Blast from the past (old Bama yearbooks)

[TSteven]

Originally Posted by AUDeltaGam

Does anyone know what years Alpha Epsilon Phi was at 'Bama?

According to the Alpha Epsilon Phi Chartered Chapter List.

Alpha Rho
January 21, 1948
University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL

FYI: No end date given.

[LXA SE285]

The girl most likely to carry a switchblade in her purse:

[sherbertlemons]

Some observations:

I really would like to know the story behind this blurb from Chi Omega:

The Chi Omeagas would like to clear up some current rumors on campus: No, we don't get seasick in our riverboat, but we do have the most outstanding pledge class on campus. No, all of us did not get married this summer, just half the chapter. Yes, you probably need a translator if you really want to understand what we're saying. Well, I mean, you know, it's a major panic!

I'm assuming by "riverboat" they're referring to their house . I can see the comparison.

In any case, that chapter seems like a hoot.

I found this in the Delta Gamma section:

...Found that we had won two awards- first place in activities for large campuses in the United States and most improved scholarship for our province (and national keeps threatening to pull us out?)

That comment at the end seems way more candid than anything I could imagine from a modern NPC chapter.

I remember the smallest chapter on my campus being plagued by rumors of their imminent closure the entire time I was in school. They didn't actually close until a year after I left, so these rumors were affecting them at least a good five years before they actually did close. It just seems somewhat interesting that they would joke about something like that. Seems to me like it would just feed rumors.

Interestingly enough, according to irishpipes' list, they were closed about a decade after this yearbook was published.

Also, one sorority chapter was bragging about nearly half the chapter having a 2.0. I'm praying that Bama had a signifigantly different grading system than the 4.0 system I'm familiar with. (Or perhaps it was a typo?)

[AnchorAlumna]

Originally Posted by sherbertlemons

Some observations: I really would like to know the story behind this blurb from Chi Omega: I'm assuming by "riverboat" they're referring to their house . I can see the comparison. In any case, that chapter seems like a hoot. I found this in the Delta Gamma section: That comment at the end seems way more candid than anything I could imagine from a modern NPC chapter. I remember the smallest chapter on my campus being plagued by rumors of their imminent closure the entire time I was in school. They didn't actually close until a year after I left, so these rumors were affecting them at least a good five years before they actually did close. It just seems somewhat interesting that they would joke about something like that. Seems to me like it would just feed rumors. Interestingly enough, according to irishpipes' list, they were closed about a decade after this yearbook was published. Also, one sorority chapter was bragging about nearly half the chapter having a 2.0. I'm praying that Bama had a signifigantly different grading system than the 4.0 system I'm familiar with. (Or perhaps it was a typo?)

Alabama was on the 3.0 system through 1975..at least... Don't remember when they switched to 4.0. The DG chapter closed at the end of the spring 1978 semester. The Chi Omega house was often referred to as a riverboat because of its resemblance to one. It still looks like one, even though they added another floor. It's interesting how small the chapters were. Now they're running anywhere from 150 to 200 members.
Bouffant hairdos? Those are pretty mild. Now when they post the 1962, '63, '64, and '65 yearbooks...then you'll see some REAL bouffants.

[susan314]

I thought it was interesting that there are pictures of what appears to be alcohol (beer bottles) in the Greek section...can you imagine that happening in a university yearbook these days?

(Other random thought...I thought old-school Southern women didn't drink out of bottles? )

[sherbertlemons]

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

Alabama was on the 3.0 system through 1975..at least... Don't remember when they switched to 4.0. The DG chapter closed at the end of the spring 1978 semester. The Chi Omega house was often referred to as a riverboat because of its resemblance to one. It still looks like one, even though they added another floor. It's interested how small the chapters were. Now they're running anywhere from 150 to 200 members.
Bouffant hairdos? Those are pretty mild. Now when they post the 1962, '63, '64, and '65 yearbooks...then you'll see some REAL bouffants.

I noticed how small the chapters were, too. There also sems to have been a lot of shuffling in that era: KAT and AGD were both new, and a couple of chapters had just closed. There were also a couple of chapters that were soon to close.

It's interesting. Mind you, I know next to nothing about Bama's Greek system except what I've read on GC, but I'm assuming chapters have become so large in part because of the cost of colonizing and the chance that a new group may find survival to be hard. That doesn't seem to have been a problem back then. I wonder what changed?

[susan314]

Originally Posted by sherbertlemons

KAT and AGD were both new, and a couple of chapters had just closed. There were also a couple of chapters that were soon to close.

Our Psi chapter was chartered in 1921.

[sherbertlemons]

Originally Posted by susan314

Our Psi chapter was chartered in 1921.

Whoops. I meant Alpha Omicron Pi! Sorry!

Don't ask me how I got AGD.

[kk_bama]

Originally Posted by sherbertlemons

Mind you, I know next to nothing about Bama's Greek system except what I've read on GC, but I'm assuming chapters have become so large in part because of the cost of colonizing and the chance that a new group may find survival to be hard.

Dingdingding!!

I think you've hit the nail on the head. Along with cost, it seems to be more important these days to have a showy chapter house. And tradition is very highly valued, hence the new chapters having a hard time surviving.

[AnchorAlumna]

Originally Posted by sherbertlemons

...I'm assuming chapters have become so large in part because of the cost of colonizing and the chance that a new group may find survival to be hard. That doesn't seem to have been a problem back then. I wonder what changed?

There is no physical room left on the traditional sorority row...in fact, the stadium expansion eliminated 4 sorority houses, although only 1 was being used at the time as a sorority house.
Not to mention that it's highly competitive, and Panhellenic has never been supportive of struggling groups. That campus seems to need to have a "little group" as a target for the "don't pledge them" rumors. You can find my rants elsewhere.

[sherbertlemons]

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

There is no physical room left on the traditional sorority row...in fact, the stadium expansion eliminated 4 sorority houses, although only 1 was being used at the time as a sorority house.

Okay I get it now. Reminds me of UCF. The unhoused situation is mostly survivable there (also helps that almost half of the NPC chapters are now in that situation) but it's certainly not pretty for the chapters that are stuck.

I can see how lack of comparable housing could equal a quick death for the chapter involved at Bama.

Where did the sorority who's house was bulldozed for stadium expansion go?