Blast from the past (old Bama yearbooks)

[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?

[kk_bama]

Originally Posted by sherbertlemons

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

• Gamma Phi relocated to our current house om Magnolia, the former AXiD house. We were housed in what was the DG house, I believe.

• Pi Phi built a house on the only remaining land on Sorority Row.

• Delta Sigma Theta relocated to a house on New Row.

[carnation]

Originally Posted by kk_gphib_01

[LIST]
Pi Phi built a house on the only remaining land on Sorority Row.[/LIST

Man, that house was right under the stadium. I asked them how they stood it during games. Apparently, one always goes to the games so it didn't matter.

The new house is unbelievably gorgeous! An alum told me that they told the school that if they took their house, they'd have to give them this and that and that and they got it!

[AnchorAlumna]

Originally Posted by kk_gphib_01

• Gamma Phi relocated to our current house om Magnolia, the former AXiD house. We were housed in what was the DG house, I believe.

• Pi Phi built a house on the only remaining land on Sorority Row.

• Delta Sigma Theta relocated to a house on New Row.

I think...not entirely sure, but I think Gamma Phi has always been in the old Alpha Xi Delta house. After DG sold the house to the university it was used as an honors dorm. Delta Sigma Theta rented it for a while. Gamma Phi might have lived there temporarily while their house was being renovated. KK, do you know what Sigma Delta Tau will be doing with their house once the Betas move out?

[kk_bama]

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

I think...not entirely sure, but I think Gamma Phi has always been in the old Alpha Xi Delta house. After DG sold the house to the university it was used as an honors dorm. Delta Sigma Theta rented it for a while. Gamma Phi might have lived there temporarily while their house was being renovated. KK, do you know what Sigma Delta Tau will be doing with their house once the Betas move out?

I know we definitely weren't always in the old AXiD house. We were in one of the houses by the stadium from when we chartered in '88 til whenever they bulldozed those houses ('96?). I've seen pictures, it looked sort of big and square. I think it was across from either Kappa or Phi Mu.

The SDT house, once Beta is out ... I've heard several things. If they could get their numbers up enough to run it, certainly they would want to move back in. But I've also heard that Phi Mu wants to get their hands on it because their house is entirely too small to hold chapter ... they've been having to hold chapter meetings in a church gym or something like that. So we'll see!

[nmaggie]

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

KK, do you know what Sigma Delta Tau will be doing with their house once the Betas move out?

The Lambda Chi's are actually moving into the SDT house because their house is undergoing renevations all next year

[SoCalGirl]

I was surprised at how many of the pictures had women holding cigarettes!

[kk_bama]

Originally Posted by nmaggie

The Lambda Chi's are actually moving into the SDT house because their house is undergoing renevations all next year

Oh fun.

Yeah, it seems like all the fraternities are renovating or rebuilding their houses ever since the University started offering super low interest (or is it zero interest?) loans for Greek orgs to fix up their houses.