Rd. Our Foundation offices are on now on Vincennes.

If you're looking to tour outside the NPC...

Delta Sigma Phi's HQ is located on Delaware Street near the President Harrison home near Downtown. So if you are planning to visit downtown Indianapolis, you might want to check both of them out while you're there.

Too bad Gamma Phi's HQ isn't in Indy - I'd love to have it in my back yard!

I am going to Kappa's HQ over spring break with my key sis and both of us are soooo excited! It's only about 1.5 hours from us, so it's a bit more doable.

I've been outside the ADPi HQ but it was closed... :(

Oh no! It's so lovely - and the new addition blends in so well.

Sounds like a plan - let's go!!!

That sounds like a wonderful trip!

I am curious.... is there a particular reason why so many groups have their HDQ in Indianapolis? I know several were founded in the region, and it is centrally located, but does that account for all of them? I had no idea until this thread that so many sororities and fraternities had their headquarters in Indianapolis. I will need to plan a road trip. It's only 1.5 hours away.

Be sure and give us an update when you are finished!

I actually would like to write a book about it when I'm done - so we'll see . ..

One of the reasons is that for many years (and maybe still today) Indiana had no property tax on fraternal properties, supposedly engineered by several non-college fraternal societies which had very elaborate facilities in Indianapolis and wanted to avoid expensive property taxes. The developers of the office park on the north side of Indy where several headquarters are located took advantage of this loophole and marketed the property to several fraternities and sororities interested in building their own facilities. That is why there are a half dozen or more all adjacent to each other. Also, the appeal of less expensive operating costs in Indianapolis brought several from New York City and the Chicago area...plus the fact that it was centrally located and a strong Greek area aided in selling the area.

Land is cheap in Indiana to build on, there are jobs in the area which can attract people to move there with their families to work for headquarters, and most importantly, Indiana has good laws about non-profits owning property since no fraternity or sorority is a full 501c3 non-profit.

Okay, here's what I've got
 

Some websites are definitely much easier to find information on HQs than others!

I swear I thought there were more hqs then these, so please tell me if I'm missing anyone -

Kappa Alpha Theta - 8740 Founders Road
Sigma Kappa - 8733 Founders Road
Alpha Xi Delta - 8702 Founders Road
Alpha Gamma Delta - 8701 Founders Road
Zeta Tau Alpha - 3450 Founders Road


So,one day on Founder's Road. Then -

Alpha Chi Omega - 5939 Castle Creek Parkway North Drive
Sigma Alpha Tau - 714 Adam Street - Carmel IN

Alpha Sigma Alpha is building their beautiful new hq - but this may be my only shot at seeing them. Any ASAs who can tell me where the old one is? I'll move boxes, if need be!

Am I missing anyone?

The old ASA headquarters is 9550 Zionsville Road, Suite 160.

Thanks, cutie. It looks like I may be able to do this in two days.

Enjoy. From what I remember, Zionsville is pretty close to Founders Road.

Sounds like a fun trip. You should take pictures too of the outside of each Headquarters!

Y'all have been so helpful. Thank you very much!

It seems like more because there are also several men's HQ there too.. the ones I remember on Founders Rd are TKE, LXA, and DUfor sure. I think Theta Chi might be there too. It's just one big long street of headquarters and is very cool! I only got a chance to go inside the Alpha Gam one because we were there for a weekend meeting and we were working the whole time! We slept in our quarters there. We did hear some strange noises while down in the board room and our Executive Director said "Oh yeah, we're pretty sure some of the Founders hang out here because we hear strange noises from empty parts of the building all the time".