Leading with Song & Remembering Recruitment

Leading with Song

When our current members think of Alpha Phi music, we might reflect on the lyrics of our favorite Fraternity song or hum the melody to Green Green, but if Alpha Phi music were embodied in a member living today, she would be Alpha Phi’s beloved past song chair, Judy Kay Schmidt Mead (Delta Gamma-Northern Colorado). When Judy Kay served as an educational leadership consultant, she loved traveling from chapter to chapter, engaging them through song and contributing to the legacy of our Alpha Phi rituals. Some of Judy Kay’s favorite memories involved traveling with dozens of song sheets to chapters to pass down older songs and teach newer ones that chapters had created.

Alpha Phi songs were passed down from chapter to chapter and generation to generation. Fraternity songbooks were printed in 1892, 1922, 1948, 1968 and 1972. Today, some of these are available on Alpha Phi’s digital history site. In 1996, the Fraternity also had a song manual created with a CD of select songs. Alpha Phi music has been part of Convention skits for years, and some of Alpha Phi’s more solemn moments are marked with songs as well.

Oftentimes, popular tunes were adapted by chapters, sometimes borrowing a melody or reimagining the lyrics to make the song reflect the Alpha Phi experience. Judy Kay shared, “It is important for members to connect with our music, feeling that the songs of our sisterhood reflect a balance of our history and our present.” Over the years, Judy Kay would also accompany members on her ukulele while practicing songs at Convention or other events because the joy that came from singing together was palpable. “There is nothing more unifying, warm and memorable as sitting together and singing. No matter whether the song is solemn or a little more rowdy… singing provides an eye into the sisterhood. It created wonderful memories and helped strengthen the ties that bind us over the years,” said Judy Kay.