{"id":25790,"date":"2019-03-20T08:50:31","date_gmt":"2019-03-20T12:50:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=25790"},"modified":"2019-03-27T08:19:22","modified_gmt":"2019-03-27T12:19:22","slug":"utcs-first-sorority-chi-omega-celebrates-its-centennial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2019\/03\/utcs-first-sorority-chi-omega-celebrates-its-centennial\/","title":{"rendered":"Chi Omega celebrates its centennial, plans new chapter house"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Fran Bender, co-chair of the centennial, Chi Omega President Haley Schlegel, and Kim White, former Chi Omega president, stand on the porch of the sorority’s current home on Oak Street. A new chapter house is in the works.<\/p><\/div>\n

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For more information on Chi Omega, go to: www.chiomegachattanooga.com<\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n

In 1914, six women students were just meeting as a sorority when they made history.<\/p>\n

On the campus of what was then the University of Chattanooga, sororities hadn\u2019t yet been established and, as the 1919 Moccasin<\/em> yearbook put it, the six students \u201cgot the \u2018sorority germ\u2019.\u201d The young women welcomed other female students until, by 1917, the group\u2019s growth and the university\u2019s support for it led to petitioning the national headquarters of Chi Omega to charter a new, Chattanooga chapter.<\/p>\n

Multiple campus visits from Chi Omega officials later, the charter was granted and installation and initiation ceremonies happened on March 15, 1919.<\/p>\n

Fifty years after that, and in the same year that the campus became the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, UTC\u2019s Delta Alpha Chapter of Chi Omega opened the doors to its own \u201cchapter house\u201d\u2014not a residence but a gathering place for members. Today, in the chapter\u2019s centennial year, a capital campaign is underway for a new Chi Omega house.<\/p>\n

Kim White, president and CEO of Chattanooga\u2019s River City Co., was president of the UTC chapter of Chi Omega in 1981 and is a chair of its \u201cBuilding Our Future\u201d campaign today.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt changed my entire life,\u201d White said of both her membership in and being chosen as a chapter president of Chi Omega. \u201cI tended to be a little bit shy, but it was such a warm, welcoming group of friends that I just blossomed. When my name came in\u2014you didn\u2019t seek office, you were nominated\u2014with nominations to be president, I was shocked.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to funding a $1,500 annual scholarship for a Chi Omega member based on exceptional community involvement and engagement, White said her desire to give back is the reason she\u2019s chairing the capital campaign along with Chi Omega alumna Fran Bender Rushing.<\/p>\n

Property at 515 O\u2019Neal St.\u2014adjacent to UTC intramural fields\u2014already has been purchased. Local firm River Street Architecture has drawn up plans for the new, 5,000 square-foot, lodge-style house\u2014designed not as a residence but a gathering place for studying, meals, events, initiation and chapter meetings. The projected cost is $1.5 million and fundraising is currently at $250,000. White said construction can begin when funding support reaches $750,000, and spring 2020 is the groundbreaking target.<\/p>\n

The new house will replace the current one at 850 Oak St. in the historic Fort Wood neighborhood near campus. That house was an existing structure the chapter renovated and began using in 1969. Chapter membership averaged 70 to 80 women a year from then through the 1990s, but today averages 130 to 160 members with pledge classes of up to 75 women. The growth in the chapter means it has outgrown its house, which hasn\u2019t been able to host initiation ceremonies or full chapter meetings for six years.<\/p>\n

Haley Schlegel came to UTC with no intention and, she said, frankly, no interest in Greek life on campus. A senior with a double major in child and family studies and criminal law and whose hometown is Paulding, Ohio, Schlegel also is chapter president.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you told me as a freshman this is where I would end up, I would\u2019ve laughed,\u201d she said. \u201cMy first year at UTC, I went home every chance I could and cried the whole time about going back to Chattanooga. I wasn\u2019t making many friends, and I wasn\u2019t sure this was where I belonged.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her freshman roommate was a member of Chi Omega, though, and her example changed Schlegel\u2019s perspective on sorority life and led her to pledge to Chi Omega as a sophomore.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sorority gets the credit, but it\u2019s actually the 120-plus girls who\u2019ve surrounded me like a large family that made the difference. Now, I can\u2019t imagine being anywhere else or my great luck to be the 100th<\/sup> chapter president in the chapter\u2019s 100th<\/sup> year with so many exciting things happening.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd to have the opportunity get to know Kim White and Fran Bender\u2014they are both so highly accomplished and, because they\u2019ve been where I am now, their example tells me that being highly accomplished is possible for me and every girl in the chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two days of celebration with hundreds of the 1,595 living Chi Omega alumnae returning to Chattanooga and UTC are planned for Friday and Saturday, March 22 and 23. The centerpiece of the Saturday festivities is a UTC campus shuttle tour\u2014\u201cSome may not have been back in years, and I think they\u2019ll be amazed,\u201d White said\u2014along with visits to the current chapter house and site of the future one.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love looking back at history,\u201d Schlegel said, \u201cbut I\u2019m also really excited about what\u2019s ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

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