Mom : the ladies behind the letters
Abstract
The role of sorority or fraternity director is truly the mother of all university jobs. These masterful multitaskers, known as house moms or house dads, serve as mentors for students and as caretakers of the grand and sometimes historic homes where they live. Usually equipped with business or finance experience, a Mizzou sorority house mom juggles complex functions - managing catering services, completing reams of paperwork, arranging repairs, and establishing direct lines of communication with the Greek organizations' national headquarters and local offices. A house mom also helps ensure that sisterhood and stability thrive in the communal living environment. She forms bonds with her dozens of young housemates, as well as nonresident sorority sisters. She offers advice and support. She handles emergencies. She performs a balancing act all day and often late into the night. Sort of like a real mom, multiplied by 100. The house moms of Mizzou Greek Life have developed their own sisterhood outside their houses, meeting for coffee and camaraderie off campus every week. Student photographer Morgan Lieberman captured portraits of six house moms. She learned how hard they work, why they love their jobs and what they do every day to help make Mizzou a home away from home.