The second National Convention of Tau Beta Sigma was held in conjunction with Kappa Kappa Psi with the Alpha Chapter of the Oklahoma A. and M. College as the entertaining chapter on March 6, 7, and 8, 1947. Delegates and members from four of the five active chapters in the Sorority were present with visiting bandwomen from several other colleges and universities.

The delegates were registered in on the afternoon of March 5 and all of the young ladies were assigned to Willard Hall, one of the beautiful dormitories on the Oklahoma A. and M. campus for young women. Shortly after the evening meal everyone attended the band mixer which was sponsored by the Oklahoma A. and M. College Girls’ Band. It was here that Kappa Kappa Psi became aware of the fact that the Tau Beta Sigma girls were a great part of the convention.

Following the band mixer, the first rehearsal of the National Intercollegiate Band was held at the College Auditorium with Prof. Max Mitchell in charge.  And it was evident that the young ladies were to be a great part in the first Intercollegiate Band to be held in the United States.  Important positions in the band instrumentation were assigned to the young ladies, which was greatly appreciated.

The Tau Beta Sigma delegates and members were guests of Kappa Kappa Psi at the opening session and were presented by Dr. F. Lee Bowling, the Grand President of the Fraternity. The memorial service presented at the joint session was very impressive and was instrumental in causing every Tau Beta
Sigma to feel the strength of the tie that binds the two great organizations together for the common good of everyone.

The crowning social event of the convention was the Tau Beta Sigma tea held on Friday afternoon, given by the Alpha Chapter and supervised by Miss Vesta Etchison, Y. W. C. A. Secretary of Oklahoma A. and M. and honorary member of the Alpha Chapter. The tea was given in honor of the visiting delegates of Tau Beta Sigma, the musical faculty of the college and the wives of Kappa Kappa Psi as well as the ladies of the Intercollegiate Band.

All of the Tau Beta Sigma members were special guests of Boh Makovsky at a banquet held at 6:30 P. M. Friday evening at Willard Hall. Dr. Makovsky is a member of the Board of Trustees for Tau Beta Sigma and an honorary member of the Alpha Chapter. A very delightful time was experienced at the dinner. After the banquet everyone attended the National Intercollegiate Concert at the College Auditorium and Tau Beta Sigma was well represented in the membership of the band as special guests of the Kappa Kappa Psi Fraternity.

Following the band concert every one attended the Dance at the Legion Hall which was given by the Oklahoma A. and M. College Symphonic Band. Again the young ladies of Tau Beta Sigma scored a few points for the fine representation and the interest manifested in a pleasing period of entertainment.

The business session of the Tau Beta Sigma convention opened Saturday morning in the Y. W. C. A. room with Miss Eachison giving the welcoming address. Timely words of wisdom were added which were greatly cherished by all present. In the absence of National President Miss Doris Ragsdale, the National First Vice President, Miss Suzanne Wetmore of the Gamma chapter took charge of the meeting. Greetings were presented by Dr. Boh Makovsky and a fine address presented by Hugh McMillen, director of bands of the University of Colorado.

After delegates were received and recognized, matters of business were presented and carried out in an orderly manner. The officers elected for the next two years were as follows: Miss Suzanne Wetmore, of Gamma Chapter, National President; Miss Dorothy Allen, of Delta chapter, National First Vice President; Miss Frances Martin, of Alpha chapter, National Second Vice President; Miss Bernice Friend, of the Alpha Chapter, National Secretary; Miss Frances Brockman, of the Epsilon chapter, National Treasurer and Miss Rosemary Wright, of Alpha Chapter, National Historian.

The following members of the Board of Trustees were elected: Hugh McMillen, University of Colorado; D.O. Wiley, Texas Tech; Boh Makovsky Oklahoma A .and M. and Dr. F. Lee Bowling of Denver. Miss Wetmore became the fifth member as defined in the constitution.

The Tau Beta Sigma members joined with the Kappa Kappa Psi delegates in a real outing at the Blackwell Lake where a grand old western barbecue was served. Again the young ladies came up to the occasion in an eating contest staged around the festive board in western style.

The afternoon session was opened by voting the next convention to be held with the Kappa Kappa Psi convention at Boulder during the summer of 1949.  This was followed by a short address by Dr. F. Lee Bowling, Grand President of Kappa Kappa Psi as he brought the good news that the Fraternity has officially voted to accept Tau Beta Sigma as an affiliate member of Kappa Kappa Psi and they would officially be recognized as a sister organization of the Fraternity.

The Alpha Chapter held a model initiation ceremony which included all three degrees beautifully presented.  Honors were bestowed on Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Jones, of Lowell, Indiana; Mr. and Mrs. A. Frank Martin of Oklahoma A. and M. who were made honorary members. The third degree was conferred upon Hugh McMillen of the University of Colorado and Leonard Haug, of the University of Oklahoma, making them full honorary members of their chapter where they are sponsors. Miss Dorothy Allen of the Delta Chapter was also honored with the Third Degree as a model candidate.

For the past year Miss Doris Ragsdale of New Mexico has been the national president of Tau Beta Sigma. Miss Ragsdale found it impossible to attend the second national convention and sent her regrets to the convention. The newly elected officers the next year are Miss Suzanne Wetmore of the Gamma Chapter from the University of Colorado. Miss Wetmore was the national vice-president for the past year and assumed the position as acting president during the national convention. Miss Wetmore was elected to the position of national president and will have the direction of the sorority in her care.

