Vanderbilt - New House?
 

I was just reading the Nu Omicron (Vanderbilt) chapter's Fall Newsletter (online, on their webpage), and the president says that they are looking forward to building a new house. On another part of the newsletter, there is a graphic of a castle, and it says "Help make our house a castle." Wow. I know that presently Vanderbilt sorority housing is basically a lodge-type set up where only a few members (usually officers) live in the house. Is this changing? IS AOII building a new house, or just a new lodge? Does anyone know the scoop? Is Vandy going to change over to big Greek housing? I was really surprised because I was under the impression that housing was scarce, and that is why DG has had to settle for a duplex, and they were apparently lucky to get that.

(We kind of follow Nu Omicron here in Tulsa. One of Tulsa'a late leading ladies, Natalie Overall Warren, was a founder of the AOII chapter there along with her sister - hence the name Nu Omicron.)

ETA: Here is the link if you are interested
http://www.vanderbiltaoii.com/index....fallnewsletter

Re: Vanderbilt - New House?
 

I was under the impression that all chapters in TN chose to have Omicron in their names because UT is the Omicron chapter rather than being named for someone specifically. . . (I don't have my history book here at Mom and Dad's so I can't check - if it is even written in the history book!)

Sarah

Hi, sisters!
I always thought...Nu Omicron is the "New Omicron" as women from UTK's chapter helped to establish our chapter. Ms. Warren's name may also have played a role, but I have never actually heard that as a reasoning before.
There has been talk of adding a second story to the Nu Omicron house for several years.
To the best of my knowledge, I think that Vanderbilt's policies only allow the officers to live-in (I will check on that), so this updgrade is really not to allow many more women to stay at the house. I really feel that the house is getting too small for so many women. I love my house, but so many women need more space! Oh, no one at Vanderbilt calls them "lodges;" they are houses. :)
Silver

Re: Re: Vanderbilt - New House?
 

Okay, so I checked the history book and there was not a Natalie Overall that was involved in the chartering of Nu Omicron but rather a Katherine/Katrina Overall! This woman, however was not the first to come up with the idea of bringing AOII to Vanderbilt - but I don't remember the name of the woman who did!

The name Nu Omicron could also be because of their submotto (which I also don't have with me right now!) which began with the letters of Nu and Omicron. Based on all these pieces of information, I would have to say that Nu Omicron was not named for a person at all.

Sarah

Re: Re: Re: Vanderbilt - New House?
 

I believe in my post I mentioned that she worked, along with her sister, who is Katrina Overall McDonald. There were actually 4 founders of a local, Alpha Alpha, which was established for the sole purpose of becoming a chapter of AOII. So, if that is incorrect, our Tulsa Alumnae Chapter history as well as the stories of Mrs. Warren herself, are incorrect. As to the tradition of naming chapters in Tennessee using the letter Omicron, I know that is the case now, but I don't know if it was or wasn't in 1917, when the Vandy chapter was chartered. Our TAC history is that the combination of the "new" Omicron as well as Natalie's involvement played a role in the naming of the chapter. Perhaps our history is overly-generous to Mrs. Warren's involvement because she co-founded our alumnae chapter here and the Warren name is the most well-known name in Tulsa.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Vanderbilt - New House?
 

But if the chapter were named after a Natalie Overall, would that not be mentioned by Stella in the AOII history book?! Her name is not mentioned at all by Stella - only her sister. Could the chapter have been named for its motto - or perhaps the motto chosen because the letters are the same (see the chapter motto page in the history book which is a reprint of Helen's notes for a convention)? I would have to say that Mrs Warren's name and the chapter name are only coincidences. I have a great tendency to believe the chapter name is either from 'new' Omicron (because Katrina Overall and the other woman transfered from Omicron) or from the chapter motto - rather than being named for a woman who is not at all mentioned in the AOII history books (and when chapters are named for specific people that fact IS specifically mentioned).

Sarah

I know that Nu Beta is named for Nancy Beasley who started our chapter and got us going....I bet someone from Nu Omicron would know!!!

