On Friday, March 4, 1910, the Omicron chapter of Alpha Phi officially joined Kappa Kappa Gamma, Pi Beta Phi, Kappa Alpha Theta and Delta Gamma at the University of Missouri. The ceremonies were held in the family home of founder Calibel Ingels Knudson, at 1904 East Broadway in Columbia, Missouri. It was Calibel, operating under the name Sub Rosa, who had organized the group of ten founding members during the prior year in preparation to petition Alpha Phi. In December 1909, following a campus visit by Extension Chairman Bertha Sawyer Ives (Alpha-Syracuse) and Lucia Sloan (Zeta-Goucher), Sub Rosa was enthusiastically invited to become Alpha Phi's fifteenth chapter. On the evening of the Initiation ceremony, Calibel presided over a banquet. The banquet, attended by Omicron's patronesses and Alpha Phis from near and far, was at the Gordon Hotel (later known as the Niedermeyer Apartment building located on the southwest corner of 10th and Cherry Streets). Flowers sent by the other sororities festooned the private dining room. The next day, a tea was held to mark the occasion at Read Hall, the women's dormitory, hosted by acting Dean of Women, Dr. Eva Johnston.
• In 2020, the chapter ranked in the top quartile of Mizzou's 15 Panhellenic sororities, at the completion of the COVID-19 all-virtual formal recruitment. This is the highest rushing strength any SEC Alpha Phi chapter has achieved to date. Mizzou's Panhellenic has grown over the years, from having almost no rules and (literally) continuous bidding, then, a self-determined membership quota, to NPC’s "Quota Total" and, for the past 15+ years, adopting the Release Figure Method. Stronger alumnae advising support has helped embed new ways of handling membership selection, as recruitment registration mushroomed to nearly 2,000 potential new members, yielding Alpha Phi's quota of 90 + 2 quota additions in 2014.This is a dramatic contrast to the 1990s, when several Mizzou sorority chapters (Alpha Gamma Delta, Delta Phi Epsilon, Alpha Omicron Pi) closed their doors, and Omicron was nearly one of them. In the spring of 1998, AEPhi announced they would not be returning in the fall, placing our chapter at the bottom of the pecking order; moreover, our chapter's finances were in dire condition. A group of Alpha Phi International officers traveled to meet with the collegiate officers to discuss next steps, and ultimately the existing chapter voted to take alumnae status, so Alpha Phi could start fresh with an entirely new group of members. Led by Amy Jordan, "Team Omicron" included some of Alpha Phi's top volunteers, in what some felt was a huge gamble. Eighteen months later, the reestablished chapter was installed on Saturday, October 22, 1999 - 144 members strong, including a full quota new member class from that fall. While the decision to begin again triggered disappointment and hurt, almost everyone now acknowledges it was the right choice, which enabled the chapter to reach heights not seen in decades. On a happier note,
• 2010 marked the chapter's centennial year and it was a festive weekend for the 400+ alumnae who traveled to Columbia to celebrate. A committee of nearly 50 Omicrons, led by real-life sisters Pat Jones Stevens and Marcia Jones Lane, spent nearly five years planning the event, which included a kick-off party in the football stadium club, a Foundation fundraising walk, a proclamation delivered by the Columbia mayor, the reveal of a commemorative plaque on the front lawn, and capped off with a tented banquet on the Carnahan Quadrangle on Saturday, October 2, 2010. Including more than 200 collegians present, there were more women in attendance that night, than Mizzou's entire female population the year Omicron was launched, a century earlier. The anniversary dinner also included the public announcement of a capital fundraising campaign which had already raised more than $375,000 in gifts and pledges to remodel the chapter house, ultimately generating more than $500,000. The following day, former International President Phyllis Sims Selig (Gamma Delta-Kansas) conducted Initiation services for the fall new member class, several mothers, and special friends.
• Immediately following Omicron's spring 1910 installation, Omicron enlisted J. W. Dumas, a local architect and builder to construct a rental house at 805 Virginia Avenue, for which they paid $1,000 a year. It was ready for them to occupy by the fall of 1910. On Sunday, April 13, 1913 an upstairs fire damaged the house, but repairs were completed prior to June commencement. In the interim, the chapter was aided by the entire campus community and found temporary housing until returning to their restored home. Kappa Kappa Gamma and other sororities began building new chapter houses in "Greek Town" starting around 1914.
• In the early 1920s, Alpha Phi's Kansas City alumnae helped Omicron acquire its current property on Providence Road and started fundraising toward building a new Omicron home there. Ground was broken on April 12, 1923 and the chapter house was ready by that fall; an official open house party followed in late January of 1924. Built by Berry McAlester (whose father founded the MU Medical School) at an estimated cost of $30,000, the chapter's new home was designed as a three-story English Tudor, and as reported in the Quarterly, was often called the House of Seven Gables.
