It is important to review the many years of work that went into making Ceres Fraternity a reality. It is also important to recognize that Ceres was developing at two levels, at a local level and at an international level.
The establishment of a women's chapter of the fraternity was first proposed to the International Board of FarmHouse in the spring of 1978. This proposal was brought to the International Executive Board by Board Member Roy Wilson, PU '71, and former Assistant Executive Director, David Morford, IA '73.
At the 1978 Conclave, a "Blue Ribbon" role of Women's Study Committee was authorized
by the International Executive Board. This committee was made up of Roy Wilson Chairman; Donna Long, member of Oklahoma State FarmHouse Chapter Sisters Group; Steve Thomas, Kentucky FarmHouse '76; Dick Naskali, Idaho FarmHouse '70; Bob Off and Mike Goolsby, ex-officio members. After two years of study, this committee proposed that two to three chapters be piloted on a trial basis for the 1980-82 biennium. The proposal made by the committee was approved at the 1980 Conclave.
At a local level, Andy Grant, Colorado State FarmHouse alumnus, began working on the concept of an agriculture-based sorority in 1976. During the 1978 Conclave, held in Brookings, SD, he met with the International Board of FarmHouse. A FarmHouse Women's Club was formed at Colorado State University in 1978 primarily through the efforts of Andy Grant and Melissa Miller. On February 18, 1980, eighteen women signed a document that officially founded the FarmHouse Women's Club as an organization that was dedicated to the formation of an agriculturally orientated sorority based on the ideals of FarmHouse Fraternity. This first group of members was assisted by Andy Grant and William Thomas, who was not only a FarmHouse alumnus, but also the Associate Dean of the College of Agriculture Sciences at Colorado State University.
In the fall of 1980, the International Board selected three women's clubs to be in the pilot program. Those clubs were located at Colorado State University, West Virginia University, and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Role of Women Committee was continued at the 1980-82 Biennium with specific consideration of the women's chapter concept assigned to the Women's Club sub-committee. Those serving on the committee were: Roy Wilson, chairman; Margaret Hazeleus, Widow of the Founder of the Colorado State Chapter of FarmHouse and Assistant Dean of Home Economics, CSU; Joan Blackwelder, CSU FarmHouse Women’s Club; Dorothy Farrell, Associated Women of Agriculture, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Renee Johnson Hinkle, West Virginia University FarmHouse Society; J. David Corry, Alberta FarmHouse ‘82, (previously a member of FarmHouse Colony at Guelph University); Chris Lembcke, CSU FarmHouse ‘67; Dick Naskali; Randy Weaver, Oklahoma State FarmHouse ‘72; and Bob Off and C.J. Gauger, ex-officio.
