Tri Sigma and Tri Delta – What’s the Connection?

Posted on June 24, 2019 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

A reader who is a member of Sigma Sigma Sigma and works in higher education recently asked me a question. Her campus has a Delta Delta Delta chapter. She sees some similarities between the two organizations and she asked me if I knew of any connection between them. They are the only two National Panhellenic Conference organizations to use the same Greek letter three times in their name.

Tri Delta was founded at Boston University on November 28, 1888. Its founders are Sarah Ida Shaw [Martin], Eleanor Dorcas Pond [Mann, M.D.], Florence Stewart and Isabel Breed, who were all New Englanders. Shaw would become regarded as an expert on Greek-letter organizations, but her study of the topic began before she was a member. She thought through the creation of Tri Delta. She had much of its symbolism and ritual in place when the organization was founded.

Sigma Sigma Sigma was founded more than 10 years later on April 20, 1898, at the State Female Normal School in Farmville, Virginia (now Longwood University). The founders are Lucy Wright, Margaret Batten, Elizabeth Watkins, Louise Davis, Martha Trent Featherston, Lelia Scott, Isabella Merrick, and Sallie Michie. All were residents of Virginia.

Tri Delta established 17 chapters before Tri Sigma’s founding. None of them were in southern states. The Trident of Delta Delta Delta began publication in 1891, but its first catalogue of members wasn’t published until after 1900. It’s difficult to ascertain if any Tri Deltas lived in Virginia in the mid-1890s.

However, there is an entry for Tri Delta in the fourth edition of Baird’s Manual of American College Fraternities, which was published in 1890. Perhaps the Tri Sigma founders consulted this resource.

In addition to being a founder and Grand President (1889-93) of Delta Delta Delta, (Sarah) Ida Shaw Martin holds a unique place in the women’s fraternity world. She was an influential voice in the history of several sororities, most notably the early years of Alpha Sigma Alpha. Martin helped found the Association of Education Sororities of which Tri Sigma became a member. She was a consultant to these groups through her Sorority Service Bureau. Her Sorority Handbook, first published in the early 1900s, was the reference guide for sororities. I understand that Martin and Tri Sigma leader extraordinaire Mabel Lee Walton were good friends.

In 1911, Martin corresponded with Tri Sigma’s National President Bess Bennett Brower. She helped persuade Brower that the best course of action was for Tri Sigma to investigate teachers’ colleges and normal schools as potential extension opportunities. When Tri Sigma voted to seek opportunities solely in the educational field, two of its existing chapters became Tri Delta chapters.

The Tri Sigma chapter at Randolph Macon Woman’s College was founded in 1904. Tri Delta’s chapter at RMWC was established a year later in 1905. On May 30, 1911, the Tri Sigmas were initiated as members of the Tri Delta chapter.

Tri Sigma’s chapter at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, founded in 1905, also became a Tri Delta chapter. On September 30, 1911, it became the Theta Epsilon chapter of Delta Delta Delta.

Tri Delta’s Delta Eta Chapter at Coe College was originally a local with the name of Sigma Sigma Sigma. The local was founded in 1902, but had no connection to the national Tri Sigma organization.

The Years Remembered of Sigma Sigma Sigma mentions two examples of the close connection between the organizations. Amy Olgen Parmalee, Tri Delta’s Grand President from 1906-15, spoke at the 1917 Tri Sigma convention and Ernestine Block Grigsby, Tri Delta’s President from 1934-38, spoke at the 1936 Tri Sigma convention.

 

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Women’s Suffrage and Sororities

Posted on June 20, 2019 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Many sorority women were involved in the American suffrage effort. Historically, there was a strong foundation of feminists creating and joining sororities. Throughout the history of sororities* one can find women who have been trailblazers and pioneers in their fields. Of course, for one who does not wish to believe this no amount of proof will be sufficient. 

Sisterhood has really never gone out of style and it has been a cornerstone of National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) organizations since the beginning.

I offer ten women whom most anti-sorority people would never believe belonged to a sorority. (*I know all too well that although the organizations are colloquially called sororities, the majority of the 26 National Panhellenic Conference groups are officially women’s fraternities or fraternities for women). These ten women were from a “top of my head” list. There are scores of others who belong on this list.

