Beta Chi Chronicle
The Newsletter of the Beta Chi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi at the University of Virginia Fall 2017 Edition
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VP of Service President Emily Streissguth Caitlin McNamara Yorktown, VA Syracuse, NY
2017 2018 Officers
VP of Membership Dan Tschinkel Sterling, VA
Musicianship Chair Andrew Lynch Ridgeway, VA
VP of Finance John Brownhill Glen Allen, VA
Recording Secretary Savannah Olson Aldie, VA
VP of Social Affairs Stephanie Flores Berryville, VA
Corresponding Secretary Sydney Clark Fort Walton Beach, FL
Sponsor Dr. William Pease Director of Bands University of Virginia
Historian Sarah Vanlandingham Ashburn, VA
Alumni Relations Emma Afferton Centreville, VA
Parliamentarian Benjamin Rogers Chesterfield, VA
About Beta Chi
Originally founded on September 23, 1950, and active until 1962, the Beta Chi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi was refounded at the University on April 23, 2005. The original chapter supplied the first President and Secretary/Treasurer of the Northeast District in 1958 and hosted the first annual District Convention that same year. Today, Beta Chi provides support for the Cavalier Marching Band and other ensembles in the Charlottesville community. The oldest active chapter in the Southern Precinct, Beta Chi has welcomed over 250 well-qualified musicians into the Brotherhood of Kappa Kappa Psi.
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Beta Chi Chronicle
Fall 2017 Edition Beta Chi Chapter, Southern Precinct, Northeast District of Kappa Kappa Psi In this Issue
Pages
The Semester in Photographs Presidential Address
4-5 6
if you were a type of bean who needs a lawn to streak?
7-8 9
how a cell phone flashlight gave me hope
10-11
the price to go bowling
12-15
singing to no one, a surprisingly liberating experience
16-19
a crash course on the road to wisdom
20-21
picture time: cmb goes bowling
22-23
Mission Statement
Kappa Kappa Psi is a fraternal organization that promotes the advancement of college and university bands through dedicated service and support to bands, comprehensive education, leadership opportunities, and recognition, for the benefit of its members and society.
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The Semester in Photographs
Above Left: Brothers in the saxophone section in letters at band camp. Middle: Basic line reunites with alumni. Right: Brother Kingsley and Brother Sharpe bond with Brother Summers over donuts. Middle: (Left) Brothers Lynch, Olson, and Davis saw Brother Wilkerson perform with The Colts #DCI (Right) BX meets with Eta Beta at the annual UVA Tech game at Scott Stadium this year. Bottom: (Left) Brothers Chan and Flores snap a pic on the field after their last game. (Middle) Brothers Swetnam, Olson, and Afferton chill at band camp. (Right) Brother Payne displays her love of bingo.
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Above: (Left) KKPspike team takes a photo after their first win #kkpspikeforthehighest. (Middle) Brother McNamara pictured balancing some piccs on her head and also displaying her love for band. (Right) Some brothers head to the C-ville morning market as part of KKPharmers Market. Near and Far Right: Brothers Yi and Crabtree are two of the three brothers that serve as drum major. Near Right: Brother Driggers puts on his excited face for AG Bid Night. Left: Brother Alston shows his excitement for pre-retreat Dino Land Bottom Left: Newest AG class throws their sign at their first retreat. Bottom right: Trumpet playing Brothers Vanlandingham, Rogers and Miller show off their letters at band camp.
