Chris Browning and charter members of Phi Theta Kappa at Angelina College were honored on March 27 for their work in founding the Upsilon Rho Chapter of the honor society for two-year colleges at AC.

Angelina College Alumni & Friends hung a plaque commemorating the founding PTK adviser and charter members on Founders Wall in Hudgins Hall on campus.

Browning, a retired English instructor at AC who founded the PTK chapter in 1969-70, accepted the plaque at the PTK Reunion with two charter members, Karen Kurth Hall and Steve Barnes. Other charter PTK members at AC included Kenneth Abbott, Gloria Stringer, Terry Bishop, Janice Chapmon Harrison, Ken Hannah, Bruce Harrison, Patricia Kirkland Mathews, Cecil Massingill, Nancy Owens, Kenneth Sidney, Rosemary Swetland, Robert Telford and Barbara Wilson.

Angelina PTK advisers who attended the reunion sponsored by Angelina College Alumni & Friends included Margaret Lindsay, Mattie Collins, Dr. Jimmy Tinkle, Stan Pogozelski and Joe Ragan, the current adviser.

During the reunion, more than $3,000 was raised for a PTK Scholarship Endowment through a silent auction and donations. All auction items were donated by Angelina College faculty and staff.

PTK and AC Alumni & Friends are continuing to raise money for the scholarship endowment in an effort to reach $5,000, the minimum amount for a scholarship endowment at AC. Contributions to the PTK Scholarship Endowment Fund may be sent to the attention of Dr. Elaine Jackson, Angelina College Alumni & Friends, P.O. Box 1768, Lufkin, Texas 75904. 

Dr. Clifford Lee, president of Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, entertained the PTKers at the reunion with his humorous escapades and an explanation of what to do "When We Fall Into Hot Water."

Lon Morris has the oldest PTK chapter in Texas. Dr. Lee was inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa Texas Presidents Hall of Honor in 2003. Besides being a college administrator, civic leader and minister, he is a recording artist, nationally known speaker, trainer and consultant, and author.

Dr. Larry Phillips, president of Angelina College, spoke briefly at the reunion luncheon on the proud history of PTK at AC. He reminded the alumni of how they worked together at AC to raise money to attend leadership conferences and national conventions and how they filled scrapbooks with activities demonstrating their service to others while also managing to make the good grades that qualified them for PTK membership.

He summarized PTK in the words of Chris Browning: "Not only did PTK provide fellowship at the local level, accomplishing worthwhile projects on campus and in the community, but the state and national conventions had excellent programs. The crowning activity for the year was the week-long Honors Institute held in various colleges throughout the country." Browning took the first group of PTK students from Angelina College to an Honors Institute in Rochester, Mass. in 1973.

In 1975-76, Margaret Lindsay, the second PTK adviser at AC, was recognized as one of the top 10 PTK sponsors in the United Sates at the national convention in Biloxi, Miss. That year, Angelina College’s Upsilon Rho Chapter was selected among the top 10 chapters in the U.S. and earned a scholarship to the Honor’s Institute at Mississippi State University the following summer.

During the 1980s, Mattie Collins, Gary Hodge, Stan Pogozelski, Dr. Jimmy Tinkle and Dr. Barbara Flournoy were PTK sponsors at AC. During those years, PTK members baked a multitude of pizzas to raise money for their projects. The Special Olympics was one of their favorite projects. During that time, PTK members from AC traveled to Washington, D.C., New York and Canada.

In 1986, two PTK members, Melanie Anderson and Barbara Picou, reorganized the local chapter. In 1990, Dr. Jimmy Tinkle was the first PTK adviser from AC to be inducted into the PTK Hall of Honor.

During the 1990s, members of Upsilon Rho adopted highways and children at local elementary schools. They worked in the Great American Smokeout, with the Humane Society and collected clothes for Goodwill.

Sponsors Carroll Moore and Joe Ragan carried on PTK traditions, and the chapter achieved 5-Star status. Membership grew. For a recent project, PTK members donated 158 Teddy bears to the Sheriff’s Department for children involved in crime situations. For another PTK project, members recycled shredded paper from campus offices. Ragan received the Horizon Award for the Texas Region.

Dr. Clifford Lee, president of Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, was the keynote speaker at the PTK Reunion. Dr. Lee spoke on the humorous and inspirational topic, “What to Do When We Fall Into Hot Water?” Lon Morris has the oldest PTK chapter in the state.	Mary Edna Lee and Melinda Lee Alexander (mother/daughter) visit with Margaret Lindsay, the second adviser for Upsilon Rho Chapter of PTK at Angelina College.
Bil Killam enjoys lunch with his father, Wilton Killam, the first dean of students at Angelina College, and his mother, Bonnie Killam, at the PTK Reunion.	Melba Toiga checks out one of the Silent Auction items that raised money for a PTK Scholarship.
All four of the Payne siblings were members of Phi Theta Kappa when they attended Angelina College. From left are Rachel (wife of Robert), Robert, Julie, Jennifer and John Payne. Julie Payne explained the PTK Hallmarks at the PTK Reunion.	Emily Dominey recalled her Phi Theta Kappa days at Angelina College.