Installing Officer:
Grand President Helen B. Sutliff, Kansas Alpha
Installation of Nebraska Beta
The chapter was installed on January 19, 1895. May Miller Lansing attended Hillsdale College in Michigan, where she was initiated into the Michigan Alpha Chapter. The following year May transferred to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, and brought Pi Phi to her hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska. May wanted to give women the opportunities that her Michigan Alpha sisters had given her back at Hillsdale.
Nebraska Beta was established through the efforts of Belle T. Reynolds, Nebraska Alpha; Mae Miller Lansing, Michigan Alpha; Adaline M. Quaintance, Illinois Beta; and Grand President Helen B. Sutliff, Kansas Alpha. The charter members were Lulu Eva Wirt, Jennie Barber (Plym), Kate Snow Walker (Johnson). Bessie Turner (Pearsall), Edna Blanche Carscadden (Wilson), Gertrude Wright (Barber), Belle T. Reynolds, Mae Miller Lansing and Adaline M. Quaintance.
Living at Nebraska Beta
Nebraska Beta’s Chapter house is very special to all of its members, because it has a distinct architectural character compared to other Greek houses on campus. The original brick-red exterior and blue arrow shutters symbolize the chapter’s strong sense of Pi Phi heritage. Members love to hear about the chapter house when alumnae come back to visit. Many members have the pleasure of giving tours to alumnae. It was amazing to hear the endless stories alumnae had in the exact same rooms members are currently living in. Hearing stories about memories that took place in the chapter house made each member feel like they are continuing an everlasting legacy.
Although the chapter house has been expanded and renovated along the way, it has been the chapter’s since 1895. In 2016, one member discovered one of Nebraska Beta’s original antiques! While cleaning the house, she began dusting the old cabinets; during her cleaning she found a dumbwaiter. She discovered that what now is the laundry room used to be the chapter house’s kitchen. Finding features such as this shows how much the house has evolved over the last 100 years.
Panhellenic Groups on Campus
Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Omicron Pi, Alpha Phi, Alpha Xi Delta, Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Gamma Phi Beta, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Delta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Phi Mu, Pi Beta Phi and Theta Phi Alpha
Philanthropic Service
The main Philanthropy is called Pi Phifa. It’s a three-on-three soccer tournament, and it benefits The Literacy Fund. Each team may have a total of five players who are coached by two Nebraska Beta members. The winning team is awarded with Pi Phifa T-shirts and gift cards.
Notable Alumnae
- Dr. Gladys Henry Dick, co-discoverer of the Dick Test for Scarlet Fever and the antitoxin used in the treatment of Scarlet Fever
- Kathryn Lyle Stephenson, M.D., first board-certified woman plastic surgeon in the United States. Named as the 1977 Woman of the Year by the American Association of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Carolyn Helman Lichtenberg Crest Award Winners from Nebraska Beta
Grand Council Members from Nebraska Beta
Grand Presidents
- Anna Lytle Tannahill Brannon
- Dorothy Weaver Morgan
Grand Council Members