In February of 1945, the Executive Board of Alpha Phi chose the University of Southern California (USC) as a field for expansion after investigation showed its high academic standing, its 58 literary organizations, its increasing enrollment and its forward-looking plans for the future. Alpha Phi had long dreamed of installing a chapter at USC.
The campus community welcomed Alpha Phi with a spirit of helpfulness and cooperation. Alpha Phi recruitment took place in the Kappa Sigma Fraternity house and the Hall of Nations. On April 27, a memorable Friday afternoon, twenty outstanding women were initiated into Beta Pi at the Beta Delta chapter house. They later fêted with a banquet at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The chapter was also presented to the university and community at a reception on campus. Alpha Phis had a friend among them in Helen Moreland (Lambda-UC Berkeley) who was employed at the university’s dean of women. Beta Delta chapter collegians and area alumnae were very helpful in the preparations for the first recruitment season. Alumna Phyllis Ruffcorn (Chi-Montana), who was enrolled at the university, was another key player in the plans and implementation of a successful recruitment season.
As Clara Bradley Burdette arrived at her death on January 6, 1954, alumnae in Southern California placed a colonial chandelier on the porch of the Beta Pi chapter at the University of Southern California to “symbolize the light she shed upon those with whom she came in contact and inspire the collegians to light a path of their own to finer living.”
• During the installation of the chapter, a suitable chapter house located on “the row” was put in escrow before the date of pledging. The house was redecorated and refurbished to be completed by the next Fall semester.
• 643 W. 28th Street, Los Angeles, California
• Remodeled in 1973 with a new extension.
• Joy Mellick Brewer – Foundation Board
• Elizabeth Biddell Cooper – International Executive Board
• Margaret Calder Griest – Foundation Board
• Jenny Concepcion Hansen – Foundation Board
• Amy Okuda – Actress
• Bettye Bledsoe Preis – International Executive Board
• Lisa Rawlins - Senior Vice President, Public Affairs at Warner Bros. Entertainment Group of Companies
• Cathy Anaya Saunders - Anchor and Reporter; Owner of 4Hearts Media LLC
• Grace Sheehan – U.S Navy Captain
• Lindsay Wiggins – International Executive Board
• Andrea Simpson Smith – 1978 Ursa Major Award Winner
• Christine O’Neil O’Handley – 1984 Michaelanean Award Winner
• Cathy Anaya Saunders – 2002 Ursa Major Award Winner, 2018 Francis E. Willard Award Winner
• Lisa Rawlins – 2004 Francis E. Willard Award Winner
Apr 27th, 1945
$610,274.12
