Rowena Harvey joined Theta Phi Alpha when she was a student at Indiana University. Having served as editor of the Wednesday Echo at Shortridge High School in Indianapolis, she continued her interest in journalism at IU.
As an undergraduate, she was the second female editor in chief of the Indiana Daily Student. She was associate editor of the Crimson Bull humor magazine and the Hooiser literary magazine in addition to serving on the Board of editors for the 1921 Arbutus yearbook. Harvey was a member of the Women’s Athletic Association, Writers’ Club and the Marquette Club. She was a member of Theta Sigma Phi journalism fraternity and Pi Lambda Theta education fraternity. Elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa,
she ranked fourth in the class of 1921.
Harvey began her graduate career at Indiana and earned a Master’s degree in 1922. She was hired to teach journalism and direct publications at the new South Side High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
She hit the ground running. In 1923, the Southside Times, the newspaper she advised, was judged the best high school newspaper in the nation. It consistently won awards during her tenure.
She served on the board of the Indiana Journalistic Teachers and Advisers Association, the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and the Indiana High School Press Association. The National School Press Association named her one of its Pioneer Award winners.
Harvey was editor of the Compass of Theta Phi Alpha from 1930-35, and she established the sorority’s Chapter Publicity Award in 1935.
She died in 1971. In 1974, the Indiana High School Press Association established the Rowena Harvey Award. The award morphed into several awards in different categories and they are today known as Harvey Awards.
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