{"id":49744,"date":"2023-10-19T10:43:32","date_gmt":"2023-10-19T15:43:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/?p=49744"},"modified":"2023-10-19T10:43:35","modified_gmt":"2023-10-19T15:43:35","slug":"ten-tarleton-sisters-mark-100-years-of-raising-student-spirit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/ten-tarleton-sisters-mark-100-years-of-raising-student-spirit\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Tarleton Sisters Mark 100 Years of Raising Student Spirit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 They may be turning 100, but the Ten Tarleton Sisters \u2014 half of Tarleton State University\u2019s Purple Poo (the oldest spirit organization in Texas) \u2014 are forever young.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their birthday will be marked during several Homecoming week activities, including a ceremony in Heritage Park following the Saturday morning parade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Purple
The Ten Tarleton Sisters \u2014 half of the university\u2019s Purple Poo \u2014 this fall celebrate 100 years of raising student spirit. Their birthday will be marked during several Homecoming events, beginning with Thursday night\u2019s music festival.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAny time you celebrate 100 years at a university and you\u2019re still a vital contributor, that\u2019s impressive,\u201d said Tarleton State President James Hurley. \u201cEveryone loves the Poo and the Ten Tarleton Sisters and Ten Tarleton Peppers. Their enthusiasm for the purple and white is contagious.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TTS formed in 1923 as the female counterpart of the Ten Tarleton Peppers, a 10-man group backed by Dean J. Thomas Davis to boost school morale. The groups painted and hung canvas banners around campus. They became known as the Purple Poo after a paint glob splattered on a sign they were making, inspiring the moniker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although early editions of the yearbook,<\/a> The Grassburr<\/em>, show the groups in separate photos, they have always operated with the shared mission of raising Tarleton State spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe TTP and the TTS are individual organizations with individual leadership; however, the organizations come together collectively as the Purple Poo,\u201d explained Kristy O\u2019Keefe, Poo adviser since 2021. \u201cThe Purple Poo forego a \u2018normal\u2019 student experience and give 100 percent of themselves to Tarleton and the student body to keep the spirit of Oscar P alive and well. I couldn\u2019t be more proud of this group of students and their dedication.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The TTS and TTP still differentiate with letters on their robes, and both are represented on the signs they make and hang around campus (now on posterboard instead of canvas), said Donna Strohmeyer, Executive Director for Scheduling and Events and close Poo friend who has been known to do Poo laundry and mend Poo robes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEach Poo has their own individual signature on the sign they make. The TTP is always on the left and the TTS is always on the right.\u201d The signs are coveted items, and Strohmeyer has her own personal collection. But there are rules about how to obtain one:<\/p>\n\n\n\n