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Theta Briefs | May 2007 |
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2007 Founder's Day Celebrates Tradition and Excellence
Theta Lambda Zeta’s Founder’s Day celebration was an incredible success this year! The number of alumni in attendance was the largest that the chapter had seen in quite a while. The event was held on Saturday, April 21st at the Indianola Country Club.The theme to this year’s event was “Celebrating a Decade of Brotherhood in the New Chapter House,” honoring brothers that had come from this decade-long period, and to reacquaint them with the undergraduate chapter and the great things that the guys are achieving on an annual basis. Everything from Lambda Chi Alpha awards to Greek Week Championships were celebrated that night. The program for the event included a cocktail reception followed by dinner and program. The State of the Chapter Address was delivered by the current High Alpha, Jeff Liggett, and the State of the Alumni Address was given by Charlie Chedester, the current Alumni Board Treasurer. Our keynote speaker was the High Pi at Hanover University, Brother Frank Maez. Brother Maez is a former Educational Leadership Consultant and Director of Chapter Services for the fraternity. He currently serves as High Pi at Hanover College in Indiana. During his tenure as ELC (1970-1975), Frank visited Theta Lambda several times and to this day is quite familiar with our rich history and traditions. During his comments, Brother Maez said, "I also want the Theta Lambda alumni to know how proud the General Fraternity is of your chapter here at Simpson. You have been part of the successes of Theta Lambda. You have been part of an incredible 87-year history. Yes-maybe in a different time, in a different situation –you have been there. Having said that, I have learned from my own experience at Theta Zeta is that involved alumni are critical to sustaining a great chapter. Any chapter, even our best can easily take the wrong turn and we need alumni brothers as High Pis and on the House Corporations or advisory boards who have been there to help them take a detour from potential problematic situations." Brothers and guests thoroughly enjoyed Brother Maez’s comments and commitment to our chapter and to Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. Highlighting the evening were the distribution of our annual awards, "The Roger Dean Larson Outstanding Undergrad Award" and "The Mommie Burnison Outstanding Associate Award." This year’s winners were Jeff Liggett (undergrad) and Kirk Balm (associate). Their hard work and dedication to the chapter make them excellent candidates for these awards. For their efforts, they were each awarded a scholarship, complements of the Theta Lambda Educational Foundation. Jeff received a $1,500 scholarship to be applied to Fall Board and Kirk received a $150 book scholarship. At the conclusion of the celebration, the Graduating Member Ceremony was performed by a group of alumni for our newest alumni brothers.  Larry Skellenger organized the volunteer alumni group who conducted the ceremony. For those that may not be familiar with it, the Graduating Member Ceremony is a new ceremony that was adopted by the General Assembly in 2002 and ties to Lambda Chi Alpha’s motto that membership is "Not just four years, but for life." Following the event, alumni and undergrads journeyed back to the chapter house to continue the celebration which, for some, went well into the night! This was a great opportunity for the alumni to reminisce with old classmates as well as meeting and getting to know their undergraduate brothers. It can easily be said that Founder’s Day was a success. |
Alumni Spotlight: Paul VanAst
At its 2006 national conference held late last year, the National Workforce Association (NWA) presented its Workforce Development Award for Excellence—Urban One—Stop System to The WorkSource Pasadena office. Office manager, Brother Paul VanAst (’90), accepted the award from NWA president, John Twomey.The National Workforce Association is a membership organization that provides expertise and input to federal, state and local elected officials to enable them to make sound policy decisions about the workforce system. It promotes innovation and excellent performance in locally based workforce programs through conferences, training sessions, publications and peer-to-peer exchanges. Members include workforce organizations, educational institutions, and corporations. Each year, the NWA presents its annual Awards for Excellence to one honoree in each of four categories—Urban One-Stop System, Rural One-Stop System, Innovative Services To Businesses, and Executive Director. Recently, the editors of the Theta Lambda Briefs caught up with Paul to ask him how his days as an undergraduate prepared him for his career. In true “PV” fashion, he candidly shared some great comments. What is your current occupation? Office Manager-The WorkSource Pasadena. I have 45+ staff serving 500-600 walk-in customers everyday who are looking for employment. What brought you to this position? 2002 Chevy Silvarado, blue. What are some of your fondest memories of Lambda Chi? Sittin’ on the fire escape, being a Chopper allowed me to be part of something bigger than myself, and helped get me focused on my schoolwork. It really brought balance to my life at that time. How did Lambda Chi prepare you for your post-graduate years? Taught me to be a team player. Realizing that sometimes one needs to be a good follower, and other times a strong leader. Taught me to stand up for what I believe in regardless of peer pressure. Provided opportunity for leadership. How has Lambda Chi impacted your life? If I ever return to Simpson Campus, it will be the first place I visit. I belong. Because of my positive experience, My brother joined the Lambda Chi house at Western Michigan University. If you could give any advice to the undergrads, what advice would you give and why? Stay in school until you graduate. Start building your resume now. Every experience and person you work with along the way will benefit you later in life. Take time to enjoy your successes. Anything else you want to add? Call your mother once a week and tell her thanks that you love her. |
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Reflections of a Graduating Brother
