National Executive Board
National Vice-President, Ritual and Fraternity Education
Deborah R Volker
Email: NVP.Ritual@sai-national.org
It was two years before a painfully shy Deborah Volker finally yielded to the urging of her college advisor and was initiated into the Delta Mu Chapter at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. When she was asked to be the chapter’s recording secretary, she reluctantly agreed.
“Sit there and take notes,” she thought, “How hard could that be?” At the second meeting, she was asked to read the minutes – out loud. “This was the first of many challenges offered to me by SAI, and my first of many growing experiences I could have had in no other organization.” Deb has since “enjoyed” many other challenges, including serving as president of her college chapter and two alumnae chapters.
Deb is a violinist with The United States Air Force Band, Bolling AFB, Washington, DC. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in violin performance from Temple.
When she was accepted to graduate school, 800 miles from her home, she had never before been more than 25 miles from her home. She wore her badge the first day and quickly was invited to affiliate with Beta Chapter at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
After earning her Master’s at Northwestern, she returned to Temple, where she earned her teaching certificate and a post-graduate performance certificate. She affiliated with the Philadelphia Alumnae and served as the chapter’s president, a position, she says, “I was very nervous about. But SAI is so important to me, I realized this was just one more of those ‘challenges’ SAI was offering me.”
She later served as president of the Washington DC Alumnae Chapter, as well as advisor to Delta Mu and Beta Phi Chapters and, and earned the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from The Catholic University of America. Most recently she served as Iota A Province Officer (1997-2006). Her SAI awards include the Sword of Honor, Rose of Honor, and Wreath of Achievement.
In addition to her primary duties as violinist with The USAF Strings, she teaches CPR and Self-Aid/Buddy Care to both military and civilian personnel. Deborah is the USAF Band’s Unit Deployment Manager and Director of Operations for The Strings. In addition to her military duties, she is conductor and coach of the McLean (VA) Youth Orchestra and a freelance violinist/violist in the Washington DC area. Deborah is certified as a Emergency Medical Technician- Intermediate (EMT-I) and has been a volunteer with the Fairfax County (VA) Fire and Rescue Department for the past six years, serving as Rescue Captain with the Franconia Volunteer Fire Department and working toward her Paramedic certification. And, when one of those many activities is not occupying her time, she is a dedicated runner who manages to work in several miles every week and has completed five Marine Corps Marathons, with number six this October.
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