The Theta Lambda Literati The official newsletter of the ΘΛ Chapter of ΠΚΘ
Fall 2009, Issue 1
Monday November 23, 2009
To Active and Alumni Members
2009 Founder’s Day Banquet
The 2009 Founder’s Day Banquet is rapidly approaching. We would like to see as many active and alumni members attend as possible. The celebration will begin with a luncheon that day in which all are invited, including guests such as parents and dates. Later that night, a semi-formal dance will take place at the same location, but only actives and their dates will be in attendance. The events are to be held at the University Plaza Hotel and Convention Center. They will take place on Saturday, December 5. RSVP by Dec. 1. You will see more information about the events below:
Founder’s Day 2009: You’re Invited! What: Luncheon (Semi-Formal) Who: All Actives and Alumni, Parents and Dates When: Saturday, December 5, 2009.
What: Semi-Formal Dance Who: Active Members and their Dates When: Saturday, December 5, 2009.
Where: University Plaza Convention Center
Where: University Plaza Hotel
Arrive at 12:30, meal will be served at 12:45
(West of Hotel) in the Arizona Room Entrée: ●Panko Herb Crusted Chicken -or ●Italian Cheese Manicotti Cost: $16.00 per plate. Pay upon arrival. RSVP: Email Keaton Ashlock, Historian with names of attendees, and their choices of entrées by December 1st. (info. below)
Dance: 9:30pm-1am, Cash Bar closes at 12am
John Q. Hammons Room Cost: No further cost, though a cash bar will be avail able for those of age. RSVP: Email Keaton Ashlock, Historian with names of attendees, including their birthdate by December 1st. (contact info. below) Also, everyone will need to have their IDs.
RSVP to Keaton Ashlock, Historian, at KeatonAshlock@Gmail.com Call with questions: 417.399.3741
Home Improvement
If you haven’t been by the house this semester, you may be suprised to see a few of the improvements that have been made over the summer and through this year. Along with some new furniture, an air-hockey table, and our pillars being repainted, the most ΟΥΔΕΝ ΔΙΑΣ Π ΑΣΕΙ ΗΜΑΣ
noticable difference is the addition of our new letters. The letters were placed over the summer, and have really been an embellishment on our house. A project in the works includes the placement of a symbolic bell, to be mounted in front of our chapter house. Pg. 1
The Theta Lambda Literati
Fall 2009, Issue 1 Monday November 5, 2009
The official newsletter of the ΘΛ Chapter of ΠΚΘ
New Members
In the past year, the Theta Lambda chapter has enjoyed two of the strongest initiation classes to date. In the Spring of this year, we had seven members of the Eta Class. They were diverse, as most classes are, with both freshmen and sophomores, and coming from a variety of backgrounds. We had RA’s, a member of Beartones, an Alpha Kappa Psi member, and all of them showed promise for taking on leadership roles in the future of
Eta Class
President - Brandon Jones Vice President - Mike Mckee Treasurer - Jon Stubblefield Secretary - Nick Lape Historian - Kurt Wehner Push Chair - Jered Yeaton Brotherhood Chair - Kyle Lamm
the chapter. Since their initiation 3 of the 7 became RA’s and another Eta, Mike McKee, was just elected as the new Warden of the chapter. The new member dance they held was Hippies, Hobos and Hillbillies, held at Icon. They also led a successful fundraiser at Panera Bread for Push America. This fall the chapter saw 15 young men come through as the Theta Class. They were just as diverse as the Etas, even if they did have three Adams and two Justins. They also
had an RA, a member of Scholar’s House, members from the Missouri State band, and members of SGA, and a former Missouri Boys State Governor. Evan Melgren was just elected Historian and Mike Jones is an SGA Senator. As you can see these men are already making an impact on their chapter as well as their campus and I expect more great things to come from them. Their new member dance was a luau theme and they also held a successful Panera Night for Push America.
