I’ve been away for a week on a research project, my mind is swimming with places, dates, and the faces of those long gone. One of the most interesting tidbits I picked up last week was that Emma Patton Noble, a charter member of the Pi Beta Phi chapter at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, and a P.E.O. Past President of the Oklahoma State Chapter was called “Em Pat” by her friends. I find that endearing.
I also know that the subscribers to this blog will likely not get a notification that it has been posted. I am not sure what is going on, but I will continue to research the problem. Today’s post contains the highlights of my social media feeds.
The first appeared on my facebook feed from the Beta Theta Pi facebook page”
Beta Theta Pi .
(Grab a Kleenex) So, what happens when a freshman pledge like Tommy Babb, Kansas ’19, suffers a near-fatal bodysurfing accident over Christmas break – one that leaves him paralyzed and stripped of basic motor skills like talking? The Alpha Nu Chapter alumni charter a bus so 50 undergraduate brothers can travel 600 miles and eight hours away to initiate Tommy in his hometown of Denver. With his Beta Dad Steve, Illinois ’87, on hand to witness today’s surprise, one thing’s for sure: Tommy’s survival is a miracle…but the loyalty of his Beta brothers most certainly is not. Welcome to the brotherhood, Tommy Babb, roll #2257. (And well done, Alpha Nu. Your actions today leave lumps in throats across North America. Man it feels good to be a Beta.)
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This past weekend, the 39th THON, Penn State University’s IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, raised $9.77 million to help fight childhood cancers. This brings the event’s 39 year total of contributions to the Four Diamonds Fund to $137 million.
The event was dedicated to the memory of Vitalya “Tally” Sepot, an Alpha Chi Omega who was killed in a one-car accident as she and six others were returning to University Park from the first scheduled canning weekend.
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One of my favorite instagram feeds is that of @syracusehistory.
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syracusehistory Pictured is 603 Oakwood Avenue, former home of Dorothy and Robert Swift. Robert was born in Syracuse in 1904 and was employed as a manufacturer’s agent for a leather products company. He was a member of the American Red Cross during World War II and passed away in 1967. His wife Dorothy was born in England in 1907, she immigrated to the area where she attended Syracuse University and was a member of Phi Mu. In 1937, she was elected president of the Phi Mu Alumnae Association. Dorothy worked as a consulting dietitian and was a member of the Onondaga County Health Department and Community-General Hospital auxiliaries. She passed away in 2000 and was buried with her husband in Oakwood Cemetery. #SyracuseHistory
Dorothy Carruthers became a member of the Beta Zeta chapter of Phi Mu. She was a junior in this chapter photo from the 1929 Onondogan yearbook. There is nothing special about Dorothy Carruthers Swift. She pledged herself to Phi Mu as a college student, served Phi Mu in a local capacity, and passed on. All of our organization contain thousands of men and women who have done the same thing. They may not have awards or monuments named for them, but their efforts have helped in keeping the organization moving along through to the future.
1933-34 Beta Zeta chapter of Phi Mu
© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2016. All Rights Reserved. If you enjoyed this post, please sign up for updates. Also follow me on twitter @GLOHistory and Pinterest www.pinterest.com/glohistory/
