HAPPY NEW YEAR!
January 8, 2008
ALPHA ALPHA ARTICLE Who Is Ledford Carter? Brother Carter is an emeritus professor of education, Indiana University. He taught educational motion picture production and writing for educational media. Since his retirement in 1981, he has continued living in Bloomington with his wife at Meadowood Retirement Community, where he has served in leadership roles, and he has the longest record of independent residency there. Concurrently with his teaching at Indiana University, he made documentary and classroom teaching films that were distributed to international audiences totaling over a million viewers. A number of his films won awards in national competitions. For 16 years he was an associate editor of The Journal of Geography, to which he contributed reviews of films. Brother Carter began his film production career with the Southern Educational Film Production Service, which was a cooperative of the tax supported agencies of nine Southeastern states and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Its headquarters was at the University of Georgia, where he directed and produced the film that celebrated the sesquicentennial of that university. He resigned the directorship of SEFPS in 1951 to join the production staff at Indiana University. Ledford had developed his film interest by using U.S. Army training films in teaching inductees for replacement assignments with Field Artillery units engaged in combat during World War II. His Army career began in 1941, six moths before Pearl Harbor. He held all enlisted ranks, except two that he skipped; was commissioned an officer; and transferred to reserve status in 1946 after service and occupation duties in Leyte and Japan. Lieutenant Colonel Carter retired in 1976, after reserve service in the Civil Affairs and Intelligence branches of the U.S. Army. One of his short term assignments during World War II was as artillery safety officer at Camp Wheeler, to which he commuted from his residence at the home of Brother Harry Dismukes on College Street in Macon. His former organ teacher at Wesleyan Continued on page 4
Volume 2 Issue 1
MARK YOUR CALENDAR! A Day in the Woods Covington, GA -November 17, 2007 85th Founders’ Day, Barrington Hall, Macon -FEBRUARY 23, 2008 Alumni Golf Tourney Fox Run CC, Macon -APRIL 19, 2008 Ritual Of Initiation Contact the Historian for more details
INSIDE Golf Tourney....................page 2 Alumni Updates................page 2 Mercer News....................page 3 Push America...................page 3 Brother Spotlight...............page 3 THE BOX..........................page 3 Remember When...............page 4
85 Anniversary Founders’ Day Weekend th
At the Alpha Alpha Chapter’s Founders’ Day dinner on February 23rd celebrating the chapter’s 85th anniversary, Ledford C. Carter, AA 99, will share his research and insights regarding the chapter’s history and the influences that have affected it, punctuated by his personal experiences and aspirations. Following his speech, music (that you will like!) will be played for your entertainment (dancing, singing). But the weekend has more in store than just dinner. Friday night, everyone is welcome to gather at Brother Ernesto Aguirre’s restaurant, El Sombrero to start off the festivities! Saturday morning, we will have the highly anticipated basketball game in the University Center: Actives vs. Alumni. After the basketball game, we will congregate at the on campus house for a Continued on page 2
PAGE 2
Gold and White Never Die
|Alumni Updates|
First Golf Tourney Success! Fox Run Country Club in Macon, GA hosted Alpha Alpha’s First Annual Alumni Golf Tournament. We had a great turnout! 17 alumni and 4 actives all participated in the 4/5-man team, best-ball tournament. After many people humorously made their attempts at playing golf, we enjoyed a great lunch prepared by the country club and awarded the winning team. Congratulations to Lee Harris, Art Christianson, Mitchell Murchison, Ross Evans, and Bryan Barnett for surpassing the second place team by just one stroke to win the tournament! Were they lucky? Find out this year when the team attempts to defend their title at the Second Annual Alumni Golf Tournament currently scheduled for April 19, 2008.
