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A National Inspiration
One alumna became the first national president of a sorority started at Texas Tech.
Written by Gretchen Pressley
Doris Kochanek became the first national president of Tau Beta Sigma.
It took a confident, independent woman to lead the charge for equal rights against the male-dominated field of music in 1946. But Doris Ragsdale Kochanek was up to the challenge.
An alumna of Texas Tech, Kochanek became the first national president of Tau Beta Sigma, a band sorority founded to counter the existing men’s fraternity, Kappa Kappa Psi.
“I think they chose me to be the first president because I was so active in band,” Kochanek said.
All modesty aside, being active in band wasn’t Kochanek’s sorority sisters’ only motivation. By the time she started band in third grade in Lamesa, Texas, Kochanek had already proven herself to be much more independent and modern than many of her female counterparts.
“She was a very independent woman before that was the thing to do,” said Kim Klotzman, Kochanek’s daughter and development officer for the College of Visual and Performing Arts.
A Musical Beginning at Texas Tech
Kochanek started school at Texas Tech during World War II, when there weren’t enough boys in the music program to have a complete band. Girls were allowed to march in the band, but had much stricter rules about their behavior. Kochanek admits that a lot more than just the treatment of women has changed on campus since she went to school here.
“We had the band room where the circle is now,” Kochanek said. “We had one big room in the engineering building for our practice room and we had a room across the entrance hall for the offices. Of course we had a curfew. We didn’t have the freedom like students have today. "
“The dean would allow the girls to go and play for a dances only at certain places. And we could stay out until one o’clock – no later. He was very strict about that.”
Though she hasn’t been active in Tau Beta Sigma since her reign as president, she does keep up with the sorority and came to a convention in Lubbock last year, said Janet Oldham, faculty advisor for Tau Beta Sigma and administrative business assistant of the School of Music.
“She enjoys visiting,” Oldham said. “She would come talk to the girls about what it was like in her day and how much things have changed over the years.”
During the convention, Kochanek held a class and spoke with the women. They asked her questions and she got to hear first-hand how popular and widespread the sorority has become.
A Texas Tech Family Tradition: Kochanek's daughter is an alumnus and her two grandsons are current students.
“The girls thoroughly enjoyed visiting with her,” Oldham said. “She is a very nice lady. To sit down and talk with her is very interesting.”
Single Women Just Don't Do That
Six years after graduating from Texas Tech with a degree in music and a minor in education, Kochanek continued her independent trend by packing up and moving to Germany to take a teaching position there.
“That was kind of a big deal.” Klotzman said. “People didn’t travel like they do now. It was an adventure for a single woman to go overseas back in the early 50s.”
While teaching English to second graders in war-torn Germany, Kochanek faced the daily dangers and inconveniences of living in a country still licking its wounds and straightening up the mess.
“When I got there in '51, they were really just beginning to start cleaning up debris from the war,” Kochanek said. “A lot of the areas weren't accessible because they still contained bombs.”
Germany was a turning point in her life for other reasons. There Kochanek met her future husband, an American Air Force officer stationed in Germany. The new couple traveled back to the United States to start a family. However, in 1966, tragedy struck. Kochanek’s husband died, forcing her back to work as a single mother to take care of her daughter.
“I really admire her because she went from pretty much playing bridge with her friends to going back to work and supporting us,” Klotzman said. “It took a lot of self confidence and motivation.”
An Independent Woman
Kochanek started night school and earned a master’s degree in education from the University of North Texas. Then she landed a position as principal of an elementary school. After moving around Texas for several years, Kochanek and her daughter finally settled in Lubbock. She has lived in her current residence for 35 years, a well-kept house with an eclectic mix of decorations.
“She’s traveled all over. I have a picture of her on a camel from somewhere,” Klotzman said. “She has mementos in her house from all over the world."
“She’s just an independent woman – she never needed to depend on anyone else. But at the same time, she has always been a giver. You know how some people are givers and some are takers; she’s one of the givers. She is pretty strict and can be tough. But I know she’s always there.”
Story produced by the Office of Communications and Marketing, 806-742-2136.
Web layout by Gretchen Pressley