Carrie Lane Chapman Catt (1859-1947), Pi Beta Phi (Iowa State University). Catt was President of the National American Woman Suffrage Association from 1900-04 (and 1915-20, too). She was instrumental in the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment granting women the right to vote.

Carrie C. Lane is first on the chapter roll for the Spring 1880 term.

Carrie C. Lane (Chapman Catt) is first on the Iowa Gamma Chapter roll for the Spring 1880 term.

Mary Ritter Beard (1876-1958), Kappa Alpha Theta (DePauw University). Ritter was a suffragist and a noted historian.

Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Ph.D., (1879-1958), Kappa Kappa Gamma (Ohio State University). Fisher was an author, educational reformer, and social activist. After World War I, she did post-war relief work in Europe, enlisting her Kappa sisters’ assistance in helping orphaned children.

Alice Duer Miller (1874-1942), Kappa Kappa Gamma, Barnard College (Phi Beta Kappa, too!). Miller was an ardent suffragist. In the years when women were trying to gain the right to vote, she wrote a column, Are Women People? devoted to the cause of equal suffrage. In 1915, she penned:

‘Mother, what is a feminist?’

‘A feminist, my daughter,

Is any woman now who cares

to think about her own affairs

As men don’t think she oughter.’

Kappa Kappa Gamma, Beta Epsilon Chapter, Barnard College
Kappa Kappa Gamma, Beta Epsilon Chapter, Barnard College. (Virginia Gildersleeve, an important woman in her own right is also in this picture.Mary Harriman, who founded the Junior League as an organization to serve others, was also a member of this chapter.)

Ada Comstock Notestein (1876-1973), Delta Gamma, University of Minnesota. Notestein served as  Dean of Women at Smith College from 1921-23. Since 1975, Smith College’s Ada Comstock Scholars Program has helped hundreds of non-traditional age women to complete a Bachelor of Arts. In addition, she served as President of the American Association of University Women from 1921-23 and President of Radcliffe College from 1923-43.

Ada Louise Comstock
Ada Louise Comstock

E. Jean Nelson Penfield, (1872-1961), Kappa Kappa Gamma (DePauw University). Penfield was one of seven women who chartered the Woman’s Suffrage Party of Greater New York. She also served as Kappa Kappa Gamma’s National President. 

E. Jean Nelson (Penfield) as a student
E. Jean Nelson (Penfield) as a student

Edith and Grace Abbott, both Delta Gammas (University of Nebraska). Grace (1878-1939) was the highest ranking woman in the United States government for over a decade as the head of the U.S. Children’s Bureau from 1921-34. She was the first woman to be nominated for a Presidential cabinet position—Secretary of Labor (unfortunately her nomination was not confirmed). Edith (1876-1957) was the first woman to become dean of an American graduate school, the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration.

Reverend Doctor Anna Howard Shaw, (1847-1919), Kappa Alpha Theta (Wooster College) An honorary member (alumna initiate), Shaw was a suffragist, physician, first ordained female Methodist minister, and President of the National American Woman Suffrage Association.

Frances Willard, 1839-98, Alpha Phi (Syracuse University). Willard was an honorary member (alumna initiate) and she served as Alpha Phi’s National President. She was a suffragist, social reformer, and an American educator. She was also instrumental in the establishment of the second chapter of Alpha Phi  at Northwestern University in 1881.

Frances Willard, Alpha Phi

For further evidence, please see the #WHM posts done for Women’s History Month. Using the search box on the right will bring up more posts about #notablesorority women.

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Begin the Beguine on Cole Porter’s Birthday

Posted on June 9, 2019 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Cole Porter was born on June 9, 1891, in Peru, Indiana. His family was well-to-do thanks to the industriousness of his grandfather, J.O. Cole, who struck gold in California and returned to Indiana to parlay it into a greater fortune.

Porter attended prep school in the east and then matriculated at Yale. There he became a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon. He was also a cheerleader, active in the Glee and Mandolin Clubs, and a member of the Whiffenpoofs acapella group, in the years just after its founding.

Yale 1912 Cheerleaders (They led cheers by yelling through the megaphone, no acrobatic stunts for this group.) Porter is first on the left.
Whiffenpoofs. Porter is second from the right.

