Gamma Phi Beta - University of Missouri

iii iii iii iii iii iii iii iii This is the house . . . With steps where we've sat waiting for our friends, Having firesides and being serenaded, With a door that we hold open for each other. This frame has held the laughter, growth, and friendship of so many girls over the years. This is the house . . . The place we come to when we say we are "going home." Where strangers have become friends and friends have become sisters and sisters have become bridesmaids. This is the house . . . Day by day, this building, standing unmoved, houses our emotions, our living and our sisterhood. It has seen us all change, it has seen us all compromise, it has seen us all look to each other for security and trust. But this house itself has remained unchanged. This is the house . . . Our lives have been molded, torn, and rebuilt in this house. It is here that I have found my mentor, my confidant, my heart, My voice, my sisters, myself. And if ever I think that friendship is futile, I will think of my sisters and know that friendship is all that matters. Futility is just a guess . . . a despair . . . but sisterhood is everything, and worth all of the risks. This is the house . . . It will see us all leave someday, it will see the floors swept and the doors barred. And inside it, girls will breathe in sobs and say goodbye . . . Hoping that it will be only a short time until they see each other again, But for some. . . secretly knowing that it could be a matter of years – if even then. But this will always be the house. The place where all my journeys begin and end. A s I write this article, I am doing a lot of reflecting. I look at our Affiliated House Corporation (AHC) and am surrounded by fabulous women who are giving of their time very generously to the Alpha Delta Chapter of Gamma Phi Beta. These women, like those before us, give because they love Gamma Phi Beta and want to see us flourish at the University of Missouri. I am extremely thankful for the legacy all these women have left for us for our future endeavors. RecRuitment numbeRs incRease, House space DecReases Recruitment classes today ebb and flow in numbers many of us before the 2000s never experienced, some classes at 60-90 young women. We are simply out of room in our current facility. Many remember when the "new wing" was added in 1965 and the Penthouse was added in 1974. That addition was added to allow more women to live in the house. We lived in for a minimum of three years at that time. In today's numbers, the women only live in one year unless they are on executive board, and then they live in an additional year. We can only house 82 women in our current facility and can no longer hold chapter meetings at the house. The women go to a lecture hall on campus every Monday (rain, shine, or snow) to have chapter meetings. That environment is not conducive to group work, arranging chairs, or even fulfilling rituals in the ways we learned and practiced them "back in the day." aDDing moRe common Living space As you may recall, our previous Pride in Our Past, Securing Our Future campaign ended more than five years ago and addressed structural updates and bedroom renovations. However, in order to stay relevant and modern, updates are continuous. Rather than adding more beds, more common living space is needed so the women who live out will feel compelled to come back and hang out at the house with the members who live in, while at the same time providing them with enough space. We would like to have enough space for a large dining facility in which all women can eat at one time (they currently eat each meal buffet style—even formal dinners). There is only space for about 100 women in the dining room at a time and we have consistently had close to, or Hilites G a m m a P h i B e t a a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f m i s s o U r i alpha Delta Spring 2017 Planning for Our Future Alpha Delta Looks Ahead to Centennial in 2021 this is the House Poem by Jules Taggart '99 (Continued on page 2)

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