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Brothers and Friends of Beta Chi, The fall semester has come to a close and the cold weather is upon us, but Beta Chi is still going strong! Brothers served the Cavalier Marching Band in many ways during the football season, from stadium set-up and tear-down to truck unloading after games. Brothers will continue to assist with set-up and tear-down throughout the basketball season. Spring is always an exciting time for Beta Chi as we have the opportunity to welcome a new Membership Candidate class into the brotherhood. Brothers will be able to help the Alpha Delta class learn and grow throughout their Membership Candidate process, which is always a very rewarding experience. At the 2017 National Convention, a new membership education syllabus, The Road to Wisdom, was approved by representatives from all chapters of Kappa Kappa Psi. In accordance with the National Headquarters, Beta Chi will be implementing The Road to Wisdom this coming semester. Although this new syllabus is different, I believe the change will allow Beta Chi to grow as a chapter as we continue to strive for the highest. The holiday season is here, so I hope everyone is able to spend time with family and loved ones in the next couple of weeks. The band is gearing up to travel to Annapolis for the Military Bowl, so there is excitement in the air! Regardless of if the team wins or loses, the brothers of Beta Chi will still be ready to serve. 2018 is just around the corner, and I can’t wait to see Beta Chi take on the new year! AEA, Emily Lillian Streissguth President, Beta Chi Beta Chi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi
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If You Were A Type Of Bean Taylor Rauch, Alpha Gamma Class “If you were a type of bean, what would you be?” Confused, I stared at my computer screen, not quite sure how to respond. When I had signed up for Eta Rho’s NED KKPsi pen pal program, I had really only expected to email back and forth a few times with someone about our different chapters. I definitely had not anticipated what would become a weekly correspondence, each email containing questions more outlandish than the last. If you were a living snowman, how would you warm yourself up without melting? If you were given the task of changing the bread industry, how would you do it? These are just some of the questions we exchanged back and forth, and while each question was more unexpected than the last, I found myself looking forward to the engaging and thought-provoking conversation each one produced. We differed on how best to revolutionize the bread industry – I championed the expansion of the definition of bread to include fried chicken and crab cakes (which should be included according to Merriam Webster’s official definition), while he suggested “brissues” (bread tissues, “for all those time you had to sneeze but it went away just after you take a tissue out of a box”) – and I had war declared on me for choosing zero as my favorite number (“a direct assault on [his] liberty”). Yet, we managed to find common ground in that hummus is amazing, reading is life, and that we both have a favorite Jonas Brother’s song.
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These questions also made it really easy to have conversations about our chapters, and different things we are involved in. For example, it was really interesting to hear about his involvement on their year-round step team, which performs at school-wide events with other fraternities and sororities. It was also really cool to see that our chapters had a lot of similar goals. Similarly to Beta Chi, his chapter has a goal to connect musicianship more with their service and social activities, and to become more involved in the community surrounding the school. This even led to the exchange of various service ideas: he really liked the idea of doing an instrument petting zoo, especially because his university is located in an area that has a lot of low income families and schools. I tend to be a somewhat reserved person, so it was clear early on that my pen pal and I had very different personalities, but despite this, we had really entertaining conversations. It was definitely great to learn more about another chapter, but it was also awesome to see such a clear example of the spirit of brotherhood, which is such a defining characteristic of Kappa Kappa Psi. It also reminded me why I wanted to become a brother in the first place: to have the opportunity to meet people who care as much about band and music as I do. Despite different interests, personalities and backgrounds, everyone in KKPsi is united by the belief that music is a universal language. This interaction reminded me that this connected isn’t limited just to Beta Chi, but extends to all of the chapters of Kappa Kappa Psi, all over the country.
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Who Needs A Lawn to Streak Buck Schoorens, Alpha Gamma Class Friendship, excitement, brotherhood, and bonding. What more could someone ask for at the annual KKPsi retreat? How about what any UVA student would ask for; a field that would possibly allow for streaking? Why not. Luckily there just so happens to be a field of nothing but Ginkgo berries close by. But how did this event transpire you might ask? Much like any ill-conceived event that people like to do, it comes from a classic game called What are the ODDS. As the AG class was participating in post final retreat exercise bonding, we all decided that the best way to do that would be to play Cards Against Humanity, the most wholesome game known to man. As the game progressed, someone brought up the topic of What are the Odds, and after some time, it was decided that yours’ truly and Spencer “Caveman” Culbertson would be playing 1 in 20 to streak the field. As it turned out, the lucky number of the night was 17 and as a result, Spencer would have to run the field. Needless to say, the game of Cards Against Humanity stopped very quickly and we made our way to the field. To send off our dear Brother Spencer we sang the hymn as he ran into the night and the inevitable stench of berries that was waiting for him. After the run was complete, Spencer was asked for a comment, and he said “It was great, I felt like a caveman.” As it stands now, the AG group me now is titled 17 and the description reads “I felt like a caveman.” I believe that it was a retreat that no one will forget, and that our spirit of brotherhood was improved as a result.