He wrote more than 300 songs while at Yale. Several dozen songs were written for productions staged by Delta Kappa Epsilon. On November 28, 1911, Cora was performed at the DKE chapter house. Porter provided the music and lyrics to the book written by T. Gaillard Thomas, II. The closing number Mother Phi was a shout-out to the chapter. Delta Kappa Epsilon was founded on June 22, 1844 at Yale and the chapter has the Phi designation.

As part of the Glee Club, Porter performed at venues across the country, entertaining Yale alumni and keeping them connected to their Alma Mater. They started the year of 1912 entertaining in Washington, D.C.

Washington Herald, January 2, 1912
Washington Herald, January 2, 1912

On November 26, 1912, the fraternity house was the locale of another Phi Opera Company production. The Pot of Gold: A Home Play in Two Acts with a book by Almet F. Jenks, Jr. and music and lyrics by Porter debuted. An encore performance took place on December 4, 1912 at New Haven’s Hotel Taft.

Among the musical numbers is I Want to Be Married (to a Delta Kappa Epsilon Man). It includes this refrain:

I want to be married To a Delta Kappa Epsilon man.

I never have varied

From the Delta Kappa Epsilon clan.

I’ve a friend or two in A. D. Phi,

And my mother’s second cousin was a Beta Theta Pi,

But I want to be married

To a Delta Kappa, Delta Kappa, Delta Kappa,

Delta Kappa, Delta Kappa Epsilon man.

Porter’s work is a cornerstone of the Great American Songbook. His music and lyrics for the Broadway musical Kiss Me Kate won the first Tony Award for Best Musical at the third Tony Awards in 1949.

Porter died on October 15, 1964. His body of work lives on.

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At the Convention of P.E.O.’s Ohio State Chapter

Posted on June 3, 2019 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Last Friday was a very special day for me. I attended the convention of Ohio State Chapter of P.E.O. My Kappa Kappa Gamma friend, Kylie Smith, presided. We are both history nerds and we have attended the Fraternity and Sorority Archivists meeting. Several years ago, when she told me that she was on the Ohio State Chapter’s Executive Board, I marveled that she would be presiding during P.E.O.’s 150th year.

At some point, she asked if I would consider speaking at the President’s Banquet and I, of course, said yes. As the date grew closer and a formal invitation to speak was sent to me, my life was not my own. I was in the throes of taking care of my father and I had to decline most every opportunity to do much of anything. Kylie said not to worry. She had a Plan B if my life situation prohibited me from being there. She’s flexible that way and I said yes.

And so it was that I ended up at the hotel in Worthington, Ohio. After quickly making my way to my room, I took the stairs down to the first floor and ended up in the middle of nowhere. That was a good thing because as I walked down a hall, I heard my name. Lo and behold, it was Kylie. I had happened upon the room where the Executive Board was meeting prior to convention and they were just finishing up lunch. She suggested we get a picture before things began.

I’ve written about the first President of Ohio State Chapter of P.E.O., Julia Bishop Coleman. She was also a founder of Delta Zeta. Kylie follows in the footsteps of at least one other Kappa. Sue Baker, the current President of International Chapter of P.E.O., is a Kappa and Past President of Ohio State Chapter. The official visitor to Ohio State Convention was Kay Ebert. Her biological sister Gail Owen, an Illinois P.E.O., is currently serving as President of Kappa Kappa Gamma.

Current Kappa Kappa Gamma President Gail Owen, Kylie Smith, and Kay Ebert, nominee to the P.E.O. Executive Board. If elected in September, she will be in line to be President of P.E.O.’s International Chapter.

I know there were many sorority women among the attendees at the convention. After my talk a number of Pi Phis came up to introduce themselves. And I sat at a table with several of Kylie’s Kappa friends, including one of whom’s mother was a Pi Phi.

It was wonderful seeing Kylie preside with her humor, grace, and loving concern for her Ohio sisters. I enjoyed meeting her mom, aunt, friends, and husband, too. My thanks to Kylie and the Ohio State Chapter board and members for inviting me and making it one of the highlights of my year.

Kylie Smith and the founders front of the Memory Room backdrop
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Alpha Gamma Delta’s Beta Eta Chapter Has a Long History

Posted on May 30, 2019 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

The Beta Eta Chapter of Alpha Gamma Delta at Southern Illinois University Carbondale has an interesting history which I wrote about in my Master’s thesis. The chapter can trace its its lineage to 1923. It was in that year that a local organization, Epsilon Beta, was founded. In 1926, Epsilon Beta gave SIU a stone bench in front of Wheeler Library. It is still in the same spot, although Wheeler Hall has long ceased housing the University’s library.

