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During the second half of the ‘70s decade, the Mizzou campus reflected a change of mood in the country different from the turbulent years of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s when protests against the Vietnam War and “love-ins” by drug-using hippies had made the nation’s headlines. Perhaps it was a backlash from those times that gave rise to a more conservative mood in the country and on the campus.
'''Centennial'''Theta Chapter’s long-awaited centennial celebration and reunion took place the first weekend in April of 1975. More than 400 Kappas arrived in Columbia, Mo., for the birthday celebration of the founding of Theta Chapter. Alumnae in attendance included daughters of three former university presidents. There were campus and house tours and a formal banquet at which 50-year pins and chapter awards were distributed. Council greetings were expressed by Theta’s Marian Klingbeil Williams, Fraternity Director of Personnel. She presented a $1,000 rehabilitation scholarship to the university in the name of Kappa Kappa Gamma. The chapter announced that it had collected $200 for the Rusk Rehabilitation Center in Columbia, and that it was donating money for an overhead projector at Fraternity Headquarters in honor of its Centennial. The program included a light-hearted history, and misty-eyed seniors were recognized as Kappa alumnae for the first time. The Kappa Pickers entertained, charming everyone with their country-style costumes, playing on such instruments as a banjo, saw, washboard, spoons, guitar, kazoo and flour sifter and singing songs ranging from “Big Jim Folsom” to a 1940s pop medley. A Sunday brunch at the chapter house brought the festivities to a close.
The women returned home with memories of a weekend full of happy reunions with old friends, late-night talk sessions in motel rooms, leafing through scrapbooks and Savitars, catching up on what everyone had been doing over the years since leaving Mizzou. Everyone agreed it was a grand and glorious celebration of Theta Chapter’s 100th birthday.