The first national vice-president elected was Miss Dorothy Allen, president of the Delta Chapter of the University of Oklahoma. Miss Allen has been quite active in the leadership of her chapter and is an excellent person for the position. Miss Frances Martin of Alpha Chapter was elected the second vice-president after having served one year as secretary. Miss Bernice Friend of the Alpha Chapter, who has been the national treasurer, was elevated to the position of national secretary.

It was felt by the delegates convened that it would be well to give some consideration to the Epsilon Chapter of Butler University. Miss Frances Brockman, a junior at Butler University, was elected national treasurer. Miss Brockman is very active in the Epsilon Chapter and has had an experience in leadership that will make her services quite helpful to the national organization.

In order that some record may be left in the archives of the sorority it was felt that an additional national officer should be elected so that these records could be kept with a view of furnishing to the future chapters and members a complete history of the organization. Miss Rosemary Wright, president of the Alpha Chapter for the past year, was elected as the national historian. It was the wish of the sorority that Miss Wright start immediately to compile all the records and achievements of the sorority for the past two years in the form of a historical report so that the customs and activities of the sorority could be recorded· in such a manner that it will leave a tradition for the chapter in the future to follow.

Since the [constitution] of Tau Beta Sigma states that the executive secretary shall be in conjunction with the national office of Kappa Kappa Psi, the convention went on record endorsing the selection of A. Frank Martin of Stillwater, Oklahoma as the executive secretary of Tau Beta Sigma. Mr. Martin takes care of all the activities of the office, such as correspondence, the ordering of shingles, jewelry, and makes all the arrangements for the installation of all new chapters, collections and deposits of funds, and passes on the obligations of the sorority. The same system used, by Kappa Kappa Psi is enforced by Tau Beta Sigma. Checks for the payment of bills are issued in the office of the executive secretary but are required to be signed by the national president and national treasurer before payment can be made. The national office of Tau Beta Sigma is a joint arrangement with Kappa Kappa Psi.  Since Mr. Martin was duly elected by the national chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi to serve as their executive secretary for the coming two years, his endorsement was made by the Tau Beta Sigma delegates at the convention.

A very fine board of trustees was selected. The constitution states that the national president of the sorority shall be a member of this board, Miss Wetmore automatically becomes the first of the five members. Others selected for the position of members of this board were Boh Makovsky of the Oklahoma A. and M, College, Hugh McMillen of the University of Colorado, Dr. F. Lee Bowling of Denver, and D.O. Wiley of Texas Tech, Lubbock, Texas.

With the selection of this group of national officers it is felt by everyone connected with the sorority that an excellent selection has been made and with the experience of one year as a guide to go by it is felt that the coming two years will experience the greatest advancement and progress to be made in the life of the sorority. It was pointed out by the executive secretary’s report that some one dozen local band sororities had asked for information concerning their affiliation with the national organization.

Since Tau Beta Sigma as a national honorary sorority has only had five active chapters during its first year, it was felt that the representation of the sponsors at the national convention was unusually good.

Mr. Hiram Henry, director of the Oklahoma A. and M. College band, is the sponsor of the Alpha Chapter. His undivided time and attention was given to the assistance of the Tau Beta Sigma representatives and delegations attending the convention. It was through his wonderful cooperation that the organization was able to function in an excellent manner.

The sponsor of the Gamma Chapter of Tau Beta Sigma is  Mr. Hugh McMillen, director of the bands of the University of Colorado; Mr. McMillen is deeply interested in the activities of the Gamma Chapter and has been quite a helpful to the organization and direction of an all girls’ college band at the University of Colorado. It was through his efforts and help that a large delegation of Kappa Kappa Psi members as well as representatives of Tau Beta Sigma were able to attend the convention. His helpful assistance, words of advice, and happy smile added much to the success of the convention. It is felt that his interest in Tau Beta Sigma is sufficient to assume that for the next two years everything that can be one will be carried out to make the next convention of Tau Beta Sigma a success in every way.

The sponsor of the Delta Chapter of the University of Oklahoma is their excellent director, Mr. Leonard Haug. This was the first appearance of this fine gentleman at any convention and his winning smile truly won for him a place in the hearts of all Tau Beta Sigma delegates and members. His interest in the part the young ladies are taking in the university band has been most instrumental in the establishment of a chapter of Tau Beta Sigma and it is through his advice and counsel that this organization has functioned in an exceedingly fine manner for the past year. He demonstrates eagerness to establish higher standards, a closer affiliation between the groups and his willingness to devote much time to those efforts.

What has been said about other sponsor can be said about Mr. D.O. Wiley, the sponsor of the Beta Chapter of Texas Tech.  Previous appointments prevented Mr. Wiley from attending the convention but he was truly represented by his son and a fine delegation for Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma.

The sponsor of the Epsilon Chapter was not able to attend but it is felt that the fine record by his organization justified us to say that his chapter will be a great help in this section of the United States in the building of other fine chapters.

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Reprinted from The Baton of Kappa Kappa Psi, 1947.  All rights reserved.