Epsilon Beta became the Alpha Delta chapter of Delta Sigma Epsilon on May 11, 1928. It was the first national sorority on campus. “With this action comes a distinction to the college here in that it will have the only national sorority in a Normal school or Teacher’s college in Illinois,” boasted the May 11, 1928 issue of the Carbondale Free Press. A tea, the initiation of members and patronesses, and “the presence of guests which numbered students, faculty members and those from town were the major features of the program”

During World War II, the chapter did its part selling defense stamps and bonds and its national service project was the Seeing Eye Fund. The chapter also adopted a therapy wing of O’Reilly General Hospital in Springfield, Missouri. After the war, SIUC entered into a period of rapid growth. The returning servicemen attempted to nationalize the local men’s fraternities. The men’s and women’s fraternities provided the members with a healthy social life. Delta Sigma Epsilon seemed to be in the thick of things, enjoying its opportunity to shine as the oldest women’s fraternity on campus.

In August of 1956, four Delta Sigma Epsilon members, collegians Billie Sue Norris and Sheila Pflanz, and alumnae, Betty Mitchell and Hilda Stein, attended the national convention in New Orleans. At the convention, Delta Sigma Epsilon accepted an invitation to merge with Delta Zeta. Both organizations had been founded at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Nationally, Delta Zeta was the older of the two having been founded in 1902, 12 years before Delta Sigma Epsilon’s founding. Delta Zeta had, early in its life, joined the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) rather than the Association of Education Sororities (AES).

At the time of the merger, Delta Sigma Epsilon had 44 active chapters. There were ten campuses where both Delta Sigma Epsilon and Delta Zeta had chapters; SIUC was one of these campuses. The women of Delta Sigma Epsilon were very upset with the implications of the merger. The group was the oldest on campus and the Delta Zeta chapter had been installed in 1953, shortly after the merger of AES groups into NPC.

The collegians and alumnae of the Delta Sigma Epsilon chapter felt betrayed by the national Delta Sigma Epsilon organization, according to a conversation I had with Betty Lou Mitchell, who was in the thick of things during this time and for decades afterwards. Mitchell was an icon on the SIUC campus and her influence is still felt among generations of Alpha Gamma Delta alumnae.

The former Delta Sigma Epsilon chapter became a local organization, Nu Delta Sigma. On April 17, 1957, it signed an agreement with Alpha Gamma Delta stating that it desired to become one of its chapters. Rosita Nordwall, Secretary of the National Panhellenic Conference, wrote Lulu Good Vogelsang, Alpha Gamma Delta National President, outlining NPC’s major concern “that the matter be settled as quickly and harmoniously as possible, for the good of the whole fraternity system as well as those immediately involved”.

The bone of contention between Delta Zeta’s National President, Evelyn Costello, and the former Delta Sigma Epsilon chapter at SIU was the ability of previously initiated Delta Sigma Epsilon members to affiliate with another NPC group. On September 21, 1957, after much effort and with President Delyte W. Morris’ intervention and talk of SIUC Board of Trustee action, Nu Delta Sigma became the Beta Eta chapter of Alpha Gamma Delta. Both Costello and Vogelsang made trips to SIUC to discuss the situation. I remember Mitchell telling me that Vogelsang paid many visits to the campus, stopping by during her travels to and from places. Although other NPC groups had made overtures to the Nu Delta Sigmas, Mitchell told me it was Vogelsang’s personal touches that made Alpha Gamma Delta the desired choice.

Costello wrote Morris on June 19, 1957, and in closing said, “We cannot change the past however and the only thing to do is to proceed in the future being wiser and we hope not sadder.” The alumnae were released from their obligation to Delta Zeta.

Beta Eta was the 67th chapter of Alpha Gamma Delta. Ninety-seven alumnae and 43 undergraduates were initiated. A presentation tea at the Elks Club and a banquet at Woody Hall were part of the festivities.

The Epsilon Beta bench on SIUC’s campus
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A Quick Stop in Macon

Posted on May 29, 2019 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

We have made the drive from home to Florida dozens of times over the years my parents lived in Florida. Each time I saw the sign for Wesleyan College, I thought how nice it would be to visit the home of the Macon Magnolias, the two NPC organizations, Alpha Delta Pi and Phi Mu, founded at Wesleyan College.

