Kappa Alpha Theta - Purdue University

KAPPA ALPHA THETA 5 S o often with old things, their history has been lost forever and we never know the wonderful stories that accompany them. Our chapter is fortunate to have two very old Theta pins that we know a lot about, thanks to correspondence we have in our archives and information from Noraleen Duvall Young, the Kappa Alpha Theta National Archivist (and an Alpha Chi Chapter Theta). The oldest pin belonged to Mary Beach, a Purdue student who was initiated into Kappa Alpha Theta in 1880. How can that be, you ask, when our Alpha Chi chapter wasn't installed until 1915? The answer begins with the Gamma Chapter at Butler that was eager to have a Theta chapter at Purdue. When one of their pledges, Alice Farnsborough, transferred to Purdue in January of 1880, she recruited five of her friends to help her establish a chapter. And one of the five was Mary Beach. Purdue at this time was not welcoming to fraternities. In fact, Emerson White, the Purdue president, had even gone so far in 1877 to require incoming students to sign a pledge that they would not join a fraternity. So the girls were initiated in secret, or "sub rosa", at Butler while Sigma Chi friends stood guard around the house. The Alpha and Eta chapters refused to approve the charter, so the group disbanded after they graduated. Not until two of the "sub rosa six," Mary Beach and Margaret Erisman, came back for the installation of the Purdue chapter in 1915 was their story revealed. They had kept their secret for 35 years! Mary Beach's pin is now worn by the president of the Lafayette Alumnae chapter and at 139 years old, it is still beautiful. The Alpha Chi Chapter president's pin was given at the 50th anniversary of the chapter in 1965 by Mary Frances Bradshaw Dittrich, an Alpha Chi Theta who was initiated in 1923 and the mother of Katie Dittrich McMillin '48 and grandmother of Carole Wood Gorenflo '73. When Mary Frances was in school at Purdue she heard about a Theta pin that a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma was trying to get to its rightful owner. The story goes that in the late 1890s, a Theta at Depauw gave the pin to a man she was going with at the time. They broke up, but of course, he kept the pin. He later married a Kappa who wanted to return the pin. Mary Frances' mother just happened to be a Kappa so she wrote to the lady, telling her that her daughter would be happy to take care of it. Mary Frances eventually obtained the pin and in the archives we have a letter she wrote to Catherine Tillotson, the Theta Archivist in the 1920s, asking about the pin. Miss Tillotson replied that she didn't think it belonged to an individual member but instead was the missing "chapter" pin that had been worn by members of Alpha Chapter in the 1880s and 1890s. It was made by an independent jeweler so officers of Kappa Alpha Theta tried to discourage the girls from wearing it. But they still loved to wear it! Engraved on the back is "KAΘ, Purdue U, Lafayette, Ind." This was probably added before it was presented at Alpha Chi's 50th anniversary. The pin was recently missing again, but thanks to Linda Markins Sorensen's '60 efforts—and a Panhellenic-minded Kappa in the '20s—we have it today. This pin was presented to CEO Lilli Cole at Founders Day and will be passed annually to each new CEO. Loyally, Marilynn Bottomley Dammon '66 Vice President, Facility Corporation Board 50 Year Thetas The Alpha Chi President's pin. Congratulations to members of the pledge class of 1969 on receiving their 50-year pins on January 19 during Founders Day at the Lafayette Country Club. Front row: Jan Toth Kidder Allen '69, Mary Kay Greif Frech '69, Linda Weaver Roberts '69, Nancy Bange Kennedy '69, Anne Littlefield Young '69, and Elaine Rush Haehl '69. Back row: Katie Baugh Nielsen '69, Julie Carlson Wright '69, Priscilla Gates Stephan '69, Bonnie Apple Caldemeyer '69, Monica Moore '69, and Nancy Schneider Eldridge '69. The weather was perfect to welcome Theta moms to the chapter house for the traditional Mom's Day. There were activities for the members and their moms on the patio, including flower pot decorating, a photo station, a mocktail bar, and lunch. A silent auction and 50/50 raffle brought in $3,378 for CASA and the Alpha Chi Chapter Educational Foundation. From left: Mom's Day Chairman Tori Downham '17, Grace Rohlf '18, and Grace's mom, Kara Keefe Rohlf '86. ΚΑΘ MOM'S DAY Archives Tell the Stories and Secrets Behind Two Old Theta Pins Alpha Chi Chapter CEO and Lafayette Alumnae Chapter President Wear Cherished Pins

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