Where Are They Now? -Jarrod Dumpe, AA 598, is currently completing his Orthopaedic surgery training at one of the country’s premiere hospitals – Cleveland Clinic -SSG Josh Pierce, AA 618 recently returned to Georgia after respectfully serving his country in the 53rd Signal Battalion of the Army Space Command and is now stationed at Fort Gordon, Augusta -Matthew Whitt, AA 681, accepted an offer to join BB&T Bank’s Leadership Development Program training to be a Business Services Officer Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs.: -Ryan Dorward, AA 645 -Mitchell Murchison, AA 650 -Byron Givens, AA 655 -Adam Beecher, AA 669 -Bryan Robertson, AA 671 -Michael Swift, AA 673 Congratulations to the Future Mr. and Mrs.: -Ross Evans, AA 641 -Jesse McMillan, AA 686 Congratulations to the Father of a Future Rose Queen: -Joel Clark, AA 614, father to Ms. Annaline Sidney Clark Congratulations to the Father of a Future Pi Kapp: -Jarrod Dumpe, AA 598, father to Grayson Jack Dumpe st
Keep working hard in your 1 semester of Grad School: -Bradley Bodiford, AA 672, Stetson Law School -Charlie Moore, AA 675, Mercer Med School -Chase Swanson, AA 680, Mercer Law School
Golf Tourney Winners from Left: Lee Harris, AA 644, Art Christianson, AA 606 , Mitchell Murchison, AA 650, Ross Evans, AA 641, and Bryan Barnett, AA 662
Founder’s Day continued… cook-out. There will be a campus tour offered during the cook-out for anyone interested. Also, we are trying to get a small cover band to play during the cook-out. One has not been booked yet, so if you’ve got any suggestions, please contact your Historian as soon as possible. That night we will have our Formal dinner celebration with Ledford Carter, the keynote speaker. Sunday afternoon, we will meet one last time at Francar’s for some wings. A complete schedule with times and locations are listed below: Friday, February 22, 2008 8:00pm: Optional get together at El Sombrero Saturday, February 23, 2008 10:00am: Actives vs. Alumni 5-on-5 Basketball Game, University Center Intramural Court 12:00pm: Cook-out, Pi Kappa Phi House in Greek Village at Mercer University (possibly with band) 2:00pm: Campus Tour 7:00pm: Formal Dinner, Barrington Hall Sunday, February 24, 2008 12:30pm: Lunch at Francar’s Please RSVP by February 10 by emailing your Historian: AlphaAlphaAlum@gmail.com.
SEND US YOUR UPDATES! AlphaAlphaAlumni@gmail.com
PAGE 3
What’s Going On?
|The News|
Mercer Updates -Men’s Basketball team started the season strong defeating #18 USC in California and losing by only 7 to Alabama in a record-breaking sold-out crowd in the University Center’s history -Mercer On Mission is a new program created by President Underwood which sends several students to different countries around the world for missions work while earning credits -The Engineering School has been granted $50,000 for the KEEN program to offer access to vital resources for building quality entrepreneurship education programs -Georgia Cancer Coalition has funded two Distinguished Cancer Scholars for the School of Medicine in Savannah: distinguished scientists Dr. Shi-Wen Jiang and Dr. Edward Perkins -The Physician Assistant program has just been accredited and will begin its first classes this January, 2008 at the College of Pharmacy in Atlanta -Quadworks’ first annual Bearstock-all day music festival on Porter Patch-was very successful -Princeton Review ranked Mercer’s schools of Business, Law, and Engineering and the University as a whole among the best in the nation, again -Looking for their first A-Sun Championship win, the women’s soccer team lost to Kennesaw -Organist Dr. Robert W. Parris has recently received critical acclaim for his new CD release
Brother Spotlight
Byron Givens, AA 655 takes one of his many shots at clay pigeons during the alumni event, A Day in the Woods in Covington, GA at Andrew Dial’s home. Despite the minimal turn-out, the alumni, actives, and associates present enjoyed shooting skeet, skinning and cooking venison on the grill, and filling up on Mrs. Dial’s delicious baked potatoes and peach cobbler.