However, traveling with the Becques means that you will get in a car and drive, stopping only for fuel. On our last trip to Florida, we had no reason to hurry, and Macon, Georgia, was a reachable goal for us leaving home at noon. I made a reservation at a pet friendly hotel in Macon. As we left the hotel in the morning, I set the gps for Wesleyan College and we took the dogs on a walk around campus.

Phi Mu plaque at the front gate

My husband kept saying, “Fran, what are we looking for?” and I kept telling him I’d know it when I saw it. We found it! The Alpha Delta Pi Memorial Fountain is located in the center of Wesleyan College’s quadrangle; it was a gift to celebrate the college’s centennial in 1936. Made of Georgia marble, the Alpha Delta Pi coat-of-arms is engraved on the large slanting block at center. The names of the Alpha Delta Pi founders are engraved on the stairs leading up to the fountain. Other elements of the fountain were added on other commemorations including two lions, the mascot of Alpha Delta Pi, given in 2011 to celebrate the College’s 175th anniversary.

Alpha Delta Pi Fountain
To get from the hotel to Wesleyan College, we had to turn onto Tucker Road. I suspect there could be a connection to Eugenia Tucker.

Those traveling east on Interstate 24 near Chattanooga might have seen something that has intrigued me for years. There is monument just off the highway, but seemingly in the woods, near mile marker 176. It’s white with the words “New York” on it. I tried to take a picture of it, but at 70+ miles an hour, this is what happens.

So I started sleuthing. To the best of my efforts, it appears to be a Civil War monument to the New York Troops. The inscription reads, ” To the New York Troops in Howard’s Eleventh Corps of Hooker’s Command, 11th and 12th Corps, Army of the Potomac, at Wauhatchie, October 28 – 29, 1863.

Photo by Dale K. Benington

And because I love carnations and find it easier to write with them nearby, here are the ones I am enjoying this morning as I write this. It’s a shout out to my Gamma Phi Beta friends. Here’s a refresher on the flowers of the NPC groups.

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On Memorial Day

Posted on May 27, 2019 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

On Memorial Day, one sometimes hears the haunting poem, In Flanders Fields. It was written by John McCrae, M.D., a Lieutenant Colonel in the Canadian Army during World War I. He was a Zeta Psi from the University of Toronto chapter. Although it was written by a Canadian in response to the death of his friend and former student, the poem is a fitting one to print on Memorial Day, the day for remembering those Americans who have given the ultimate sacrifice and died during their service to the country.

McCrae wrote the poem after the May 2, 1915 death and burial of his friend and former student Lieutenant Alexis Hannum Helmer. McCrae died of pneumonia on January 28, 1918, while commanding No. 3 Canadian General Hospital (McGill) at Boulogne.

In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

A memorial on the John McCrae Memorial Site, Boezinge, Ypres, West Flanders, Belgium.
The Poppies at the Tower of London, November 2014 (Photo by Linda Smith Tabb)

Frank E. Hering, an initiate of the Phi Gamma Delta chapter at Bucknell University, wrote response to Dr. John McCrae’s poem.

Frank Hering’s poem as it appeared in the Gold Star Honor Roll: A Record of Indiana Men and Women who died in the service of the United States and the Allied Nations in the World War, published in 1921.
This appeared in the Phi Gamma Delta magazine.
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“Service in Common” of the NPC Groups

Posted on May 26, 2019 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

On Memorial Day weekend, I thank the men and women who gave their lives so that others could live. World Wars I and II had a profound effect on the fraternity system. Many fraternity men went off to war.  The options for sorority women were much more limited during those two wars. Some women enlisted in the avenues of service which were open to them, but the vast majority kept the home fires burning and did what they could here at home. 

The following article “Service in Common” was published in the March 1945 Arrow of Pi Beta Phi. Nita Day Carmin, the Exchange Editor, had digested the information in the other the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) magazines. Although this was published toward the end of the war, I suspect the information presented dated from 1943 and 1944:

Practically every magazine of the women’s  fraternities features their women in service and their war time philanthropy and work. The men’s magazines all have long lists of men in service and now each issue has a casualty list of wounded, dead, and missing – Sigma Alpha Epsilon has the longest column with 279 deceased and 57 missing in action and 55 prisoners of war.*

She then went on to enumerate the programs of the National Panhellenic Conference organizations:

Delta Delta Delta‘s two war projects are funds for the United China Relief and a General War Service Scholarship Fund to train leaders for the post-war world.

