Chapter
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The OMICRON Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi was founded at the University Of Alabama in 1917. Our previous chapter house stood in what is now the parking lot of Farah Hall, and was known as "The Barn" due to it's unique architecture. The brothers who occupied the original chapter house won the first Alabama All Sports Championship setting a tradition of excellence in athletics as well as academics for the OMICRON chapter. In keeping with spirit of growing through the relentless pursuit of excellence, the brothers overcame a tremendous obstacle which arose to threaten the existence of the OMICRON Chapter. In 1960, the University notified the chapter that the property for which the house rested would soon be used for further growth and expansion of the University's law school. The brothers were faced with the sad dilemma of losing the chapter house. After much deliberation, the brothers came to face the grim reality that funds for a new house were not being generated quickly enough, time was running out, and the future of OMICRON was growing darker with each passing day. In the last throws of the darkest hour, the Archon, in an act exemplary of the dedication of the OMICRON Chapter to the preservation and furtherance of our brotherhood, went to a local Tuscaloosa bank and put his car up, as collateral, against a loan to start construction of our present chapter house. Other brothers in the chapter followed suite and the funds to build the house we now occupy were raised and construction was completed in 1963. The year 1996 brought yet another swift turn for the future of the OMICRON chapter. The University Of Alabama cited OMICRON for hazing. The penalties for this offense were fast and furious. The chapter house was condemned, the letters stripped away, and the brotherhood that had lasted for 79 years was looking bleak and undetermined. The brothers of the OMICRON Chapter were left with a huge dilemma. They had the choice of laying down and letting the Fraternity waste away to nothing or fighting for their beloved chapter. Fortunately, in keeping with the spirit and tradition that every OMICRON initiate has grown to be a part of, they chose the harder and more arduous road to travel upon. Their efforts left them standing in the right place, and their dreams of once again calling the chapter house home soon became a reality. Not every detail of the OMICRON Chapter can be detailed here for lack of space and time. However, if one common thread could be traced from 1917 to the present, it would clearly be the fierce spirit with which OMICRON has continually pursued the highest principles and ideals of Pi Kappa Phi. In this pursuit, OMICRON has and continues to be distinguished as the most outstanding chapter of Pi Kappa Phi and a leader upon which gaze the eyes of all other chapters in the nation and the high expectation of our national organization rest. Perhaps no specific incident in our chapter's colorful history better illustrates this point better than the ones you have just read. |
THE
OMICRON CHAPTER