Dr. Malinda Matney

Published on January 13th, 2021

Many of you know our 41st National President, Dr. Malinda Matney and her role as the first female National President of Kappa Kappa Psi and are familiar with her work beyond that role. I would however guess that you might not know much about that unconventional path that brought Malinda to that point. So let’s get into that a little bit more. 

Malinda was initiated into the Alpha Mu Chapter of Tau Beta Sigma, at Wichita State University in 1984. In her chapter she rose to be a leader as chapter parliamentarian and chapter president and in 1987 was installed as the District President of District V of Tau Beta Sigma (a district containing the states of Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri). When KKPsi and TBSigma made changes to the Districts in July 1987 she was selected as the President of the Midwest District which incorporated parts of Districts I, III, IV and V, including with District V the states of Minnesota, North and South Dakota, and parts of Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana (the parts east of the Continental Divide). 

As an undergraduate Malinda participated in three National Intercollegiate Bands: 1985 (University of Kansas), 1987 (University of Michigan), 1989 (Oklahoma State University). 

In 1989 Malinda decided to offer her talents to the National level of Tau Beta Sigma by running for National Office for Tau Beta Sigma. Malinda was not elected at that convention but that did not deter her from trying again in 1991 where she was slated but not elected to the office of National Treasurer (now National Vice President for Special Projects). 

Her Fraternity career began as a Graduate Student at the University of Colorado, Boulder. During her graduate studies she became involved with the Alpha Iota Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi and remained engaged in the activities of the Midwest District. In 1991, Stanley G. Finck became National President and the Midwest District was lacking a Governor. President Finck was the Director of Bands at Kansas State and knew Malinda well from her work in the Midwest District. In a bold move he asked Malinda to take on the Midwest District Governor position making her the first female District Governor of Kappa Kappa Psi. 

Malinda served as the Midwest District Governor until 1995 when she again chose to run for a role on the National Council, but this time she ran for office in Kappa Kappa Psi. She was successful in her efforts and was elected as the National Vice President for Programs (1995-1997) which also made her the first female National Officer of Kappa Kappa Psi. During this term Malinda also decided to work on her doctorate at the University of Michigan and moved into the North Central District. 

While a doctoral student at Michigan she became involved with the Nu Chapter and in 2001 she was asked to serve as Sponsor of the Nu Chapter, a role she retains to this day. Her involvement was pivotal for the Nu Chapter as they were emerging from an uncharacteristic down period, having a National Officer in the mix gave them a firm grounding on which to continue to return Nu to its position as one of the NCD’s strongest chapters. Malinda and I became great friends and I accompanied her to many of Nu’s meetings and events as the NCD Governor. 

In 1997 Mainda chose to run for the office of National Vice President for Colonization and Membership against another North Central District historical figure, Dr. Michael Golemo who was serving as the National Vice President for Professional Relations. In a competitive election Dr. Golemo was elected. Also in 1997 the NCD Governor (me) was elected to the office of National Vice President for Student Affairs leaving a vacancy in the position of NCD Governor. Newly elected National President Scott Stowell took swift action and appointed Malinda as the NCD Governor, a position she held until 2005. 

In 2005 Malinda decided to take her chances at another run at the office of National Vice President for Colonization and Membership taking on two competitors, Michelle Kincheloe and Andy Mullin. Michelle was a fellow native of the Midwest District, a former Midwest District President (we served as district presidents together) and Governor and was the current National Vice President for Programs. Andy was a native of the Northeast District, and a former member of our Board of Trustees including serving as Board Chair. When the dust settled it was my pleasure as National President to lead the installation ceremony for Dr. Matney who was elected National Vice President for Colonization, the first female to move into that role which led her into the role of National President (2007-2009). From there her story is fairly well known, she served on the Board of Trustees until 2019, and served as its chair from 2013-15. She also took on other roles in the Fraternity including leading the efforts to survey members for their experiences at various events including district and national conventions. She received the A. Frank Martin Award in 2001 and the Distinguished Service to Music Medal in 2017. 

Malinda has been a valued Brother for decades and I know we all look forward to her continued service in Kappa Kappa Psi! 

I asked Malinda a few questions about her experiences, her responses follow: 

What were your interactions with the NCD during your earlier years and what were your perceptions of the NCD in general? 

Several of us from the Midwest drove over to the NCD convention in 1988, which was the first time I visited a district event outside of the Midwest. At that point, it seemed giant. The Midwest at that point had just over 100 people at our convention, compared to the hundreds at the NCD. Both districts have definitely grown since then. I was struck by both the competitive nature of the NCD (not a negative, just a different approach to school spirit) and the high level of organization. 

The difference in working with a much smaller population such as the Midwest and a larger population like the NCD includes how work and decisions are organized. At that time, anyone who wanted to attend a Midwest District officer meeting could, and most got to voice what they thought in decisions. With that level of high collaboration, that can often mean that fewer things are done. The NCD was doing more projects, but fewer people were involved in executing each of them, so chapters were not as involved in district-level decisions. This kind of transition was a good warm up for what I’d experience at the national level.

What has been the biggest change you have seen from your early interactions with the NCD to its present? 

A couple of things come to mind. One is that chapters are more involved with each other, and that goes beyond obvious connections such as athletic conferences or geography. Brothers and Sisters are genuinely interested in connecting across so many differences.

When I became NCD Governor, there were about three policy documents (constitution, bylaws, policy handbook). There were a lot of different places where it was clear that a rule was written to fix a particular incident, rather than to set a tone for the work. There were collisions of when things were due before convention, with colliding deadlines of “28 days prior”, “6 weeks prior”, “1 month prior”; I can’t say that suggesting a “magic date” for everything was the biggest accomplishment, but I smile so much when I see that phrase continue. I would say the bigger accomplishment was trimming down redundancies and inspiring Brothers and Sisters to trust each other for answers to one year challenges, rather than writing a rule that wouldn’t make sense in five years. Revisions will continue to adapt to where the broad goals and needs are, but the idea is that policies serve Brothers and Sisters, rather than Brothers and Sisters serving policies.