I would have thought someone from NO would know as well. Our Alumnae chapter had 2 women (Natalie Overall and another who initiated in the 1920s) who told us of the naming of the chapter. Their recollections are recorded in our chapter history, and I spoke with those women myself before they passed away. Obviously they were incorrect, although they were there at the time and shortly thereafter.

Like OleMissGlitter pointed out, if a chapter is named for someone it is specifically noted and well known. Natalie Overall's name is not even mentioned by Stella. What about the other three women that helped start the chapter? Why would Natalie be singled out to have the chapter named for her? Actually Silver IS from Nu Omicron - and she previously stated it was for "New" Omicron from everything she has ever heard.

On a side note, not all chapters in TN ARE named with Omicron - Phi Alpha at East Tennessee State.

Sarah

just for kicks...

I want one named after me, Kappa Mu, I don't think we've ever had a Kappa Mu chapter :)
HA!

Paging Silver, paging Silver...please let us know about the chapter name and if they are renovating their house :)

I think Silver has already added her two cents here, and as I stated in a previous post - the NO alumnae I knew and spoke with obviously were wrong.

I have the history book too, and it is a wonderful book, but it is possible that it does not contain every piece of history. For example, my best friend is an alumna from Theta chapter at DePauw. She claims that her chapter was named in honor of Kappa Alpha Theta, which was founded at that school. I know that the history book does not mention this. I have no idea if she is right, but apparently there are alumnae from that chapter who believe that to be true. Maybe it is just local legend. Maybe the NO ladies I knew were just telling a fishing story - you know - the fish gets bigger and bigger every time you retell the story. I had no reason to question it, as it was totally believable. Aside from the obvious coincidence that the woman's initials were N.O., she also had endowed professorships at Vandy, has all kinds of stuff named after her there (as well as her sister), and practically everything in the health field in Tulsa is named for her, so it wasn't a stretch to believe that a chapter of AOII was named for her. Also, considering that there was another NO alumna in our Tulsa Chapter who was there just a few years after Natalie who would have called her on it if she were incorrect, that just added credibility to her claim. However, she obviously was wrong.

I really just was curious about the Vandy housing situation, but I guess I hijacked my own thread.

Hi, everyone...again...For better or worse, some things are left out of the history book. Beryana and I have discovered a mystery or two along the way...How about a badge from a chapter that was closed during its date? Or Stella's religious preference?

I'll ask about the "NO." We all know that names mean many things to different people...I may be and, knowing me, I probably AM wrong...so let's all be cheerful and think that the chapter was named for Mrs. Natalie Overall Warren...what can it hurt? ;) (Sorry...I just read a most excellent book entitled, In the Company of Cheerful Ladies.)

Okay, now that is settled...
Back to the discussion on Vandy housing.....
The housing push seems to have really heated up lately....one thing to think about...the house, to me, actually seems to have less floor space than one might think from the outside..namely because there is a BEAUTIFUL, but large fountain squarely in the middle of the living room floor!!!
Land at Vandy is at a premium..to say the least....that is why I am so surprised to find out about Sg Ep colonizing. Phi Delt just left, but they have the only housing space of which I can think. I have a feeling that Sig Ep is unhoused. I know that I should know all of this, but, frankly, I have been so overwhelmed with work that I have just not been asking questions lately. I'll see what I can dig up over Thanksgiving break.
FYI: Vandy's original AOII house, which came right after the chapter's founding in 1917, was SO pretty. According to a history of Vanderbilt that I read, fire concerns about the fraternity and sorority houses helped to bring fraternity row to campus. Ironic, isn't it? The same concerns so many years later...
To quote Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure....let's all "Be excellent to each other...."
Silver

completely off topic...where'd you all get the AOII history book? I would love to have one for me and one for Lambda Beta. I know they don't have a copy!!!

http://www.aoiiemporium.com/store/co...?idproduct=371

It is dirt cheap right now, too. It is a really nice, hard cover, coffee-table style book. $12.

Your chapter should have one (I think). I know Nu Beta has one with the chapter name on it in gold and the date the chapter was founded. I was under the impression that AOII gave their chapters a book back in 1997.