$6 million sorority house opens this semester
AOPi house now the largest sorority house in the SEC
Jordain Carney
Issue date: 4/17/09 Section: News
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Even though the house took less than a year to build, anticipation made the wait seem even longer for some members.
"It seemed to drag by at first, but then suddenly everything seemed to come together," said Lauren Haviland, a sophomore member of AOPi.
The AOPis went from living in the Phoenix House on Arkansas Avenue between the Farmhouse and Pi Kappa Alpha fraternities to their current house, which is the largest sorority house in the Southeastern Conference.
"It's still a little surreal," said Meagan Murphy, vice president of AOPi.
"It's like night and day," AOPi sophomore Amy Short said. "Nothing about the house is trivial."
Short also said she liked the location because of its closeness to Old Main and other campus buildings.
Haviland compared the transition from one house to another as going from "peasants to queens." She said that wguke the Phoenix House had felt like a traditional residence hall, their new house feels like a home.
"We have all of the amenities that we need," she said.
The four-floor, three-balcony building can house up to 86 girls, though currently only around 70 call it home, possibly because of the university requirement that freshmen must live in residence halls.
The house includes a small apartment for the house mom, a library or study room, a combination of a workout/art room where members also can watch TV, and a balcony on the fourth floor that offers a wide view from Old Main all the way to the Washington County Courthouse.
A house chef cooks lunch and dinner for the AOPi members on Monday through Thursday, with just lunch served on Friday. There also are breakfast items available throughout the week with a hot breakfast served on Monday.
Rooms in the AOPi house come as single, double and triple occupancy. AOPi, like many Greek organizations, decides who picks their room when based on a points system.
Murphy said that points system is based on various qualifications including grades, classification and attending different events, and she said members often try to live next door to their friends.
"It's crazy to hear the talk about rooms now that it's getting close to that time," she said, before adding that she was hoping for a triple rooms that has access to one of the two front balconies.
The AOPi house also has caught the attention of other UA students.
"I'm really impressed with the architecture; it seems like someone put a lot of effort into it," student Brittany Rodgers said.
And Harrison Maddox, a UA junior, joked that "if the University of Arkansas was a Monopoly (game), the AOPi house would be Park Place."
AOPi was established on campus in August 2006. The house took a little less than a year to build after the groundbreaking on Jan. 26, 2008, and cost more than $6 million.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
$6,000,000!
posted 4/17/09 @ 7:21 AM CST
They couldn't have reduced that by a couple million dollars and made some much needed scholarships. Glad the girls have it made with their personal chef. (Continued…)
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