Pam Mulligan stood in front of the house and stared, her eyes fixed on the empty spot above one of the front windows where a sign that once read ‘Alpha Chi Omega’ used to be. Two women and a man approached her, looked up at the house and turned to face her.

‘What used to be there?’ they asked.

Mulligan, who returned to Syracuse University’s campus for Homecoming weekend in November, was saddened by their question. As a 1989 SU alumna who pledged the Alpha Chi Omega Lambda chapter her sophomore year, she said she found it hard to imagine the house without current students.

‘It’s sad to see it so empty, sad to see it without letters,’ she said. ‘Sad to know no new students will ever know what was once there.’

The chapter was closed one year ago due to ‘risk management issues.’ Members of the chapter were informed of the closing Jan. 27, 2011, and were told the closure would go into effect the next day. The women living in the house were allowed to continue their residence there until the end of that semester.

All former members of the Lambda chapter transitioned to alumna status and were prohibited from representing themselves as active members of an A Chi O chapter, said Katie Sisco, senior advertising major and president of the chapter at the time of its closure.

Upon receiving the news, Sisco said she was both shocked and overwhelmed. She said she spent the previous semester and all of Winter Break preparing for her new position as president, only to meet disappointment two weeks into the spring semester.

‘I was devastated, I felt angry,’ Sisco said. ‘But I had to step up and be a leader through it all.’

Sisco said the other A Chi O members were even more surprised because as a member of the executive staff, Sisco was more aware of the behind-the-scenes details. Neither she nor the other sisters expected the sorority to close for the reasons it did, especially at the dawn of recruitment.

‘It’s weird a year later just because I feel like I blocked everything out for a year — it was so devastating,’ she said.

Mulligan said there was little she or other alumni could do upon hearing the news. Many knew SU was supportive of the house and reached out to the National Headquarters, but were unable to do anything without knowing the exact circumstances surrounding the closure.

Marsha King Grady, A Chi O’s national president, said she had no comment one year later.

Though former A Chi O members are no longer sisters under the name of the sorority, they still remain close. Sisco said in the midst of last year’s upsetting events, some sisters grew out of touch. But, she said, there was an effort made recently to bring the ex-members back together to reflect on the positive memories.

Sisco said she admits it’s difficult for her and her former sisters to meet without a house to congregate in, but even with the physical house gone, headquarters failed to abolish their sisterhood. Everyone feels the same way toward each other as they always had, she said.

In New Jersey, where Mulligan serves as president of SU’s Central New Jersey Alumni Club, she said she finds it comforting to know she still has the same relationships with her sisters despite the chapter closing.

She said she recently met some of her former sisters in November, and they often have get-togethers that she has no intention of ending.

‘We don’t have a house anymore, but we still have our memories,’ Mulligan said.

Sisco said what got her through the turn of events was the support she received from the SU community and fellow sorority houses. With sorority recruitment now in full swing across campus, she said she wishes nothing but the best for other houses.

‘The only thing I want to stress is that we wish everyone else good luck with recruitment this weekend,’ Sisco said. ‘The most important thing we took from this experience was how great the other houses and the Syracuse community were to us, so though we may not be a chapter anymore, we’re incredibly supportive.’

Even as an alumna, Mulligan saw similar support. She said she recently attended a university alumni gathering in Philadelphia for an SU basketball game, where she ran into former sorority sisters of different houses.

‘They were shocked and sad, but it was so comforting to know that the other houses really loved us and wanted Alpha Chi Omega to continue just as bad,’ she said. ‘It’s comforting to know they really stand behind us and remember us for who we were rather than what happened.’

Today, former sisters of the Lambda chapter dedicate their time and effort into sports, other campus organizations and their academics. Though prohibited from joining another campus sorority, the women have been able to take the time that was devoted to A Chi O and put it toward extracurricular activities and schoolwork, Sisco said. Sisco is now concentrating on her classes and her involvement in DanceWorks she said.

The house is listed as under the ownership of the Association of Alpha Chi Omega of Syracuse, according to the Department of Finance Office of Real Property Services. Despite rumors of the house becoming a future residence hall for SU first-year females, SU’s Office of Housing, Meal Plan and ID Card Services has no interest in the property, said Sara Miller, associate director of news services in an email.

Sisco said she continues to feel poorly about A Chi O’s National Headquarters, though, who were responsible for shutting down the chapter. She does not approve of how the situation was handled, which makes her think it is unlikely the chapter will recolonize at SU in the near future, she said.

‘I would say I hope it comes back in the future because the memories I had at Lambda were incredible, but seeing how awful National Headquarters were, it would be hard to see another chapter come back,’ she said. ‘If SU was willing to work with them, it would have to be after all of us left since it was such a negative experience.’

But Mulligan said she has hope.

‘I hope it comes back,’ she said. ‘I have a son who will be two years old now, and though he can never be recruited, of course, I would love for the chapter to be back by the time he goes to Syracuse.’

meltagou@syr.edu

Published on January 30, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Marwa: meltagou@syr.edu | @marwaeltagouri