What's the good of news if you haven't a sister to share it? -Jenny
DeVries
Over the summer
I contacted some alumni to ask them
about their memories of Alpha Kappa and the history of our house. Linda Shineman helped me compile some
memories of ladies in Alpha Kappa. Alpha
Kappa was the only chapter of Alpha Chi Omega to own 2 houses at the same time
and after the completion of the second house in 1927, moved into our house that
we are in now. Our earliest memories we
have from members start in the 1940’s during WWII. Members remember mending their sweaters with
their own human hair because resources were so scarce. Men were also scarce on
college campuses because they were
either in Europe or in the Pacific.
According to Nancy Chase, girls dated seniors at Eugene High School
during the war, much to the dismay of the local high school girls. After the servicemen returned to campus,
girls would check to see if they had any wedding bands on, just to be
sure. Some servicemen became houseboys
at AXO after the war and Joann McClintic married one who used to sneak her
extra desserts. We all know how much
Alpha Kappa like their food, especially bread!
Members remember
painting their rooms each year as well. Even though all members slept on the
sleeping porches til the 1980’s, every room had an owner, just like it does
now. The owner stayed in their room all
year and changed roommates every term to get to know more girls in the
house. The owners got to personalize their
room with their choice of paint and decorations. It was something girls looked
forward to each year. Unfortunately for us, the walls have over 100 coats of
paint and are too fragile to paint that
often anymore.
The members of
Alpha Kappa also had house duties just like we do now but were a little
different. Wake up Duty was one of the
differences we have today. No alarm clocks were allowed on sleeping
porches except for the person who had wake up duty. A map outside the sleeping porches showed where
each girl slept that they had to wake up. When doing wake up duty, members had to
remember who needed to be shaken, who you barely touched or whispered to and
who would try to sneak back into bed and pretend they had never been
woken. Knowing your sisters’ sleeping
habits is truly bonding. Alpha Kappa also used to have Greeter
Duty. That meant a sister sat at the table in the lobby and answered
the door as well as the phone. Pay
phones were located in booths on the
second and third floors where Shauna’s closets are now. When a call came in, the member on duty
contacted the member by pressing her “buzzer signal.” Mollie Brantley remembers her signal was
“long, long, short, long,” Then the
member being called would come to the top of the stairs to see if they were
paiged for a phone call or a visitor. Mollie said she liked phone duty because she got
to meet and greet all the guys coming to see their girlfriends.
Alpha Kappa did not always have key codes to come inside. Whoever was on House Duty would open the door to let girls in. Girls
had to be in my 10pm on weeknights and 1 am on weekends in the 1960’s and if
they were late they would have to appear before standards, which is like our CR
board today. We all know what the beau
room was used for, the only room boyfriends could be in, but members also
remember watching some of their favorite
tv shows in there and President Kennedy’s inauguration.
Despite the many changes Alpha Kappa
has gone through throughout the years, we still carry on some of the same
traditions. For example, the awards we receive at the end of the year from the
seniors. Charlotte DuChamp remembers
getting the “Worst Haircut” award which she said was well deserved. She also
received the “Most Risque Statue” award based on the statue of 2 nudes
embracing her boyfriend had given her. She ended up marrying him and they still
have the statue today! Some older
members might remember the prank wars we had with Delta Sig before Tri Delta
moved in. Alice Rains Batsche remembers
always being wary of the the Phi Delts on the corner. Apparently they were “very sneaky. They
climbed the fire escape, came into the bathroom and threw everyone’s towels on
the lawn. Other times they would throw
water balloons at us when we were sunbathing.
They had an old bathtub on their front lawn and would catch unsuspecting
freshmen and throw them in the tub.”
Maybe we should start up the prank war with them again?! Some of our favorite meals in the house are
pasta bar night and taco night. In the
‘60s members also enjoyed taco night and had it every Friday. Another favorite
meal was golden treasure meatballs!
When I received so much feedback
after my e-mail was sent out, I was so happy that so many alumni were willing
to participate. I am so thankful they
were able to share their amazing memories with us and hopefully there will be
more to come! All of the memories I received made me feel a closer connection
to Alpha Kappa. Now, especially because
I am a live out, I feel like I have a personal connection to the house because
I know more about the women that used to live there.
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