Sentence:  Her husband , who is the son of Alton John Mason of Shreveport , La. , and the late Mrs. Henry Cater Parmer , <WSD>was</WSD> president of Alpha Tau Omega and a member of Delta Sigma Pi at Lamar Tech , and did graduate work at Rhodes University in Grahamstown , South Africa , on a Rotary Fellowship . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  be identical or equivalent to