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How A Cell Phone Flashlight Gave Me Hope Stephanie Flores, Alpha Alpha Class The events on August 11th and 12th shook our community to its core. It was hurtful to watch so much negativity, violence, and hatred walk through the streets of this place that we call home. While the events that took place created a lot of confusion and raised a lot of questions, Dave Matthews’s ‘A Concert for Charlottesville’ provided an opportunity for the Charlottesville community to come together and seek strength, peace, and solace. Something that made this event so beautiful was its use of music. One of the many amazing qualities of music is that it is inclusive, yet individualistic. Music allows people to participate in their own way, qualities appropriate for the cause of the event and evident in its free admission.
Above: Brother Olson also attended the Concert for Charlottesville and snapped this cool picture. Beta Chi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi
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While there were many memorable moments from the concert, the most impactful for me was looking around at the crowd as Chris Stapleton sang his song “Broken Halos.� While the song focuses on those that have been taken from us too soon, seeing people turn on their phone flashlights and raise them into the sky was quite a sight. Seeing all the individual lights illuminate Scott Stadium helped me remember that we are all a piece of this great community, and that together we really are a powerful force capable of great change. Left: Brother Olson and Brother Davis at Concert for Charlottesville. Bottom right: Brothers Chan, Hostetter, and Payne also attended a Concert for Charlottesville. Bottom left: Brother Chan got some great pics of JT
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The Price To Go Bowling Dan Tschinkel, Alpha Beta Class “Wouldn't that be funny if I injured myself right now?" I laughed to myself after nearly twisting my ankle in a pothole mere seconds from starting the Military Bowl Parade. I don’t know if this was a coincidence or a warning from the universe. The CMB went on to perform a great halftime show at the game, but I’m not here to tell you about that. I’m here to tell the story of one marcher. My story. A story of woe. I finished the parade happy to still be using my ankle to find out that all DIs had to play a special performance. I head over with the other players to the special heated VIP tent to hear T-Sully and the new athletic director speak. As we started moving in to the tent to play, I was talking to the people next to and behind me, so it was only when I turned back forward and the person in front of me moved around it that I noticed I was about to step on one of the tethers of the tent. I accepted my fate and tried to fall at least a little systematically and gracefully. It felt like one second and thirty minutes all at once. I tried falling to the left to avoid the tent and tether that caused this issue in the first place, but that was the hand that had my instrument and there was no way I was falling on that. Respect your instrument over your own body, my friends. So I tried to adjust and fall forward past the tethers with my one free hand catching my fall. I tried to say something to the people in front of me but I became illiterate in the time lock I was experiencing.
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Finally I was on the ground pinning a fellow brother down in the process. She turned around and I apologized and asked if she was okay. She was and I claimed to be to the several Navy tailgaters that came over to see if I was okay after witnessing my stellar display of UVA grace and professionalism. They told me to seek medical attention (which I did much later and was told I sprained my wrist), but instead I ran away to play "Hey Cheer" a couple times for a bunch of rich alumni. Basically the same, right? Oh, sorry, let me clarify. I did the visuals to "Hey Cheer" and other songs while not actually being able to move my hand fast enough to play any notes. Is doing a performance in shock on the list of things to do before you graduate? Because I can check that box off now. I thought the fall took a long time, but I felt like I was born and raised and would die in that performance it was so long. We finally left the tent out of what was not an exit, but with a little director persuasion became one. I iced my swelling wrist with my metal instrument (thanks December weather) and we moved to the stadium with the rest of the band. All seemed on the up and up. I could think clearly and talk again, but my right hand still hurt and moved like it was in molasses. I had to take my instrument and scoop up my right hand in order to get it up in time for songs. I did all the visuals though (except for two handed drum cadences which I swiftly revised). It was all fine until we were told to take off our raincoats for the halftime performance. I looked down after unbuttoning it to see that not only had I gotten dirt all over my knees from the fall, I had ripped the pant leg on one of the knees and the inseam from the knee all the way up to the crotch. I had also busted the zipper on my jacket which was now only zipped from the middle up. Beta Chi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi
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Thankfully I was wearing the blue CMB sweats underneath my bibbers and there was a trusty Uniform Crew member with safety pins nearby, but that did little for the frozen dirt and gaping hole. I proceeded to the field yet again a pristine example of UVA pride and perfection. After marching the show with a uniform that would've gotten me kicked out of the Navy had I been on the other team and playing just about as many notes as the guard and twirlers, I stood in the stands in a similar fashion as before to finish off the game. After the unfortunate (but not wholly unexpected) loss we headed back to the bus. I was as done with the day as could be and was practically throwing my instrument and raincoat in their respective places. Then when I tried to take off my jacket my zipper issue came flooding back to me. I couldn't get it unzipped all the way down, and in the struggle I managed to zip it all the way up and then unzip it up from the bottom. The issue was that the zipper pull was still connected at the top. So the only place that was secure on my entire uniform was the part that made it impossible to get off of my head. I was trapped. After getting multiple people to try and persuade it to open up and a serious teetering on the verge of frustration tears, I just grabbed the sides of the jacket and hulked it open. I tore a couple of the teeth out of the zipper in the process which was not the intention but felt satisfying. I took a breath of relief as I put my jacket away only to realize that I had left my phone in my raincoat pocket which was halfway down in a bin ready to be loaded and taken to Charlottesville. I ran over, and after flailing helplessly (both physically and verbally) to some of the Drum Majors I accepted my fate once again and tore through the bin. Thank goodness the apparent average size of a CMB member is a medium because it made my finding my XXL raincoat a bit easier. Beta Chi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi
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I found my phone and turned around all but defeated by the day for one of the tuba players to come up to me. His parents had brought goodie bags for his section and he came up to me and just handed me one saying, "You've had a tough day, here." I don't know if word spread that fast, if he saw me struggling throughout the day, or if he just looked at my defeated and ragged appearance, but I wasn't able to ask any questions. I just sighed a sincere thank you and watched him walk away. They were delicious by the way. Blood, sweat, tears, fabric, muscle strength, sleep, nerve function, and pride were all given that week to give a good show. But hey, I guess that’s just the price to go bowling.
Left: Dan as one of the most recognizable faces in the CMB. Right: Dan and his line Beta Chi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi
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Singing to No One, A Surprisingly Liberating Experience Daniel Kingsley, Alpha Alpha Class I was quite nervous during the 24 hours leading up to our performance for the UVA club, but I soon found out that it would not matter since no one would be listening anyway. Thanks to Alumni Brother Taylor Fisher, Beta Chi was given the opportunity to put together a performance for the UVA club of Charlottesville. Taylor continues to live in Charlottesville and work for UVA, but he also serves on the leadership board of the UVA Club (a social group that is made up of Alumni and others associated with the UVA community that live in Cville). He asked our chapter to perform at the next UVA club event in an attempt to diversify the kinds of groups that they usually got, which were overpriced acapella groups that only performed two songs (#shade). We had to put together an hour long program that consisted of an ensemble performance, piano solos, and a number of vocal selections. My job was to sing 5 songs accompanied by Nick on the piano.
Left: Brothers Ferraro, Kingsley, and Lynch reunite with alumni brother Fisher at their performance for the UVA Club of Charlottesville.
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Above: Brother Streissguth captured a moment of the performance from outside the pavilion.
It was a whirlwind rehearsal schedule since we essentially only had 24 hours (during finals) to put this all together. Nick and I chose our five songs a day in advance and then took two hours to learn and get them performance ready. During this Nick was practicing numerous piano solos from his book. As soon as we finished the woodwind ensemble came over and had their own fast paced one shot practice session to get their 20 minute part of the program ready. In addition to this, during the few days leading up to this, Andrew spent many hours arranging holiday music for this motley (yet very talented) ensemble to perform.
This is all to say that we all both surprisingly and impressively came together to put anything together. I think this showed both the chapter’s dedication to musical excellence, as well as, serving the broader community through that music.