Conferences at Colorado Springs and Chicago took the place of Conventions for the Alpha Phis during the past summer. Their 4 point program – afghans, stamps, emergency fund, and war nursing scholarships, has continued with enthusiasm and cooperation from individuals and chapters. They are discontinuing their Cadet Nursing Corps scholarships and embarking on work with the Chaplain Service Corps.

Lt. Commander Nancy V. Forsman, University of Nebraska, is Kappa Delta‘s highest ranking officer. She acts as liaison officer in the Ninth Naval District. They feature their magazine agency as a money raising project and last year realized over $3,800.00 in commissions for their Chapter House Fund.

Amelia Alpiner Stern and her daughter Dorothy Stern Washburn served in the American Red Cross.
Pi Beta Phis Amelia Alpiner Stern and her daughter, Dorothy Stern Washburn, served in the American Red Cross. Both were Pi Phis at the University of Illinois. Amelia Alpiner Stern, a charter member of the Pi Beta Phi chapter, was one of the first Jewish students at the University. In 1923 she founded its Moms Association. An award in her name is given yearly. She also served as Pi Beta Phi’s Grand Secretary.

Kappa Kappa Gamma‘s war interests are around their ten Service Women’s Centers located in strategic cities where women in service find hospitality.

 Alpha Chi Omega is the sponsor of Nursery or Child Care Centers in Detroit and Milwaukee. The majority of the children enrolled have mothers who are working at essential war jobs. At the National Council Meeting of Alpha Chi Omega, a training school for province officers was held in lieu of a Convention.

The Billet Fund of Alpha Gamma Delta, when completed, will provide a home spot available to any member of the fraternity.

Delta Gamma‘s fraternity project is the Nursery School for Visually Handicapped Children. Afghans for hospitals have been an alumnae project. Their province conference centered around a discussion of the justification of the ‘Fraternity System in Time of War.’

Highlight of the Workshop conducted by National and Province officers of Alpha Delta Pi, in June in Chicago at the War Service Brunch was the talk given by their Ensign Lois Swabel of the Waves on ‘Contributions College Trained Women Are Making to the Armed Services.’  All Alpha Delta Pis have participated with zest in the organization’s national projects – the pre-Pearl Harbor ‘Thumbs Up’ campaign, the maintenance of an ambulance in the British Isles, the Red Cross kit bag program of recent date. As community members Alpha Delta Pis have cooperated on all projects designed to meet local emergency needs-serving as air raid wardens, plane spotters, canteen workers, nutrition instructors and other needed volunteer personnel.

 Alumnae of Sigma Kappa have interested themselves in making U.S.O. scrapbooks. Their goal is 50,000 and more than half that number have been finish and delivered.

National Council and province conventions substituted for a national convention with the Phi Omega Pis. Plans were made to sponsor a money making project for their Ambulance Fund.*

Recommendation for a continuance of their war work with children was made by the Grand Council of Alpha Omicron Pi. They established a chairmanship of public affairs to create an interest in citizenship in their active chapters.

Purchase of a Mobile Canteen is the war project of Theta Upsilon, to be given either to the Red Cross or the Salvation Army.*

‘Preparation for Tomorrow and the Four Roads to Reconstruction’ was the theme of the Officer’s conference of Phi Mu. In addition to philanthropies they propose to award scholarships in the four fields of occupational therapy, social service, medicine, and nutrition. They also have worked out a national hostess plan, designed to help Phi Mus who must travel or change their residence during the war emergency. Their magazine publishes a complete list of Phi Mu hostesses in the leading war centers of the U.S.

Chi Omega‘s National Achievement Award for 1944 was awarded to Dr. Florence B. Seibert for her distinguished research in the field of tuberculosis. Feeling that winning the peace is the most vital issue of our time, their Eleusis contained the Dumbarton Oaks Proposals.

The first organization permitted to sponsor the symbolic campaign for rehabilitation of the wounded is Gamma Phi Beta. Their goal is to sell $1,000,000 in War Bonds.

