Alpha Phi - University of Missouri

ALWAYS ALPHA PHI O M I C R O N C H A P T E R O F A L P H A P H I BUILDING ON A CENTURY OF TRADITION— OMICRON PREPARES FOR A NEW HOUSE Alpha Phi arrived at Mizzou in the spring of 1910, joining Kappa Kappa Gamma, Pi Beta Phi, Delta Gamma, and Kappa Alpha Theta. Almost immediately our founding sisters began arranging for housing for the fall semester. While they lived temporarily on Wilson Avenue, a local architect agreed to build a chapter house and rent it to them for a period of five years, at $1,000 a year. This charming three-story home was painted dark green with a white wraparound porch and located at 805 Virginia Avenue, just up the hill and behind Johnston Hall. It had nine bedrooms and housed 16 members. Within a few years, Omicron began to pine for a larger home as the chapter grew and other groups relocated to Greek Town, across campus. In the early 1920s, all else took second place to raising money: first to buy a lot and next to build a chapter house. Members held rummage sales, sold handmade bridge tallies and batik negligees, and won $50 in furniture through the Savitar yearbook sales competition. Each member contributed $50. Supported with additional financial help from the Kansas City alumnae, on April 12, 1923, a groundbreaking was held at the Providence Road site for Omicron's new home. The estimated cost was $30,000. Designed in the Tudor style with dark brick, stucco, and exposed timbers, our house was originally called the House of Seven Gables. Later renovations squared the pitched roof, enlarged the building on its north side, and, in 1955, columns were added to give the house a more formal appearance. Following the mortgage burning in the 1970s, an adjacent rear property facing Curtis Avenue was purchased to serve as an annex; and in 2019, the brownstone house next door on Providence Road was purchased. For most of the past 20 years, Alpha Phi has convened chapter meetings in campus classrooms and often held initiation by renting space at a hotel. Pre-COVID-19, meal service allowed for less than 25% of the chapter to eat together. Almost every other Mizzou sorority has renovated or rebuilt to overcome these challenges and meet the changing needs of today's students. Until Alpha Phi's recent acquisition, our property footprint was too small to do the same, because of local zoning limitations; meanwhile, the chapter has been renting off-site storage space. Nearly 100 years ago, Alpha Phi settled in its current chapter house, which has been home to thousands of Omicron sisters. It is now time to prepare for Omicron's future and that means embarking on the construction of Omicron's new home at 906 Providence in May! We cannot wait to share more details with you in the coming months. Sisterhood begins at home. Let's build upon our century of tradition to ensure the next generation of members will enjoy the full experience of being an Alpha Phi at Mizzou. AOE, Cherie Stephens Bock '89 House Corporation Board President mizzou92ivygal@gmail.com 1910 1955 2020 S P R I N G 2 0 2 1

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