Debra's Story

I couldn’t afford to live on campus; I had to commute from home (about 15 miles away). Yet, I really wanted to be a part of campus life. My older sister was an Alpha Xi living on campus. I would sometimes spend weekends with her in the dorm, and I thought her friends were so cool!

I was an art major, and I met Glenda Allen in my art classes. She was an Alpha Xi and we became best friends as well as Sisters. (Glenda had lots of friends and they all probably thought they were her “best” friend”; she had a way about her like that.) Near the end of the semester, I would stay with her at the dorm and we would paint all night (with a few “prank breaks”.) We would paint a big monster on a large piece of butcher paper and tape it over someone’s dorm room door, so when she opened her door in the morning it would be the first thing to greet her. I had so much fun with Glenda; we even went on a road trip to St Augustine, Florida, so I could see the ocean. We had plans to get our own “Art Van” after graduation, and travel around the country, attending art fairs and selling our wares. But, darn it all, she got married and I went off to graduate school.

Alpha Xi Delta did round out my college experience: I participated in intramural competitions, singing competitions, float building, worked in the campus philanthropy organization, and held several offices within my chapter. In the summer of 1972, I joined two Sisters for a semester of study in Rome, Italy. We had such a blast (and made A’s in our classes).

Alpha Xi Delta made me feel not only accepted, but wanted and loved. I had a great college experience much to the credit of the “Fuzzies”.

- Submitted by Debra Callaway, Henderson State '72