*For more information on these two organizations, see NPC Organizations Which No Longer Exist.

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R.I.P. George Spasyk, a Lambda Chi Alpha Builder

Posted on May 17, 2019 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

Not all of us can be founders but we can all be builders. We can work on behalf of an organization and make it better. Lambda Chi Alpha just lost one of its best builders with the passing of George Spasyk at the age of 95.

George Spasyk was the son of immigrants, the youngest of nine children. He grew up in western Massachusetts. He might have had a career as one of the country’s finest chemists, but after working on the Manhattan Project and serving in the U.S. Navy, he changed his career path and earned a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Michigan (M Go Blue!). At Michigan he became a member of Lambda Chi Alpha. That decision had a profound effect on his life.

In 1950, after graduation, he was hired as Lambda Chi Alpha’s Traveling Secretary. From there he served in a variety of fraternity staff jobs until he replaced Cyril F. “Duke” Flad as Lambda Chi’s Executive Director in 1968. He served in that capacity until his retirement in 1990. He was the force behind replacing pledges with Associate Members. In 1970, he put his thoughts into words for an article in the Cross and Crescent.

https://cc.lambdachi.org/spasyk-pledges-who-needs-them/

On his 90th birthday in 2013, an alumnus said, “Had the distinct pleasure of hearing Brother Spasyk speak at my chapter’s 40th Anniversary celebration a few years ago. having my picture taken with him was one of the highlights of my fraternal experience. Unquestionably one of the best dinner speakers I’ve ever listened to.”

This one is a bit longer, but well worth the time.

George Spasyk was recognized by the interfraternal world for his efforts. My condolences to Lambda Chi Alpha on the loss of one of its influential builders. Mike Raymond offered his reflections this morning.

https://cc.lambdachi.org/reflections-on-the-life-of-george-w-spasyk/?fbclid=IwAR3KDZk-QquDmAYz8NhCpkmQyiP-tFnq1t46gaDm13LbdycBPXTnmbmJECM
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News From GLO Land

Posted on May 16, 2019 by Fran Becque, Ph.D.

It’s been a while since I’ve done an update post, but now seems as good a time as any. Enjoy!

One of my favorite GLO paintings is of Tade Hartsuff Kuhns who served as Kappa Kappa Gamma’s first Grand President in 1881. When Kappa moved its headquarters, the painting received a refreshing. It’s back in its new permanent home. Elizabeth Gowdy Baker, the woman who painted it was a Kappa, too, and there is an interesting backstory.

Congratulations!

Carrie Underwood is a member of Tri Sigma. On Friday night, Alex Leavenworth, also a Tri Sigma, will be singing with Underwood as the winner of a contest.

I think Emily Buice, an Alpha Gamma Delta, might be the first SIUC student chosen to participate in the Fraternal Government Relations Coalition jaunt to Washington, DC. Buice is also the Service to Southern Award winner, a very big deal here at SIUC. She will work for her organization after graduation having been hired as the alumnae development specialist for AGD. Congratulations!

Must Reads

If you haven’t read the latest issue of AFA Essentials, now is a good time to do it. The editor is a very special Pi Phi friend.

http:// http://ow.ly/2AoC50u5mqu

Another of my favorite Pi Phis has an instagram of the books she’s read, and she is an avid reader. Follow @becquebooks and get glimpses of my granddog and grandcats.

Condolences to Phi Delta Theta and Beta Theta Pi

Moms and Grads

Delta Zeta’s Mother’s Day post reminded me that DZ Founder Julia Bishop Coleman was the first President of the Ohio State Chapter of P.E.O. The current President of Ohio State Chapter is Kylie Towers Smith, Kappa Kappa Gamma. I’m looking forward to attending the Convention of Ohio State Chapter later this month as she presides.


Another crop of GLO alums are donning graduation gowns, cords, and sashes. Fraternity and Sorority Membership Doesn’t End With Graduation is one of my favorite posts. This post brought me a smile. We all know a few people who must have earned the same degree.

A Special P.E.O. Meeting

I spent two days in Kansas with my daughter and her husband and their fur babies. I attended a meeting of her P.E.O. chapter where the refreshments were appropriate to the time of P.E.O.’s founding. The chapter also restaged this 1888 picture of P.E.O.s. It was a very special meeting. Thanks for hosting me!

An 1888 pose
A 2019 pose
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