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After being the first of the women’s fraternities at West Virginia to rent a house, Beta Upsilon now became the first to own one. With a loan from the Fraternity Endowment Fund, pledges from alumnae, and the chapter savings account, a $16,000 house was purchased at 247 Prospect Street, just a block from campus. Chapter members lived there from 1930 to 1939.
In 1937, Clara O. Pierce, Beta N u—Ohio Ohio State, Kappa Kappa Gamma’s Executive Secretary, and Margaret Reed Baker, Lambda—AkronAkron, Kappa architect, came to Morgantown to look into the possibility of building a new and modern home for the chapter. In 1938, a lot was purchased across the street from the house they owned. The alumnae were very involved and interested. Just as construction started, the man in charge of the stone work met with an accident. At the insistence of the Morgantown architect, a local alumna promised to oversee the work and took a course in stone masonry in Pittsburgh. She practically lived at the new building site, supervising every bit of the construction.
Again, Beta Upsilon was first—the first sorority on campus to build a house. Members moved into the upper floors on September 15, 1939, while the lower floor was being finished. Everyone shared the excitement of getting the workmen out and the decorators in with the furnishings in time to carry out plans for a formal housewarming on Founders Day. They proudly welcomed 300 guests to the new three-story Colonial house with the Kappa coat-of-arms beautifully displayed on a chimney above the side porch.
'''Traditions and Honors'''
Alumnae living in Morgantown have had a good relationship with the active chapter over during the years, and are very loyal. The alumnae and active chapter occasionally meet together, and in the early years the alumnae were always welcomed to special Sunday teas. The Kappa mothers in Morgantown have also been most helpful. Mother’s Day is always celebrated with a tea for in-town and out-of-town mothers.
Another early tradition that kept Kappa ties unbroken was the annual breakfast at the beginning of the commencement season. Alumnae gathered to reminisce and exchange news, and the seniors were their guests.
Louise Keener, who was comptroller at West Virginia, was the second woman to be made a member of Vandalia, an outstanding honor in West Virginia. She received the Fraternity Alumnae Achievement Award for the field of business in 1956.
Among other notable Beta Upsilons, one alumna served as dean of women at the University for 16 years; another was a UPI photographer covering the Olympic sailing events in Kiel, Germany, one a professor of law at Miami University and another, a graduate of the law school, received the Order of the Coif. Another early alumna was associate professor of Mathematics at the University and has the distinction of being the only first woman to serve as president of the West Virginia University Alumni Association.
Beta Upsilon members are still being chosen for membership in honor societies, elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and being honored in dancing, swimming, speech pathology, audiology and more. Many go on to post-graduate degrees.
The highlight of 1985 was being the first sorority on campus to fill quota, which was raised to 41 this year. Since the number of girls rushing did not increase, it promoted more competition between the sororities. The main challenge during the year was to improve public relations, which we did with exchange dinners between the sororities, a welcoming committee for a new Greek chapter on campus to promote InterGreek unity. Our philanthropy this year was with Pi Kappa Alpha, to support Cerebral Palsy. Several members were inducted into Mortar Board, Phi Beta Kappa, Rho Lambda and other honor groups. One member was elected to the Board of Governors.
In 1988 Beta Upsilon came out on top during rush with the number one quota of 64 bringing membership to its highest ever with 160 members. At Province Meeting we the chapter won scholarship and membership awards, and on campus, placed second in scholarship achievement, philanthropy and Greek Week which helped to benefit the Morgantown Big Brothers/Big Sisters. A new philanthropy program was begun, The Kappa Kids's Club. Kappas visit the Children's Hospital at Ruby Memorial as volunteers and in October held a Halloween party for the young patients there.
Beta Upsilon won first place in the Mountaineer Week competition during the 1989-90 school year and continues continued it's new Kappa Kid's Club at the Children's Hospital. Campus-wide, new identification cards have been distributed to fraternity and sorority members to use when attending Greek events. A new alcohol policy has been implemented campus-wide for the fraternities, a challenge in getting used to the new policy.
'''Highlights of 1990s'''
In 1990 Beta Upsilon started a new philanthropy of their its own: See-Saw Athon. After making a creative see-saw, all campus fraternities participated by see-sawing for 12 hours to raise money for the American Cancer Society, Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation and a Scholarship Fund started in memory of a sister killed in a car accident this that year. The new alcohol policy has been was implemented and successfully followed. The Greek ID cards were discontinued and orange stickers with the word “Greek” are placed on student ID cards. Changes on campus include the colonizing of Zeta Tau Alpha and Sigma Kappa and the closing of Delta Delta Delta. In compliance with the new alcohol policy, a new non-alcoholic barbecue was held with Sigma Chi.
The fall of 1991 Beta Upsilon was voted Most Outstanding Sorority on campus, and for the second consecutive year captured the highest Grade Point Average Award among all fraternity/sorority organizations. We The chapter welcomed Fraternity representatives who attended initiation of our the new pledges in February. In addition to other philanthropies, members knitted blue toboggans (caps) for cancer patients at Ruby Memorial Hospital. We The chapter fulfilled our chapter its goal to have 75% attendance at Kappa functions, through coordination of various communication efforts. At Province Meeting in Chapel Hill, N.C., we the chapter won first place awards for Social Awareness and Finance , and honorable mention Honorable Mention in Membership. This year, the first Sapphire Ball was held to honor the pledge class. In 1994 we Beta Upsilon received honorable mention at the Fraternity Convention for our its pledge membership program. Members regularly attend BADD (Brothers against drunk driving) as alcohol policies are strictly followed withing the fraternities.
In 1995, a new philanthropy, Homerun Derby, was an outstanding achievement, taking place on the softball field. A new sisterhood activity, movie night, was instituted at the chapter house, helping new and older members become better acquainted. The goal this year was to increase involvement, spirit, moral to 90%, and to have 90% of the chapter above a 2.5 grade point average.
In the Fall of 1997 we were voted Most Outstanding Sorority on campus and captured the highest Grade Point Average Award among all sororities for the second consecutive year. In 1998 we the chapter received honorable mention at Convention for our its Race Against Violence philanthropy and for our its Alumnae/Active relationships, plus Most Efficient and Outstanding House Board award. In the fall the chapter hosted a successful Parent's Date Party to orient our pledges' parents with Kappa. We continue The chapter continues to use the newly implemented Rush policies focusing on communication rather than skits and decorations.
The close of the decade finds found Beta Upsilon continuing to have the highest GPA on campus. The biggest challenge was participation, with members balancing studies and sorority events, but instituting Sister of the Week awards for participating in activities helped turn a negative into a positive. We are the chapter is also the only sorority on campus who participates in all of the sororities' philanthropies. We It raised $1600 1,600 in our its 5K race which went to the Rape and Domestic Violence Center, the Children's Network and to the Melissa Blum Scholarship Fund.
'''Housing:''' Owns their chapter house.
'''Highlights of 2000-2010:'''
For the 23rd consecutive year Beta Upsilon held the title of best grades on campus in 2007. We The chapter participated in Spring spring informal recruitment Recruitment for the first time in five years. At Province Meeting we the chapter won Best Overall chapter, Risk Management, Scholarship and Best Advisory Boardawards. We It started a new philanthropy called First Book and joined Kappa Alpha to hold a Christmas Party for the Boys and Girls Club. This year the campus began restoring and remodeling older buildings, enrollment on campus is growing grew and a new University president was installed.