As graduation approaches for the senior class, there are mixed emotions floating around. Many of us are ready to start our careers or head off to grad school. However, we will be leaving behind friends, memories, and what has been our family for the last four years.Bryan Hoke, a fellow graduating senior, said to me during spring PI (preinitiation) week that he was happy knowing that after graduation, he will always have a home to come back to at Simpson. As we approach the next stage of our lives, we are able to reflect on our time at Lambda Chi. During our Senior Awards Committee meetings, we had an opportunity to discuss our four years. We came to Simpson as young and immature and are leaving older and slightly more mature. Our class has seen the growth of the chapter from 25 men to its current size of 54. This, alone, has been a great source of pride in the senior class. We were there for the good times, the tough times, and, of course, the fun times. Now, as we get ready to embark upon the next stage of life, we are leaving Simpson well prepared. From the education they attained through Simpson to the leadership and social skills attained as Lambda Chi brothers, we are prepared for success and whatever challenges life brings us. Thanks to Lambda Chi, our future looks bright. One day, our class will consist of a doctor, a priest, a teacher, one working in psychology, one working in sports administration, a writer, two musicians, and three lawyers. No matter where we go or what we become, it is evident that Lambda Chi Alpha has helped mold us who we are. |
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Lambda Chi Alpha International Winter Leadership Retreat
Lambda Chi Alpha offers many resources to the office of High Alpha. The most memorable of these to date has been a trip to the 2007 Winter Leadership Retreat in San Antonio, Texas. The retreat allows officers from every chapter in North America to come together and collect information that will sustain and improve the current operations of each chapter. This information is provided through meetings, presentations, networking opportunities and general discussions.Sam Swalwell, the High Beta, and I arrived in Texas, and immediately jumped in a meeting about recruitment techniques. We shared the proper ways to recruit new and quality members to our chapters. After the meeting our day was finally done, so it was off to bed just in time for our early morning wake up call! The next two days proved to be exciting and very interesting. I was introduced to the Council of Presidents, a program where presidents from every chapter get together to conduct small group workshops and network. The Council of Presidents is beneficial to me because the contacts created has allowed me to seek advice from other chapters when needed. In addition to the Council of Presidents, we also attended educational meetings, which included risk management, recruitment, fraternity education, maintaining alumni relationships, and improving educational programming. These meetings provided a basic understanding of the obligations of each office and how to improve on these basic obligations. By giving Sam and I the resources to better understand the officer obligations, we have been more effective with the daytoday operations of the chapter. We were also given the opportunity to meet with the chapters in our Conclave. None of this would have been possible without the ongoing financial support of Theta Lambda alumni. Thanks to your contributions, we are able to attend functions like this retreat. We look forward to continuing our education this summer at the 2007 Jerre Stead Leadership Seminar in Memphis, Tennessee. Both Sam and I thank you for giving us this chance to expand our fraternal experience. Alumni Board Update Distinguished alumni...2007 has been a spectacular year for both the undergraduate and alumni chapters! Not only did our chapter perform exceedingly well in all areas of chapter operations, but we’ve seen continued growth in alumni support in both volunteerism and attendance at events. I’m confident this trend will continue as our chapter grows stronger in the years ahead. Now, as much as your attendance and support is always appreciated, it would be even more spectacular if we can get each of us to donate $50 annually. Your donations allows us to have more communication, funding the Educational Foundation and sponsoring of alumni activities like those mentioned in this newsletter. Today, we operate on the budget of...well...mostly $0. "Robbing Peter to pay Paul" is not an effective way for our Alumni Budget account to be run. Your support prevents this from happening. So, with the kitchen fully functioning and self sustaining...I’m asking you to consider donating right now. I’m proud of our chapter and all its accomplishments--I want to see this continue. Hopefully, you agree. I look forward to your donations of $50...heck... whatever dollar amount would be great! More or less...let’s get this rolling...spread the word and your enthusiasm. Second Annual Alumni vs. Undergrad Softball Tournament a Success! Theta Lambda’s third annual softball tournament was held on April 15. Alumni and undergraduates played against each other in a round robin softball tournament at Pickard Park in Indianola. Overall the day was great! The weather was perfect forthe over fifteen alumni who showed up to school the undergraduates in how to play the game of softball! In addition, Brother Eric Haworth brought along a grill—giving us the chance to have a little lunch while getting reacquainted with all the brothers. All in all, it was another successful alumni outing. I look forward to next year when we can continue this tradition, and hopefully entice some new comers. PDF format of this Theta Brief |
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And the List Keeps Growing...
Since the inception of the first Theta Briefs, more than 75 alumni are current subscribers and the list continues to grow!If you know someone who is not getting this newsletter, please forward this email to him and let us know so we can get him added to the mail list. |
Got a Question?
If you have any questions, comments or would like to submit an article for a future Theta Brief, contact Mike Kellar via email or phone. If you are considering service to the Alumni Board or would like to make a donation to the Educational Foundation, please contact Charlie Chedester.
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Back to the Home Page | Calendar of events for the Theta Lambda Chapter Previous Theta Briefs | May 2007 | January 2005 | December 2004 | November 2004 | September 2004 Theta Lambda Zeta - Lambda Chi Alpha - 707 North E Street - Indianola, Iowa 50125
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