Anne Deaton speaks at Alpha Phi ceremony

The sorority aims to make scholarship a bigger priority among members.

By Sarah Moore

Published Sept. 15, 2009

Alpha Phi held a scholarship banquet for its sisters honoring academic achievements from spring semester 2009.

There were several women who were recognized for GPAs of more than 3.5, and a handful of women were inducted into the Ivy League of their sorority.

"Scholarship hasn't been something that we stressed in the past and we want to make it more of a priority," Alpha Phi Scholarship Committee Director Lauren Beard said.

The ceremony was held to excite the women about the academic achievements of their fellow sisters, Beard said. She said she hopes the ceremony will motivate the rest of the sisters to shoot for higher GPAs.

Anne Deaton, Chancellor Brady Deaton's wife and active member of the MU community, spoke to the women before the awards portion of the ceremony began.

She emphasized how important it is to stay true to yourself through your values as well as put forth your best efforts in everything you do.

Deaton also used the 10 founders of Alpha Phi as prime examples of for what the women of Alpha Phi should strive.

Most notable of these women was Clara Bradley Wheeler Baker Burdette who was a writer, lecturer, businesswoman, philanthropist, volunteer activist and trustee of Syracuse University.

Deaton said she had high hopes for the members of Alpha Phi and knew they could all grow to become successful young women.

"When you invest in yourself, when you give it your all, the dividends never stop coming," she said.

After Deaton's speech, each of the women was given a note card to write down personal achievement goals. They were told to put their goals somewhere they would see it everyday to help remind them of what is important to them.

"It was a huge success and we easily had twice as many girls (at the banquet) as last semester," said Sarah Midgorden, Alpha Phi vice president of scholarship.