Sigma Kappa - Missouri State University

3 Sigma Kappa DeDicateD to Delta Upsilon Barbara Denham Warren'73 Stays Connected to the Sigma Kappa Sisterhood T he Missouri State University campus has been a second home to Barbara Denham Warren '73 for as long as she can remember. She grew up in Springfield, attending kindergarten through 12th grade at Greenwood Laboratory School, a comprehensive K-12 laboratory school affiliated with and located on the campus of Missouri State University. Although Barbara did not live in the chapter house as an active member, she was highly involved at Pi Kappa Sigma, which merged with Sigma Kappa after she graduated. While she did not go through the process of initiation after the merger, she became involved with alumnae groups years later and was encouraged by active members in the early '70s to go through initiation with the '73 pledge class. Since then, Barbara has put forth diligent efforts to leave her mark at Delta Upsilon; a mark that will always remain relevant through the scholarship made in her name and honor last fall. While the chapter was much smaller in the number of members than present day, Barbara joined Delta Upsilon for a chance to meet new people and make new friends whom she might not have met otherwise. Joining in the Sigma Kappa sisterhood gave Barbara a great sense of pride, as it was known to be a good sorority at MSU and had many members who were involved in campus activities. It was a wonderful way to get involved on campus and immerse herself in the college experience. As an undergraduate, she served as the president of Panhellenic Council for one year, as well as the elections commissioner for the university, during which she was in charge of all student voting. Looking back, Barbara fondly recalled their sponsor, Mary Rose Sweeney, who was an English teacher at the university; every MSU sorority at that time had a teacher who was a sponsor. Barbara highlights that Mary was an excellent teacher, a good role model, and a wonderful person whom everyone loved. "In later years, we found out that we could make her an honorary member of Sigma Kappa, and so we did," she said. Other fond memories from her involvement with Delta Upsilon throughout the years include hosting recruitment pool parties and tennis court dances at her home in the country in the early '70s for the active members at that time. Serving on the House Corporation Board for the last 12 years has kept Barbara well connected to the chapter and has allowed her to see the changes at Delta Upsilon up close. "Every year it's a different group of young women, and they're so varied in their backgrounds," she shared. "It amazes me how they can do so much for the community through philanthropic events." During Barbara's time as an undergraduate at the university, most women studied to be a nurse, teacher, or a secretary, but the times have certainly changed. "I love hearing what the women who have graduated are doing and how the professions of women have changed over the years," she said. Barbara received her B.S. in elementary education with a minor in general sciences, grades 1-3. After graduation, she landed a job teaching in the Springfield Public Schools; she taught at Phelps Elementary School and Hickory School for seven years before welcoming her first child and becoming a stay-at-home mom. After her children were grown, she was a part-owner of a Springfield daycare for nearly five years. She also taught English courses to the first Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian refugees who traveled to Springfield in 1976. Retirement is treating Barbara well, and she has stayed involved with the same alumnae group since the 1960s, which has about 18 members; seven of whom were members of her pledge class, or pledged the year before or after. The group meets once a month for lunch and has a calling committee to help keep in touch. While they were an officially chartered alumnae group about two years ago, the women in the group are getting older and it became increasingly difficult to keep up with the paperwork; the alumnae group is now on the non-chartered group list, and they continue to pay their national member dues to support the Sigma Kappa sisterhood. If you would like to reconnect with Barbara, she can be reached at bjdwarren@sbcglobal.net. Senior Spotlight: Kelli Burton '12 K elli will graduate with a degree in psychology this spring. After graduation, she will live in Seattle, Washington, and will attend the University of Washington. In August, Kelli will be welcomed into the fall 2016 master's in education policy cohort! She will take classes such as policy making, school finance, policy implementation, and teacher learning and school change. She will also be paired with an internship program in which she will complete 150 hours and gain hands-on experience in her field. In the future, Kelli plans to either start up a nonprofit to implement into schools that will partner with consulting agencies to repair the space and implement teacher training programs, or work within the legislative office helping to establish new state policy for education standards. We wish Kelli good luck on her future endeavors!

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