Gamma Phi Beta - University of Kansas

SIGMA NEWS GAMMA PHI BETA AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS • SPRING 2025 N othing is be er than driving down Jayhawk Boulevard and turning onto West Campus Road to see our beau ful Georgian Colonial, home to our 262 undergraduate members. In January, our house was featured in the University Daily Kansan article highlighting festive holiday decorations on campus. It looks even prettier today with the spring flowers blooming! The Affiliated House Corpora on Board con nues to prepare for cri cal repairs, future upgrades, and updates to our 100-plus-year-old facility. Our house represents many cherished memories for the thousands of women who lived here through the years. From firesides and candle ligh ngs in the living room to meals shared in the dining room; from chapter mee ngs to studying in the basement; from sharing popcorn and secrets in our rooms to cha ng with "mom," we all have special memories of the rooms we resided in and the women we shared life with. We remember walking down the front steps on a gorgeous autumn day and seeing the Memorial Campanile in the distance as well as returning from class and the sense of "coming home" to see the house welcoming us back. The life me friendships we forged are as precious as the pearls on our pins. These special memories are some of the many reasons the members of the AHC are willing to commit their me, energy, and talent to maintaining this lovely home. Our mission is to provide a warm, safe, and welcoming environment to members and to impart the vision of our sisterhood "to build confident women of character" with Love, Labor, Learning, and Loyalty as our core values. We invite you to consider how you might give back to our sisters— present, past, and future—by volunteering your me or making a financial contribu on. There are a variety of volunteer opportuni es, whether it's becoming an AHC board member, a chapter advisor, or helping to update our database so we have accurate contact informa on for all sisters. We are happy to discuss how your love of Gamma Phi can become an opportunity to impact the future, and we look forward to sharing more opportuni es with you soon! In IIKE, Sigma Affiliated House Corpora on Board KUGPhiAHC@gmail.com Cherishing Our Home and Memories HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED S ince many of the women in her family a ended a different university in Kansas and pledged the same sorority (not Gamma Phi), Sophie Blackwell Lamb '04 was commi ed to keeping an open mind. Sophie quickly fell in love with Gamma Phi Beta. "I quickly realized there was no 'typical' Gamma Phi; every woman was unapologe cally herself— smart, scrappy, welcoming, funny, crea ve, and uniquely beau ful in her own way. It felt like a place where I could truly be myself without the pressure to fit into any mold." Jamie Hollenberg Wall '03 (who became Sophie's pledge mom) and her love for the house won Sophie over. Throughout her me in Sigma Chapter, Sophie loved living in "the nook," celebra ng the 2008 Na onal Championship with her sisters, and serving as a Rock Chalk Revue director. The women she met became her best friends, and they have been through so much together over the years. "I am incredibly grateful for this group and the joy, love, and support they con nue to bring to my life." In her career, Sophie worked for KU Endowment for nearly 10 years. "In 2023, I had the privilege of working on a gi that ended up being the largest gi ever received by the KU School of Business: $50 million. This gi inspired me to see what else I was capable of professionally, and in July of 2024, I jumped at the opportunity to take a remote sales posi on in the tech industry with CompTIA Inc.—a posi on I got through one of my closest Sigmas, Hannah Johnson Londergan '04! A er leaving KU Endowment, Sophie was excited to con nue with philanthropy in a volunteer capacity, so she got involved with the Mrs. Interna onal Pageant. "As someone born with hearing loss, I've always wanted to find a way to advocate for the hearing loss community and raise awareness in that space. I also saw the opportunity to expand my network and engage with other high-achieving women." "I hope I can show children and adults that we shouldn't let our challenges, like hearing loss, define us. We should embrace A LOVE FOR SISTERHOOD Sophie Blackwell Lamb '04 on Her Gamma Phi and Pageant Networks (Con nued on page 2)

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