A BROTHER TO ALL

DURWARD W. OWEN’S INTERFRATERNAL IMPACT

by Rachel Greene

In the world of interfraternal leadership, few names carry the weight of Durward W. Owen. Fewer still carry it with such humility.

What began as his commitment to the Xi Chapter became a national voice for servant leadership, values-based brotherhood and lifelong commitment. As the executive secretary and later executive director of Pi Kappa Phi, Durward redefined what it meant to lead a fraternity.

When Durward became executive secretary in 1959, he asked Bernie Jones, Alpha (College of Charleston), then National President, if he should attend the upcoming National Interfraternity Conference (NIC) meeting. To his surprise, Jones said Pi Kappa Phi had

never been involved in the interfraternity world. The Fraternity’s leaders had never attended conferences or meetings like this. Perhaps though, Jones thought, if Durward were interested, now would be a good time to change that.

He was interested. So, in December of 1959, Durward headed to New York City and attended the NIC meeting. This was a big step for a six-month-experienced executive secretary, heading to New York City, the greatest metropolis he had visited at this point, and staying at the Waldorf Astoria. This was the beginning of a new chapter, not just for Durward, but for Pi Kappa Phi.

That first meeting introduced Durward to the interfraternal world, and to individuals who would become lifelong mentors. From there, his involvement deepened.

A few years later in 1960, Durward had to decide if attending the joint College Fraternity Secretaries Association (CFSA) and College Fraternity Editors Association (CFEA) meeting would be a worthwhile expense for the Fraternity to take on. He wasn’t sure if the actual learning experience was worth the cost of attending.

He once again went to Bernie for advice, to which Bernie told him that attending could serve two purposes; either confirming that the work Durward was doing was already right, and that if he worked hard enough, he could have an influence on other organizations.

In 1962, Durward was asked to serve on the CFEA board. Five years later, this led to his being nominated and elected president for the 1967-68 term, the first Pi Kappa Phi to hold office in an interfraternal association. Durward would later credit this presidency, which occurred very early in his career, with leading him to engage many very important people from the interfraternal world with Pi Kappa Phi.

After a successful term as president of CFEA, Durward was elected president of CFSA in 1973, during a time when many fraternities were withdrawing from the National Interfraternity Conference (NIC). His leadership helped stabilize interfraternal cooperation during one of its most uncertain eras.

The 1970s brought nationwide turmoil, with Vietnam War protests, antiestablishment sentiment and campus restructurings all taking their toll. Fraternities lost direct access to senior campus administrators, replaced by entry-level Greek advisors, many of whom lacked interfraternal experience and were not Greek themselves.

He was always a good ear; he made you feel seen and heard. He was truly one of my favorite people out there.

Durward had a vital hand in shaping the direction of the NIC, the Fraternity Executives Association (FEA) and numerous additional interfraternal coalitions. He mentored new executives, advised national presidents and boards and helped bring competing organizations to the same table, reminding them that shared values mattered more than their separate letters.

At the 1976 NIC meeting in Williamsburg, Virginia, when the NIC invited hundreds of Greek advisors to meet but failed to plan programming for them, Durward took matters into his own hands, gathering a few of them into his hotel room and organizing an impromptu luncheon. From that moment came the formation of the Association of Fraternity Advisors (AFA), an organization still serving the field today.

Durward didn’t stop there. For more than a decade, he advised regional interfraternal groups like the Southeastern Interfraternity Conference (SEIFC) and helped revive the Northeastern Interfraternity Conference (NEIFC), boosting Pi Kappa Phi’s presence in the Northeast.

And then came the 1980s. With the national drinking age rising from 18 to 21 years old, many Greek organizations were searching for a solution to the growing problems of alcohol abuse and social mismanagement. Durward spearheaded what may have been his most influential interfraternal contribution: the Fraternity Insurance Purchasing Group (FIPG). The group was created to establish risk management guidelines for students and fraternity chapters and to attempt cooperative buying of liability insurance. Under the FIPG policy, the purchase of alcohol by chapters was banned; parties became invitation only and alcohol consumption was required to comply with all applicable laws. In the area of insurance, Durward was eventually successful in establishing the cooperative buying of liability insurance through the formation of the Fraternity Insurance Trust in 1992, and later, FRMT, Ltd., in 1996.

Spending more than three decades in his role, Durward became a trusted presence not only within Pi Kappa Phi, but across the Greek community. His leadership was respected, but even more than that, it was formative in an era of uncertainty. His approach was never transactional; he never sought power and never led with ego. Instead, Durward led by example, with a deep belief that fraternities could be a force for good in young men’s lives. He challenged the status quo when he knew it needed to be challenged, but he did so with a tone that invited others to listen and reflect, not one that scolded or ostracized them. His approach to change ensured that his influence lasted in policies, programs and the people around him.

To many, Durward was more than a Pi Kappa Phi icon, he was a brother to the entire Greek movement. Long before collaboration was a buzzword, Durward modeled it with grace, consistency and humility.

His impact was affirmed by honors from across the Greek world, but while his career is what is most evident on paper, his impact can be seen most vividly on the people who he touched within the interfraternal world, people like Bonnie Wunsch. Bonnie, longtime executive director of Alpha Epsilon Phi Sorority, first met Durward in the late 1980s when women were admitted into FEA. “I don’t remember my career without Durward being a part of it,” said Bonnie. “I’ve been involved in so many organizations where he truly left a mark and led the way, so to say that I considered him a mentor would be a mild understatement.”

Bonnie is one of many who saw Durward not just as a colleague, but as a personal and professional role model. “Durward kind of took me under his wing as a new professional,” she said. In a field dominated by tradition and male voices, Durward stood out for his warmth, mentorship and inclusivity. “I have no doubt that Durwood had some role in women joining FEA,” she said. “He may have had reservations at first, but he never let them show. Once we were members, he welcomed us completely. As old fashioned and Southern as he was, Durward still respected the women professionals and treated us as peers.”

The impact he had on others often extended far beyond the job. “Durward and Connie both became friends, and both had an influence on me as an individual and as a professional,” said Bonnie. “My husband and I made multiple trips to Charlotte just to see them; they meant so much to us.”

Their friendship was filled with warmth, care and inside jokes. It reflects the same genuine attention Durward gave not just to Bonnie, but to young professionals across the Greek world. “He welcomed everybody with a smile and a hug,” she said. “He was always a good ear; he made you feel seen and heard. He was truly one of my favorite people out there.”

While those in the Greek world benefited from Durward’s presence, Pi Kappa Phi benefited just as much from his willingness to branch out of his own Fraternity.