• A major renovation by J. E. Hathman Construction Company in 1955 doubled the size of the house, providing new dining space and additional bedrooms. The exterior was redesigned, adding elegant exterior columns and squaring the roof line. Funding for the project was raised by selling $1,000 bonds to alumnae, many of which were gifted back to the House Corporation, in lieu of redemption. Because construction was underway that fall, formal recruitment was held in a 30' x 50' green circus tent erected in the front yard, filled with 500 balloons; nearly life-size clowns clung to tent poles and mobiles were hung from the rafters. Bottled drinks were served from tubs of ice and doughnuts were the refreshments, there being no facilities for cooking or washing dishes. The chapter moved into their new house on January 28, 1956.
• In 1958, the city of Columbia removed 14' of Omicron's front lawn to widen the street, and renumbered many addresses, changing Omicron’s from 910 Providence Road to 906 South Providence Road.
• In the late 1970s, Alpha Phi purchased a four-unit apartment building on Curtis Avenue, behind and adjacent to Omicron's property, which has functioned as an annex ever since.
• The Columbia Garden Club recognized Alpha Phi with a Citation of Commendation in 2002 for the chapter's elegant landscaping; Alpha Phi International recognized Omicron's House Corporation Board in 2004 for Outstanding HCB and Chapter Relations; and the chapter received the Foundation's Martha Mast award the same year. As a result of a successful fundraising drive, the main house bathrooms were enlarged, sprinklers installed, and the house was wired for internet connectivity in 2009. In addition, the annex was substantially reconfigured in 2011, and in 2015 the main house kitchen and lower level were renovated.
• In recent years, most other Mizzou chapters have razed and rebuilt, or made significant renovations to their facilities, thus allowing more members to live in and enable chapter gatherings to be accommodated under their own roof - rather than on campus in a classroom building or at a local hotel. After years of trying to acquire the brownstone rooming house contiguous to the south side of Omicron's chapter house, Alpha Phi was successful in purchasing 912 S. Providence Road on December 11, 2019 at a cost of $727,000. In the late 1980s, Alpha Phi was a tenant there for several years when membership was rapidly growing. At present, the newly acquired dwelling is leased to a group of university students, through May of 2021; however, ownership of this property makes future expansion or replacement of Omicron's chapter house possible. A project team is actively working toward that goal.
• Jane Kirby Arkes – International Executive Board; Foundation Board; NPC Delegate
• Anna Sorency Bedell - Public Relations Specialist
• Mary Carr Boyd – International President; Foundation Chairman; NPC Delegate
• Carrie Francke – First woman elected Mizzou Student Body President, and later named a University of Missouri Curator
• Sara Wheeler Hatton – International President; NPC Delegate
• Amy Jordan – International Executive Board; Foundation Board
• Denise Blankenship Joyce – Journalist, Editorial Advisory Board Member
• Val Lawlor – International Executive Board
• Barbara Wasser Melchert – International Executive Board; Foundation Board
• Melodie Powell – Attorney; Past National Mizzou Alumnae Association President
• Louise Grant Smith – International Executive Board; Lawyer
• Catherine Logan Stembridge – Foundation Board
• Anna Sorency Bedell - 1972 Distinguished Alpha Phi Award Winner
• Maryanna Hoefel Ward Holm - 1972 Michaelanean Award Winner
• Carol Ramsey Schuster – 1972 Michaelanean Award Winner
• Sarah Tandy Lightner - 1974 Michaelanean Award Winner
• Esse Schnaedelbach Morgan - 1974 Ursa Major Award Winner
• Louise Grant Smith - 1974 Ursa Major Award Winner, 1978 Francis E. Willard Award Winner
• Christy Bulkeley - 1976 Ursa Major Award Winner
• Marjorie Seward Hubbell - 1976 Ursa Award Winner
• Ortrude Schnaedelbach Busse - 1980 Ursa Major Award Winner
• Elizabeth Engle Groom - 1980 Ursa Major Award Winner
• Judith Miller Isely – 1980 Michaelanean Award Winner
• Bonnie Marshall Auchmoody - 1982 Michaelanean Award Winner
• Ruth Singleton Kime - 1982 Michaelaean Award Winner
• Claire Rittendale Devote – 1984 Michaelanean Award Winner, 1990 Ursa Major Award Winner
• Margaret Walters Kruckemeyer – 1990 Ursa Major Award Winner
• Val Lawlor – 1998 Lily of the Valley Award Winner, 2020 Constellation Award Recipient
• Amy Jordan – 2000 Michaelanean Award Winner, 2004 Polaris Award Winner
• Mary Carr Boyd - 2000 Ivy Vine Award Winner
• Jayne Gebauer Kasten – 2000 Ursa Major Award Winner
• Sara Keltner Ellis – 2006 Michaelanean Award Winner
• Annabella Clark Gafke – 2006 Michaelanean Award Winner
• Denise Blankenship Joyce – 2006 Francis E. Willard Award Winner
• Jill Waldrop – 2006 Ursa Major Award Winner
• Kim Larsen Watson – 2006 Polaris Award Winner
• Marcia Jones Lane – 2012 Michaelanean Award Winner
• Melodie Powell – 2012 Ursa Major Award Winner
• Nancy Manring Holman – 2014 Michaelanean Award Winner
• Sharon Williams Korte – 2016 Michaelanean Award Winner
Mar 4th, 1910
Alpha Phifa Soccer Tournaments
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