If you were to list a few highlights of your terms as NCD District Governor what would they be? 

Some key highlights would be:

• Bringing the NCD up to 30 chapters, from the 17 I inherited.

• Seeing many chapters get engaged that hadn’t been engaging as much prior, from the widest range of colleges.

• Seeing individual band programs grow more offerings for non-major bands, in large part because of our members’ desire to keep playing all year round.

• High levels of engagement in the National Chapter, whether in NIB, student awards, conventions, leadership symposia, or simply building more relationships with other chapters outside of the NCD.

What is notable about the current NCD compared with the NCD you inherited in 1997? 

I would say that what is notable to me about the NCD of now is that it continues to drive even further into intellectual, leadership, and fellowship goals. The book clubs for both students and alumni, the web chats and other frequent gatherings, and the increased focus of district events on musicianship or brotherhood or leadership really speak to a continued focus on both skill improvement and investment in relationships.

Would you speak a bit as to your experience being a trailblazer for females in the leadership of Kappa Kappa Psi? 

 How do you use the lessons you've learned in Kappa Kappa Psi in your current career?

The lessons of presiding over meetings, bringing multiple perspectives into an agenda, and organizing conventions are lessons I use all the time. I am regularly either leading meetings or helping others learn to lead them, as well as hosting larger academic events that draw a lot from my work with district conventions in particular. Most of all, I know that leadership isn’t about making people do things. It is about having a vision, and working with others to meet their needs for growth and our larger organizational needs at the same time. That doesn’t mean we don’t assign tasks that must be done. Rather, the idea is not to turn every assignment into a battle of wills. 

How has Kappa Kappa Psi changed and evolved since your time in office/being active? 

Just the sheer growth in number of members and number of chapters is amazing. That speaks to a desire to join something bigger than oneself. We will need that spirit as we emerge from the pandemic. A few sentences would fail to contain all the changes in KKPsi in over 35 years, but so many changes stem from our becoming a larger, more diverse, and simply more engaged organization at every level.

Kappa Kappa Psi does more complex things now. When I was active, there were national conventions. I attended the second district presidents’ conference, which was a novel thing in the 1980s. Now, the array of support in terms of events, written material for curriculum, awards, scholarships, and support for the programs on the district level is dizzying by comparison. The National Council itself has moved from meeting twice each year, and occasionally in conference call, to meeting much more frequently in virtual meetings, and constantly in connection with email. Even in the mid-1990s, not all members of the National Council had email, so more work was shared by postal mail. HQ has moved from 3 to 8 staff members, which seems rather low when considering the increased complexity of the work of Kappa Kappa Psi, and the work of Tau Beta Sigma. 

I should note that KKPsi and TBSigma share ideas, but also develop different and interesting ideas. I think that level of development is healthy and keeps everyone thinking about how we can continue to support and extend the college band movement. 

What advice do you have for younger alumni? 

Invest in your careers, and invest in each others’ careers. You will be amazed how much there is to learn from your own career as you build, and how the work that your alumni Brothers do will teach you about yet a different field. As the years pass, you will not only become excellent leaders for KKPsi and for college bands near you, but you will enhance your Brothers’ careers, and they will enhance yours. So much of what I learned early in my career came from other Brothers sharing what they were doing and taking an interest in me. 

What was the biggest success you had while in office? 

Three successes come to mind. One was creating a leadership curriculum that individual Brothers or chapters could do at home, and that accompanied the leadership symposium that was happening at that point. The leadership curriculum is infusing the current work that is happening to develop new leadership programs, so I’m delighted that this reflective work continues.

Another was really infusing workshops strongly into national convention, and extending those workshops beyond chapter officer skills to leadership, musicianship, and academic work. The vast majority of convention attendees do not want to spend their days tinkering with the constitution, but they certainly care about seeing and hearing the best in bands, earning to be better leaders, and meeting people who share their passion for college bands.

Finally, documenting the history of band programs was important. My theme for the biennium was “Celebrating the History of the College Band,” with a challenge to chapters to document the histories of their own band programs. I thought that for most chapters that would be an expansion of work that existed previously, but I was surprised to learn how many chapters were creating something that didn’t exist in their band programs. As a result, many more band programs have some documentation of where they came from, and what they have meant to their communities. 

What were some of the challenges of being the first female national President and how did you overcome those challenges?

A key challenge is figuring out “how will that look?” In the 2005 Nominations report, the committee shared that they considered whether the organization was ready for a female president. This is the heart of the challenge for anyone who is different from those who came before. While leaders must prepare themselves in many ways, and learn and display many skills, being a first means convincing others of something beyond your capacity. It is almost as if the question is asked “how are you going to fix the organization to be ready for you,” which isn’t a fair challenge. The 2005 Nominations Committee went on to say that there never would be a magical time that they’d know that the organization was ready, so they needed to focus on whether they had the right people. I could not have asked for a greater affirmation, and at the same time a statement that the Fraternity also shares responsibility for its success.

In many ways, things were harder when I started as a district governor because people had not seen someone like me in that role. The longer I served in leadership roles, and other women were appointed and elected to leadership roles, the easier it got for a couple of reasons. For one, people could see numerous examples of success. For another, people could see many different kinds of women in leadership, with many different approaches. That reduced the need to adhere to a stereotype, whether it was how to fit in most like the men preceding me or to ignore the elements that were at passion for me. That’s true of our broader society as well.