Chris Woosley may never have made it to Oklahoma State University without his fraternity brothers. It just so happens they were also his blood brothers.
As approximately 3,500 OSU students prepare to graduate this Friday and Saturday, Woosley took time out from his duties as Vice President and General Counsel at QEP Resources, Inc. in Denver, Colo. to reflect on his time in Stillwater.
Chris is the second oldest of four Woosley brothers who attended OSU between the late 1980’s to mid 1990’s. He initially enrolled at Baylor University, but later decided to join his older brother Ron, Jr. (aka “Rew”) at Oklahoma State.
Woosley earned his undergraduate degree in political science, which laid the foundation for him to pursue law school at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif. He returned to Oklahoma to work as an attorney and eventually specialized in oil and gas law. He credits the OSU political science curriculum with helping him discover his passion.
“I developed a love for Constitutional Law,” Woosley said. “I enjoyed studying that short document that provided the foundational framework for an entire nation. Those classes introduced me to the concepts and ultimately prepared me to be successful in the competitive landscape that is law school.”
Undoubtedly, his experience with the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity (commonly known as “Fiji”) was also influential. Rew lured Chris away from Baylor by asking him to transfer to OSU and help him recolonize the Fiji chapter. The two Woosleys joined forces with a few other motivated individuals to lay the foundation for the OSU Fijis of today.
“When you are recolonizing a chapter, you have the opportunity to start with a clean slate and make the chapter stand for things you think it should,” Woosley said.
Of course, starting with a clean slate also meant working with smaller enrollments than other fraternities, which created challenges in Greek competitions. “In the early years, we couldn’t even field a team,” Woosley chuckled.
The foundation set down by Rew and Chris soon included Matt, who is a year-and-a-half younger than Chris, and some years later, the youngest brother Luke. When the third Woosley joined, the international fraternity took notice.
After interviewing the family, the Fijis offered Ron, Sr. the opportunity to pledge. Though the father of the four brothers had graduated from Bellarmine in Kentucky, he had not been a member of a fraternity, which made him eligible to become a Fiji. In the fall of 1989, Ron Sr. was initiated by the OSU chapter. When Luke was initiated in 1999, Ron and all of his sons were present at the ceremony. Ultimately, all four boys and their father were added to the roles of Fiji’s Sires and Sons.
Not even Chris could have imagined how deep the legacy would reach, however. It took a stroke of luck from which only the best love stories are to get there and it started with a potty break.
The Fiji’s first “dance hour” paired them with the women of Kappa Alpha Theta. The Fijis lined up by height and walked over to the Theta house where they were greeted by the Theta pledges, also in order from shortest to tallest. Chris was the tallest member of his class and was in the back of the line. As the door to the Theta house opened, the shortest Theta pledge ran to the bathroom and later rejoined the back of the line. But for that potty break, Chris and Melony may never have met.
Four years later, they were married and remain happily so to this day. Now their daughter Kate attends OSU as a pre-med student and is currently studying abroad in Chile. Having a daughter in Stillwater helps keep Chris connected to the university.
Soon enough she will graduate from OSU and perhaps one day the Woosley connection will continue to the next generation. Until then, Chris has his memories of molding the Fiji house, studying the Constitution, meeting his bride, and doing it all with his brothers.