Betty Lou Daughtry was born to Major and Mrs. C. L. Daughtry on March 11, 1932. She attended Agnes Scott College for one year before transferring to the University of Tennessee, where she was successful both academically and socially. Daughtry joined the Pi Beta Phi sorority, interested herself in campus politics and football, and represented her sorority as a candidate for Barnwarmin' Queen. She was also active in the Canterbury Club and served as sales manager for the Volunteer, as a reporter for the Orange and White, as president of the Women's Student Government Association, as treasurer of Blue Triangle, and as a member of the Aloha Oe Committee, of the All-Sing Publicity Committee, of the University Concerts Usher Corps, and of the Y Cabinet. Daughtry was named as a Torchbearer in 1953 and graduated with her B.S. in Education on June 8 of that year. After graduating, she married a man surnamed Reed.