Push America Our 5 returning Pi Alphas came back to campus with an unmatched enthusiasm to promote Push. Journey of Hope proved to be a great rush tool as well as a great way to promote volunteerism and fundraising within the chapter. During Push Week, the chapter raised over $600 from our annual scaffold sit. We plan to do even more fundraising next semester by repeating our very successful brother auction for a second straight year. Due to that success, the chapter earned a $250 grant from Push America to donate to any non-profit organization of our choice. Miracle League, a baseball league for kids with disabilities, happily received the grant check.
Pledging as an upperclassman, Ben Nelson, AA 693 humbled himself in the same manner as a freshman associate member would. That humility hasn’t left him, although there are so many things that he could brag about. Ben, a Biology and Latin double major on the pre-med track, has always demonstrated his commitment to hardwork. Early in his Junior year, Ben decided to ride the Journey of Hope, knowing he’d have to study for the MCAT while riding his bike across the United States. He took on this task early enough to give himself time to fundraise, train, keep an almost perfect GPA, and his girlfriend of about 6 years happy. Ben did his best to study during JOH only to return home the next day to take the exam. He earned a 36 (a very respectable score)! Ben now has a phenomenal chance to be accepted to the school he’s always wanted to attend – Emory School of Medicine.
THE BOX 24 ACTIVE BROTHERS! FALL RECRUITMENT -14 ACCEPTED BIDS! JOH FUNDRAISING -$3,500/$10,000 2006-2007: Best Philanthropy, Highest GPA, Intramural Champs, and CLASS
PAGE 4
Remember When...
|Miscellaneous|
Mercer Box 70112 Macon, GA 31207 Historian Phone: 239-560-0323 Historian E-mail: AlphaAlphaAlum@gmail.com Alumni Group E-mail: AlphaAlphaAlumni@gmail.com Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity “Leaders By Choice”
Alpha Alpha Chapter
These brothers are pictured in Lexington, KY while enjoying their time on the Bourbon Tour. Pictured in Back from Left: Mark Shaefer, AA 648, Bradley Bodiford, AA 672, Ross Evans, AA 641, Chip Cox, AA 639, Mitchell Murchison, AA 650, and Neel Bennett, AA 677. Pictured in Front from Left: Kevin Berry, AA 670 and Lee Harris, AA 644. If you’ve got any pictures or stories you’d like remembered in this section of the newsletter, please let us know. Look forward to more pictures like this at the 85th Anniversary Founders’ Day celebration!
Carter continued… Conservatory discovered his return and recruited him for her choir at a Macon church. She had known of his having been a member of the Mercer Glee Club from 1933 to 1937. At Mercer, Ledford was a columnist for the Cluster; represented Mercer’s International Relations Club at annual southeastern conferences at Winthrop and Auburn; was awarded membership in Alpha Psi Omega, national honorary dramatic fraternity, for a one-act play he wrote that was produced; was a candidate for vice president of the student body; and was Alpha Alpha chapter’s historian. In 1938, he, Red Robinson, and Pete Daniels of our chapter attended the Supreme Chapter meeting in Jacksonville, where they were joined by chapter advisor Wiley Jordan and entertained by the national president at Ponte Vedra Beach. During his 56-year residency in Bloomington, Carter has had opportunities for affiliation with actives and alumni of Alpha Psi chapter of Pi Kappa Phi. He was once their chapter advisor. National executive secretary Durward Owen was a guest in his home. He contributed to the ownership of that chapter’s first house, presented programs there, played racquetball, pool, and hosted meals with individual members. Alpha Psi alumni awarded him with a cherished Pi Kappa Phi trophy. Brother Carter, a native of Meigs, Georgia, has traveled in about 90% of Georgia’s counties, all fifty United States, and over fifty countries. His book, My Lust for Discovery, describes some of his travels and his extensive genealogical investigations.
In the Works -Grill -Re-felt pool table -TV -Couch/furniture