Pi Beta Phi - University of Mississippi

T he late Helen Raber Stasiak '08 never finished college or joined a sorority, as she dropped out during World War II to help with the efforts at home. She told her children about her wonderful Pi Phi friends at the Kansas Alpha Chapter at the University of Kansas, which inspired her daughters, Nancy "Nan" Stasiak Carden '68 and Kathy Stasiak Hankins '72, to join Pi Beta Phi at Ole Miss; Kathy's daughter, Nancy Virginia Hankins Stewart '99, would later join as well. Then one day, Nan read in The Arrow that Pi Phi was offering membership to women who had been to college but never joined a sorority. "After reading that offer, I knew it was the right move for us to honor our mom." Kathy filled out the paperwork, and before they knew it, their mother was initiated on September 6, 2008, at the age of 87. Nan, Kathy and Nancy Virginia were all there to initiate Helen. "We had gone full circle with her wish finally achieved, and we were thrilled to have her be honored in such a special way," Nan said. "We cried at Mother's Initiation," Kathy said. "In fact, the whole chapter cried." Helen's dream was fulfilled, and now both the Pi Beta Phi crest and the Kansas Jayhawk are on her headstone in Oxford. The Stasiak women have always been close. Nan is the godmother to her niece, Nancy The MS Beta Post PAGE 4 Keeping Pi Phi in the Family The Stasiak Family Shares Their Story of Three Mississippi Beta Generations Mississippi Beta celebrates the beautiful Initiation of Helen Raber Stasiak '08. Nancy Stasiak Carden '68, Kathy Stasiak Hankins '72, Helen Raber Stasiak '08 and Nancy Hankins Stewart '99 at Helen's Pi Phi Initiation. Nancy Stasiak Carden '68 and Kathy Stasiak Hankins '72. Virginia, and Kathy is the godmother to Nan's daughter, Laura. "You compound all that and add sisterhood on top of that and you have strong bonds with beautiful memories and history," Nan said. The Mississippi Beta Family Nan and Kathy were sisters during significant years of the chapter. Mississippi Beta was still being established on campus and achieving many new honors, and when Nan met the women there, she knew Pi Phi was for her. As an international sisterhood, Pi Beta Phi is filled with thousands of amazing, outstanding women, and Kathy was recognized among them in 2019. She received the Carolyn Helman Lichtenberg Crest Award for Professional Achievement that year for her Nancy Hankins Stewart '99 and her daughter, Helen Virginia Stewart. work in medicine. Kathy's former practice was in comprehensive women's healthcare; she now focuses on collegiate mental healthcare. She has also served as a volunteer physician in a homeless shelter and has been a volunteer fraternity chapter mother for nine years. She also helped establish the Nebraska Gamma Chapter at Creighton University and served on their Alumnae Advisory Committee (AAC), as well as President of the Omaha Alumnae Panhellenic. Nan and her namesake niece have also been heavily involved as Pi Phi sisters. Nan has been active in the La Jolla, California, Alumnae Club for years and was recognized as a Golden Arrow in 2018 at the club's Founders' Day celebration. Nancy Virginia was very involved both in the chapter and on campus during her collegiate years. She served as Recruitment Counselor for two years, an Ole Miss Ambassador for three years and a Rebel Recruiter for Ole Miss Athletics for all four years. Today, she is a critical care physician at the University of Kansas Medical Center, working long shifts caring for COVID-19 patients. Nancy Virginia's 4-year-old daughter, Helen Virginia Stewart, is named after her Pi Phi relatives: her great-grandmother Helen and aunt Nan (both she and her aunt share Virginia as a middle name). "If Helen were to join Pi Phi at Ole Miss, she would be the fourth generation in our family to be a Mississippi Beta Pi Phi," Kathy said. Everyone in the Stasiak family is forever grateful for the family and Pi Phi ties they share, all thanks to Helen.

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