Theta Class
President - Stehvin Butcher Vice President - Adam Rowles Treasurer - Adam Rieker Secretary - Patrick Krietler Historian - Evan Melgren Push Chair - Zach Sutton
Message from Archon-Elect Hey all! I first want to say thank you for electing me as the next Archon. I am nothing but excited about the new exec board and the year ahead. (more on this later though!) The reason i am writing is because i did not get a chance to send around a sign up sheet during meeting about volunteering at my moms school
on Friday December 4th. There is a student festival type event and we will need to be there from 4:30 to 7 ish. If you can come like an hour in there that is great. They need about 15 to 20 people to help and i know about 10 of us went last time and had a blast. I got to sing karaoke with little kids and it was hilarious. This would be great PR for us es-
Fall 2009 has been a great testament to what the men of Pi Kappa Phi are capable of. We have recruited a great class that is Theta Class: men that will continue the mission of our founders. The Founding Fathers’ Class has nearly gone from the chapter, yet their mission remains the goal of the Theta Lambda Chapter. While I have only been an Archon for a semester, I could not be more confident in our chapter’s
future. We have assembled a chapter that is developing a relationship with the Office of Student Engagement (formerly known as the Office of Student Activities) which has not been present in years past. We are more focused on the betterment of the chapter and the success of the Inter-Fraternity Council. This semester has featured some incredible milestones for Theta Lambda. Vice Archon, John Maddux, orga-
Message from Archon, Keith Kennedy
ΟΥΔΕΝ ΔΙΑΣ Π ΑΣΕΙ ΗΜΑΣ
Jake Baggs Derrick Bryant Caleb Clawson Justin Drane Mike Jones Justin Mellish
Adam Neal Joe Roberts
pecially if we want to use their gym again for greek jam. If you can go shoot me an email so that i can get an idea of how many people can go. I know that most of you wont want to give up your friday but it is just a couple of hours and we need to rack up some community service. In PKP, Nick Balla
nized a phenomenal rush session. The house on Elm Street hosted nearly 100 people on two different events, one of which we would like to consider a signature event: Rootbeer Fest. On bid day, we had signed 16 young leaders. Our retention rate was perfect with Theta Class and on November 6, 2009 we initiated all 16 of those men. If that was not enough, we sent an initiation team to the University of NePg. 2
The Theta Lambda Literati
Fall 2009, Issue 1 Monday November 5, 2009
The official newsletter of the ΘΛ Chapter of ΠΚΘ
braska in Lincoln, Nebraska exactly one week later. Theta Lambda is now entrenched in the history of another chapter. On our own campus in Springfield, we have been making an impact as well. None more alluring than Jared Grimsley, a member of Zeta Class, being elected Missouri State Universities 2009-2010 Home-
coming King. Our chapter continues to make great strides toward success both in Springfield and on a national level within our beloved fraternity. As for our future, one of the next milestones we would like to see is the formation of an official alumni chapter. It is very nice to have a magnitude of our alumni remaining
in the Springfield area, and also to see them remaining involved with the chapter. I have no doubt that our chapter is destined for great things. May God continue to bestow great things on the Theta Lambda chapter and Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity. -Keith Kennedy 6th Archon of the Theta Lambda Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi
Theta Lambdas participate in Build America In the summer of 2009, two Brothers from the Theta Lambda participated in one of Push America’s exciting summer service events – Build America. Andrew Crain (#9) and Derrick Jeffries (#88) raised a total of over $7,000 to benefit people with disabilities, and then spent six weeks traveling with other PiKapps from throughout the nation and working to construct accessible amenities at summer camps for people with disabilities.
In total, the 19-member team stopped at six different summer camps in the Eastern United States, and also completed a series of weekend projects along the way. The tasks ranged widely from creating accessible pathways to renovating an archery range and constructing a massive outdoor amphitheater. Over the course of the summer, the team contributed 6,200 hours of labor and over $70,000 to the
camps that they visited, and also spent a great deal of time interacting with campers and participating in programming. The campers that the group worked with varied greatly in the type and severity of their disabilities, but they were all alike in their desire to have a fun camp experience and their enjoyment of interacting with the Build America team. The team members themselves also benefitted a great deal from the experience, learning construction skills, gaining new understandings about the abilities of people with disabilities, and becoming lifelong friends with their fellow Build America participants. The event culminated in an emotional arrival in Washington, D.C., where Build America ended its journey on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol along with team members from one of Push America’s other major events, the Journey of Hope.
A Haunted Night for Push America On October 21 we put on our first ever Pi Kappa Phi Haunted House. This event was put on to raise money for Push America. The Push America committee worked for a month and a half to get the haunted house planned. The event was to take place and run for 5 hrs. For
5 hrs on a Wednesday night over 30 people, some members of other greek organizations, came together to raise money for Push America. This was a great success for our chapter. In that time we raised a total of $800 for Push America. This is the largest amount raised in ΟΥΔΕΝ ΔΙΑΣ Π ΑΣΕΙ ΗΜΑΣ
Build America is an annual event operated by Pi Kappa Phi’s national philanthropy, Push America. The mission of Push America is “Building Leaders of Tomorrow by Serving People with Disabilities Today.” For more information go to http://www.pushamerica.org/. a single event in our chapter’s short history. This event is something that we hope to continue for years to come. We feel like with such a great success with our first there is nowhere to go but up. Pg. 3