The 2022 Western District Convention Recap

by Logan Dominguez

Iota Kappa - ΚΚΨ Boise State University

2021-22 Western District President

In late April 2022, our Brothers of Kappa Kappa Psi and Sisters of Tau Beta Sigma returned to Seattle, Washington for the first Western District Convention in over 1,081 days. Let me be the first to tell you, it was a tremendous success. It was also my first ever in-person convention, and I have to admit, it was absolutely terrifying to stand in front of the Western District and preside over the business that happens at a convention. After reflecting on our weekend together, I want to share the following recap, filled with stories, business, and a call for continued celebration that the Western District finally returned to being together.

The District Officers of both organizations had secretly recruited an Army Band brass quintet to kick off our convention, which seemed only fitting for the number of brass players that represented both District Councils. After we concluded our joint opening session, we took time separately to remind Brothers of Robert’s Rules of Order and how we proceed with voting matters on a District level. Then came some joyous reflections, as three Kappa Kappa Psi District Officers gave their report on the year. Quite possibly one of the highlights came as our outgoing District Secretary/ Treasurer, Christian Heck, had a special announcement in his report and became a fiancé to a past WD Member-at-Large, Joey Sacino. To those of us fortunate enough to have interacted with both of these Brothers, it was a perfect moment that I hope both of them cherish and tell for many years to come! After a short break, we had the wonderful opportunity to have national dignitaries present joint workshops for both organizations. A huge thank you goes out to all of those who lent us their wisdom with such beneficial workshops for the Western District. Before concluding our Friday, we held a full District caucus to allow the members in attendance to talk about jurisdictional amendments, the District budget, and have the opportunity to talk with the Brothers running for next year’s District Council. It was an exciting, memory-filled first day of convention, but there was so much more to look forward to in the next two days!

Saturday was re-designed from previous years of WDC, as we kicked off the day fully immersed in our ritual. Four new Brothers were made honoraries of the Western District: Dr. Jack Lee, Mrs. Jessica Lee, Ms. Siobhan Wilkes, and Ms. Karissa Longo. As a past Western District President, I am proud to say that these four outstanding individuals have gone above and beyond for our District, both this past year, and in previous years. After our honorary Third Degree, we moved into a stopmotion Second Degree designed to allow Brothers to have another in-person experience with Ritual after over two years of virtual experiences. We also had national dignitaries monitoring the Ritual, providing feedback and ideas for those Brothers in attendance to take back and hopefully utilize at their chapter level. Another highlight of this experience was that many past District Officers from the previous two years who were deprived of hosting their own in-person WDC were given reading roles to honor and remember their work that helped lead us to this point.

After our ritual workshop, we moved into a few more important workshops for active Brothers, followed by a long lunch break to give Brothers plenty of time for fellowship. We reconvened after lunch with one of the highlights of our convention: our music hour performance by the 56th Army Band. Let me just tell

Featured in this photo from left to right is Joey Sacino, past WD MaL (2020-21), and Christian Heck, past Secretary Treasurer (202122). Their engagement occurred during Christian’s report on April 22nd, 2022 at the Western District Convention.

56th Army Band performing during Music Hour at the Western District Convention. Photo courtesy of WD governor, Lance Coochyouma.

Brothers and Sisters from both the Iota Alpha and Eta Omega chapters during the WDC Fight Song Competition. More specifically featured on Trumpet are Sisters Veronica Enciso, Aileen Ibarra, Selena Reyes, Luis-Angel Gonzalez, and Kenjix Vang.

you all now, they blew the house down with their variety of music and ensembles and the enthusiasm in their performance!

There are no words I have to describe it other than it was a fabulous performance. It was a truly great experience to have our joint organizations come together in the bond we share of music. We rejoiced going into our second Kappa Kappa Psi separate session of the convention, featuring a large overhaul of our District Constitution and the passing of the WD 2022-23 budget. After those thoughtful discussions for the future of our District, we held a National Leadership Townhall, filled with blooming conversations between our membership and our National Leaders. Numerous Brothers were glowing with glee at being able to talk about membership expansion, recruiting in chapters, or just being able to finally put a face to the names that can be found in email communication outreaches.

After a brief break to change back into our formal clothes, we held our WDC 2022 Banquet, filled with great food, laughter, and a few tears. Numerous awards were presented to both individual Brothers and Chapters, highlighting the hard work they put in during the 20212022 year. But most importantly, we were able to return to our Western District roots with the Fight Song Competition. For those that may not know, the Western District Fight Song Competition is a time purely dedicated to an organized chaos of sorts. Every chapter present has the chance to perform their fight song with their own traditions and chapter flare. There were so many cool moments, so I have decided to just include a few of my favorite images from WDC, as I feel these really embodied the spirit of the Western District.

On Sunday, we once again reconvened for our last separate session, which was filled with tears from both the governors and myself as we gave our reports. Additionally, we voted and installed the next Western District President, Mary Elliott. After finishing our separate business, we met back up with our Sisters of Tau Beta Sigma to conclude with an announcement of the 2023 Western District Convention *Drum roll……..* Park City, Utah, April 21st-23rd.

As an outgoing District President, let me just say that it has been an honor and a privilege to serve this District. I love my Brothers so much and I hope that this brief overview has made YOU want to attend the next Western District Convention. We hope to see you there, as the Best are Truly in the West!