After nearly two decades as a home to generations of sisters, Alpha Delta Chi’s chapter house has closed its doors on Tech’s campus. The proceeds from the sale of the house will be entrusted to the Georgia Tech Foundation, which is creating an endowed scholarship aimed at supporting students from low and limited-income backgrounds.
Alpha Delta Chi, a faith-based sorority, began in 1925 at the University of California, Los Angeles and was established on Tech’s campus in 2004. By 2005, the executive members of the organization bought their chapter house from Delta Sigma Theta.
Madison Gibson, IA ‘18, is an Alpha Delta Chi alumnus who joined the sorority during her first semester and lived in the house for most of her undergraduate years. She eventually joined the executive committee as House Manager, where she was in charge of rent, organizing chores and facilitating necessary house maintenance. After graduation, Madison stayed involved with the sorority, eventually becoming their National Board Advisor, where she served as the liaison between the chapter and the National board.
“The chapter house really was like the heart of our sorority, and it led to a lot of really great relationships. Also, living in the house was dramatically cheaper than living on campus. So, I was grateful to have an affordable place to live. It helped a lot of our sisters too, who had financial difficulties, to ease that burden of stress,” Gibson stated.
However, soon after Gibson graduated, membership started to dwindle.
“We consistently had about 30 members from our inaugural year, but by the time I graduated in 2018, membership started to see a decline, and after COVID-19 hit, recruiting became difficult as well. Girls who were active in the sorority at the time decided it was too much to uphold the structure of the organization and soon we had about five members,” Gibson explained.
The house was originally set up by a separate nonprofit that the original members established the year they bought it. The nonprofit’s mission was to provide affordable housing to Georgia Tech’s students. To grapple with the recruitment difficulties and to stay in line with their chapters’ nonprofit values, the chapter decided to take in boarders.
Gibson soon guided existing members in deciding whether to sell the house and established the House Steering Committee that determined how the proceeds would be used. The chapter grappled with many different options, including selling the house to another organization at Tech or donating the proceeds to nonprofits they had worked closely with. They eventually decided to work with the Georgia Tech Foundation, influenced, in part, by Madison’s husband, who had collaborated with the foundation while he was a student at Tech.
“The Georgia Tech Foundation is really great because you donate the money to them, they invest it and then they take a percentage off every year to disperse to students,” Gibson explained.
The scholarship primarily provides support for housing with additional funds allocated towards tuition fees, books and related items. Preference will be given to students who have shown an interest or have participated in outreach with a faith-based organization. Financial aid will award the scholarship every year to students who fit the description of the endowment agreement.
Jim Hall, Senior Associate Vice President for Development who oversees fundraisers dedicated to advancing philanthropic efforts at the Georgia Tech Foundation, worked with the House Steering Committee to establish the scholarship.
“In my 26 plus years at Georgia Tech, this is a first of its kind, where a student organization has decided to come together and create an endowment in the name of that organization. It is a reminder of the importance that student organizations play on campus. All student organizations have a very real role in the community and finding a sense of belonging. So when you see stories about this, what it means to certain students, it’s pretty powerful,” Hall expressed.
To close its doors, the sorority threw a farewell party during the summer where alumni and their family and friends came by and helped close the chapter and clear out house items. Many items were donated to the new thrift store Green Goodbyes and the Salvation Army.
While the chapter’s physical presence will be missed, its impact will surely live on through the opportunities provided to future students, embodying the spirit of support and community that defined Alpha Delta Chi.