On February 25 in Oklahoma City, an excited group of Alpha Phis and soon-to-be Alpha Phis gathered at the Panhellenic Apartments on the Oklahoma City University campus to journey to Norman and the Oklahoma (Phi) chapter house for initiation, the first part of Delta Delta chapters installation ceremony.
But the events really began the previous fall. The three other sororities on the OCU campus were originally locals of a long-standing, but Alpha Phi arrived with record speed, and the opportune moment (to get the last university apartment reserved for sororities), by means of installation.
Participating in the installation ceremonies were four international officers of the Fraternity: director of extension, Jean Morrow Meeg (Chi-Montana); director of programs, Sara Ann Wheeler Hatton; district alumnae chairman, Catherine Ann Brandt Bradshaw, and district governor, Frances Stromberg Bush. Twenty-five collegiates went to Norman from the University of Wichita to stage a model chapter meeting for the new initiates. Also represented were collegiate members from Drury College (Gamma Gamma) and the University of Kansas (Gamma Delta).
That evening the festivities resumed in the student union center of OCU with the formal installation in the Canary room conducted by Jean Morrow Meeg; then the group moved to the Green Room for the banquet with Kitty Shanklin Rountree as toastmistress.
A wonderful day ended with musical numbers by five chapter’s a capella choir and the loving cup ceremony; but there was more to come, for on Sunday afternoon the apartment was packed to capacity as a reception was held for alumnae, family, other fraternity and sorority groups and university representatives.
• Oklahoma City University since it’s opening in 1904 has had three names (Epworth University, Methodist University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma City University) and three homes (first in the city, then to Guthrie to occupy the territorial capital building for eight years and finally on the present campus).
• Upon installation, there was an element of sadness. Our beloved Helen Bender Batch who had dreamed so much of an OCU chapter and who had worked so hard to make that dream a reality had joined the silent chapter in late January. She was among the first to contact the University and communicate with the international fraternity officers.
2501 N. Blackwelder Avenue, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Bonnie Arthur Myshrall – International Executive Board
• Sheri Allen Yengst – Foundation Board
• Anne Hollas Codding – 1984 Michaelanean Award Winner
• Sandra Farris Martin – 2004 Ursa Major Award Winner
• Lisa Haning Blackburn – 2010 Michaelanean Award Winner
• Lydia Barrett – 2014 Michaelanean Award Winner
• Gretchen Fryer Hamel – 2014 Ursa Major Award Winner
• Catherine Callaway Busey – 2018 Ursa Major Award Winner
• Jacque Leveridge Fiegel – 2018 Ursa Major Award Winner
• Gabrielle Ruiz Pisanchyn – 2018 Ursa Major Award Winner
• Sarah Jensen Schettler – 2020 Constellation Award Recipient
Feb 25th, 1961
$117,973.27