past sororitys at uva

Why did AOP close down?

I'm curious to know as well. Was it just eventual lack of interest, was it due to hazing, etc...

The UVa AOPi owned what is now the Alpha Phi house.

Nationals came in and removed the chapter about 1997 because they didn't like the local "image" which was seen by them to be too LBGT-friendly. The UVa chapter had always been welcoming of all kinds of diversity.

I would like to think that times have changed in terms of the attitudes of any sorority (or fraternity) national reps and leadership.

damn, this comment is old af, but that is sad af! hopefully things have changed

From an older sibling who was at UVa when PM's chapter closed (spring 2007, I believe), it was more or less the SSS of it's day. Not enough members, funds, dues, etc.

AOP I have no clue, and wasn't even aware it ever existed here.

they were the stoner house in the mid-90s...what happened to them by 2007 for them to be shut down?

I wouldn't say being the stoner house is a nice antithesis...alternatives are nice, but potheads = sitting around all day smoking up and eating munchies, which, you don't really need to join a sorority for, so, not too sad they're gone.

Phi Mu -- former UVA board of visitors Rector Helen Dragas was a member.

Has a good reputation in the south but through most of the country it is a very low sorority. If it weren't for places like Alabama they would probably fold.

Phi Mu was a really strong house in late 80s/90s.Pulled mainly from NOVA private schools and some southern girls. Super laid back, good looking, a lot of fun-def not a stoner house- that might've been more 70/80s? They did drink and were def in Thursdays. It was known if you had a mixer with them- order 2X the alcohol. Not really one for following rules they did have kegs in the chapter house behind main house on Fridays and invited other fraternities. I heard they got called out on that and then rush/hazing violations led to eventual demise.

No way!! My mother was an AGD but not at uva. When did they stop? Is there a way to start them again, or can there only ever be 16 sororities?

Um, I doubt there is a 16 only rule for sororitys here in wahooville. i think it's up to AGD, but there has to be student interest as well. maybe if enough students got together and wanted to try and start another sorority, they could try and bring back adp (or pm or aop)...

"they could try and bring back adp"

whoops! meant to say agd...

I was a member of the charter class of AGD at UVA. I've been hoping for a long time that AGD would re-colonize there. Basically, there has to be enough local AGD alums to support the chapter. I'm still hopeful though!! If enough local alumni call for it, they might listen. Unfortunately, I'm not local to Virginia anymore. We'd need a better house this time too...I think the location of our house (off JPA) was one of the reasons we never did well.

UVA AGD - who are you? I'm assuming we know each other!!

How were CO and KD active here during that time? Were there enough women for them? I thought women didn't join here in large numbers until the early 70s?

XO and KD, along with ZTA (which chartered in 1952), used to consist only of education and nursing majors -- those were the only programs besides the graduate school that admitted women before coeducation.

Yep -- APhi national did the same thing with struggling chapters at Cornell, Duke, and Mizzou. All came back strong and are considered mid to top tier today.

So we have PM from ? - 2007, AOP from 1982 - 1987, AGD from 1991 - ?, and AXD from 1990 - ?

AOPi: 1982-1997, AGD: 1990-1992, AXiD: 1987-1990-something (not sure), Phi Mu: 1981-2007

Wow, AGD only lasted 2 years?

Seriously, how does a sorority only last for 2 years?

I wonder if any of those sororitys will come back...

You mean when SSS deactivates? I'd love to see nationally respected chapters like Phi Mu and Alpha Gamma Delta come to UVA.

So...SSS isn't a nationally respected chapter?

SSS is nationally respected. Phi Mu is traditionally good in the south (ex. LSU) and questionable everywhere else. AGD isn't one of the bigger sororitys

Isn't strong nationally at all. The only decent chapters are at Elon, Radford, JMU, and ECU, and maybe a few other schools. The chapters at strong Greek schools are awful: here, UNC, Mizzou, and Penn State (where they just closed for numbers). Even their Alpha chapter at Longwood is terrible.

Poor SSS.

If they're isc, they've got to be good at more than a few schools.

ISC is a UVA thing, the NPC is the national version. Phi Mu, AOPi, AXiD, and AGD are all bigger than SSS nationally. Phi Mu is very strong in the South, and I know of multiple strong chapters of the other three at D1 schools. SSS is still bigger than several, but they joined the NPC super late along with some other teacher college sororities, and were late to the game getting on big Greek campuses.

How is SSS still active? Are they even making quota? Even with snap bids, I can't imagine they have more than 60 active members.

But Carrie Underwood was a tri-sig!!!

Responding to how did AGD only last two years....lots of reasons. I was an AGD at UVA...here are the two main reasons as I see it:
1. We were more culturally diverse than any other chapter on grounds at the time. In the early 90's anyway, sororities at Virginia tended to be pretty much all the same types of gals.
2. We had problems obtaining a house in the Rugby Rd area (we were renting the house that is the current Gamma Phi Beta house and tried to buy it but it fell through) and so our official house was located off JPA. It was a beautiful house, but not in the center of things. We had to use charter buses during rush...not a big win there.
So, all in all, we were different and back then, that was a bad thing....back then. I don't really know what the greek system is like there now.

ISC is definitely not just a UVA thing - lots of schools have one - it's a local governing body at many universities whose goal is to facilitate inter-sorority unity. Sororities that are members of ISC are usually strong or stable at a lot of schools. If SSS were to recolonize , it would have to wait a good 4-5 years to come back - basically until all current classes have graduated so it can start fresh with the hopes of no stigma attached to it. I would think if sisters /alumnae from a good chapter came to help start it up again , it could have a chance. Also Phi Mu is a great sorority that could potentially do well at UVA with the right support.

i think they had to wait 5 years before they could come back...and they closed in 2007? so i guess they could try now if enough people got together and wanted to bring them back

Did they?

apparently they did

They didn't do it the past year

Is being reorganized like APhi was back in the day -- their charter is still in place, but the actives have been put on alum status so national can come in and recruit a new chapter following formal recruitment next year.

Really? I was considering asking nationals what we would have to do get Phi Mu back on grounds.

pretty sure phi mu is literally never allowed back. they got in huge trouble for hazing.

Hazing was not among Phi Mu’s problems. The stoner description was accurate for a period but then Phi Mus returned to serving its the community, raised GPAs, attempted better house management. The Gamma Omega chapter needed support from National to reach alums for support to repair the property. I know alums who worked very hard at this for years but National stonewalled. They seized the house which was chartered to a corporation, not theirs, and sold it as their asset. A lawyer would have had a very good case agains them but ewsssnce there was no client left.

If alumni owned the house, how did Nationals steal it? What was the process?

Also, doesn't a UVA alumna now own the house?

I think with the right help from the parent organization, it could be done.

yes would be great to find out how Aphi did it and employ that method with other sororities both at UVA and elsewhere. if the right people are brought in to help re-colonize that could make all the difference .. plus support in the next few years during recruitment following that first pledge class