Two years ago, I made a promise to Joanne and Brenda, two Pi Phi friends. We were in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, celebrating the centennial of Pi Beta Phi’s commitment to literacy. A statue was being unveiled on the Arrowmont property and as we were standing around chatting, I promised them that if their chapter was ever reinstalled I would be there.
Their chapter, the South Carolina Alpha chapter of Pi Beta Phi at the University of South Carolina, is being rechartered this weekend. Unfortunately, circumstances do not allow me to attend. I will not be there and I feel awful about it.
I first heard of Sis Mullis decades ago. I was a new member of the Alumnae Advisory Committee (AAC) at the University of Michigan’s Pi Beta Phi chapter. Sis, a University of South Carolina alumna, was a Pi Phi volunteer. The Michigan Beta AAC chairman mentioned Sis’s name here and there. In my mind I pictured Sis as a tall, proper, southern belle with a hairdo adding a few extra inches to her stature. When I finally met Sarah Ruth “Sis” Mullis in 1984, I realized my mental picture was about a foot or so off the mark. But she was all that I’d heard about and more.
I had the sheer luck and pleasure of working with her when I was Director of Collegiate Programming and she was my Grand Council counterpart. In those days before texts and e-mails, Dan and the kids knew that when the phone rang and it was Sis, I’d be busy for a while. And there would be a lot of laughing going on.
Sis and me at the 2013 Pi Beta Phi Convention (Photo by Amanda Pilger)
Sis has attended every convention since she was initiated and she has been to more chapter installations than any living Pi Phi. She, along with Barbie Tootle, shared the 1965 Amy Burnham Onken Award, Pi Phi’s highest collegiate honor. I kid her that the Grand Council members who made the decision to have co-winners that year really got their money’s worth. She has served in every capacity and was able to squeeze in two years as Grand President before she termed off of Grand Council.
At her very first convention in 1962, Sis got to meet two of the Pi Phi greats, Grand President Emeritus Dr. May Lansfield Keller and Honorary Grand President Amy Burnham Onken. She is our link to those women who, in turn, met and knew most of the Founders.
While I feel awful about breaking a promise I made, I know Sis, Brenda, Joanne, and their South Carolina Alpha sisters will be having a fabulous time this weekend. And I can’t wait to hear all about it. A facebook post this morning from another Pi Phi friend sums up my thoughts exactly:
On the road again. Flying from Columbia MO to Columbia SC. Looking forward to welcoming Pi Beta Phi SC Alpha chapter back to campus.#installation weekend #SisMullisishappyhappy!
Sis Mullis with some of her South Carolina Alpha sisters. Sis is front and center.
The Rotary Club of Carbondale – Breakfast is celebrating its 25th anniversary tonight. As the incoming president, I will be there instead of enjoying a Cookie Shine with my South Carolina Alpha friends but my thoughts will be with the women in Columbia, South Carolina.
© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2014. 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/
