The Chapter left Michigan campus in 1934, and while it is not clear what the reasons were, the years following the Great Depression in this country were times of much financial stress for many college students and families. Many of them were unable to continue their college education for periods of years, let alone sustain sorority dues. A total of 129 women had been initiated into the Alpha Mu Chapter at the time of its closing in 1934.

1950’s

The chapter was reestablished at the University of Michigan in 1955. The 50’s were a time of great popularity of sororities on campuses, and a group of women who were living together in West Quad at Michigan felt the need for a new sorority to be formed. One of them was a sister of an Alpha Tau at Michigan State, so it was natural that they became interested in reestablishing the Alpha Mu Chapter. They invited friends, and passed out literature in the dorms, and formed a local sorority known as Eskasia. A campus newspaper article written December 8, 1954, states that Eskasia has 40 members, and that their sorority pins “…will be small red triangles, superimposed with the letter ‘E’.” Among the founding members in this group was Judith Guest. The local sorority Eskasia was recognized as a campus group in March of 1955, and their president, Christa Eckhard, wrote to the Michigan Student Government Council for permission to reactivate the Alpha Mu Chapter of Sigma Kappa at Michigan very shortly thereafter. Their first initiation as Sigma Kappas back on Michigan’s campus was held on September 17, 1955. Among those initiated that day were honor initiates Alva Gordon Sink (wife of the Director of the University Musical Society), and Maxine H. Pierpont (who, along with her husband, Wilbur, have been honored with the naming of Pierpont Commons on North Campus). In the fall of 1956, the new members of Alph Mu moved into the chapter house at 626 Oxford Road. This house was small at the time, and only 21 members were able to live there, with the rest living in annexes across campus, and returning to 626 Oxford Road for meals and meetings. A large addition was put on this property in 1961, in time for members to live together in the fall of 1961 with a house capacity of 55. 

A series of disputes arose between the Student Government council and Sigma Kappa Sorority in October 1956. The rationale being National Council’s closing of two other Sigma Kappa chapters at Cornell and Tufts. After many public meetings and discussion, a final resolution was reached in 1960, which allowed Sigma Kappa to remain on the Ann Arbor campus.