06/07/2024
⭐️ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT⭐️
Meet the Pledge Class of 68/69!
Today, we’re thrilled to spotlight an extraordinary group of alumnae, PC 68/69. We have a special message from President Janet Stahnke.
“We joined as a very diverse group of young women and with varied interests and unique goals. Some of us became teachers with one of us creating Old Mill Center which continues to thrive and serve the Corvallis community. Others became financial planners/advisers, managers of businesses and human resources, an art director, a scientist, and one who ministers spiritual guidance and much laughter.
It is that diversity which Theta represents, celebrates, and encourages that brought us together and has kept us as friends. We just had a reunion in Hood River a couple weeks ago and 15 of us were able to come out of a pledge class of around 25. Not a bad turnout!
Thank you for giving me an opportunity to recognize and thank Kappa Alpha Theta and of course, Beta Epsilon for bringing all of us together because without this organization we never would have crossed paths.”
It is so special to see that sisterhood lasts a lifetime. We have more words from another Beta Epsilon alumnae, Alice Hartness Reichle of PC 68.
“We arrived as freshman, with the Tet Offensive in Vietnam requiring more U.S. troops, the assassinations of Dr. King, and Bobby Kennedy, race riots and more, and we began breaking rules, as were other sorority women.
We rebelled against:
“Can't kiss your date on the front porch or in the living room”
“Girls can't wear pants on campus”
“Pledges must be dry during all of Fall term”
“Mandatory phone duty and study table times at the house even if your dorm was way on the other side of campus.”
Change had to happen!!!
We were part of campus war protests and we knew some of the young men we dated had draft numbers that could send them into a war that was seriously not understood by so many Americans. We were the class that rebelled against the accepted and expected norm during troubled times of social change for our country as we were seeking our own independence and empowerment as young women with a sense of purpose while also trying to continue our gift of sisterhood.
We were at OSU during very crazy times. I hope our young sisters will be a bit amazed at how we broke the norm of the ”picture perfect” little sorority girls. We were not all about going to college to find a husband. We were looking towards careers which were also somewhat limited for women, given the times.
Our class, today, continues to honor the power and acceptance of change. We are sisters who dare to be ourselves, but care so very much for each other.”
We love you PC 68/69!!!💛💛💛