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The night after our final practice sessions we all gathered at the Colonnade Club on the Lawn nervous, but hopeful that we could pull this off. When we arrived we got to walk past many fancy people that were waiting to get in since we were #withtheband. We were tucked into a corner of the main room with a grand piano and chairs set up for the ensemble. UVA club members milled about the club eating food, drinking and chatting; all with a fancy air about them. This did not deter the ensemble as they started their program with Andrew conducting in the front. People started to tune in and listen as they went from traditional christmas songs to more modern pieces like “Winter Song” by Ingrid Michaelson. The ensemble as met with praise when they finished their section and there was a short intermission (with intermittent piano solos by Nick). Before my section of the performance, I was told that I needed to give a short speech to introduce who we were and get everyone’s attention in order to start the second half. I learned it is quite difficult to force a bunch of adults you don't know to listen to a random college student talk loudly at them. I had to start over once, but I was able get everyone in the room to hear me describe what KKPsi was and why we were here. With renewed confidence I started my first Christmas medley trying to project as best my theatre training had taught me (as I did not have a microphone and had to sing over the piano). I expect it to take a second to get people’s attention, but as I reach the halfway point of the song, people continued to talk and not seem to notice that Nick and I were performing anything.
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I was a bit annoyed at first, but as we finished up the first song, it became kind of fun just to perform for Nick and myself. All that built up stress melted away as we just sang, played, and had fun since there was no one to impress. As we continued the program, people did start to tune in and some women even came up and sang at the piano with me. It turned out to be a fantastic time and I was able to just have fun with the audience, instead of nervously wondering if all these classy people would enjoy my singing or not. A performer’s worst nightmare (an audience's lack of attention) turned out to be just the thing I needed to show me that the joy of performing this music was much more important and beneficial than the worry that I wouldn’t be “good enough” for this professional audience. The event turned out to go overall fantastically and we even were allowed to eat the leftover food at the end. I think that it would be great of KKPsi could participate in more gigs like this in the future (especially since one woman asked what our band’s name was and we were like “uhhhh Kappa Kappa Psi”). My biggest take away for me was learning that maybe the best person to perform music for is yourself and if the audience happens to listen then that's the icing on the cake.
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A Crash Course on the Road to Wisdom Dan Tschinkel, Alpha Beta Class, Vice President of Membership This past year, Kappa Kappa Psi saw several changes including a new Membership Education Program called “The Road to Wisdom�. This means that the Membership Candidacy Process is now standardized and structured the same in every chapter. To help understand this I have put together a few things to know and remember about it. 1. This is not a punishment or in response to chapter failure. It is an effort to make sure that all chapters are providing their MCs with all of the information they need to know. 2. The program consists of an Orientation Meeting and then eight lessons that cover all of the important information needed to have active and productive chapter. 3. The program is flexible to chapter needs, wants, and traditions in that some instruction can be moved around and some activities can be chosen and amended. 4. Nationals is open to chapter-specific traditions and activities during the process, but they have to be submitted, reviewed, and approved beforehand. 5. All VPMs are given a manual to teach from, a Curriculum Advisor from Nationals to contact, and a full set of online resources to better teach lessons, discuss with other VPMs, ask for advice, and give feedback.
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6. Content is based on the pillars of fraternity: Musicianship, Leadership, Service, and Brotherhood, and categorized as pertaining to National History, Values, Structure and Operations, and the Chapter and the Band. 7. No intimate details of the fraternity are made know in these lessons, but they each require a more in depth look at the fraternity than Beta Chi has offered in the past. 8. For accessibility and transparency, the entire program is available to read on the KKPsi website. 9. This process does not affect Recruitment before or post-initiation processes after, it is just geared to structure the time in between bid day and initiation. 10. The program is constructed to give information, ask MCs questions to develop understanding and opinions, and test MC knowledge just as we have before, but in a fully written and direct way. I am very excited to work with this new program and see what it can do to better our chapter while making sure that we retain our own identity and traditions. Lesson 1: Our Work Matters Lesson 2: Our Service Matters Lesson 3: Your Chapter Matters Lesson 4: Our Leadership Matters Lesson 5: Our Musicianship Matters Lesson 6: Our Brotherhood Matters Lesson 7: Our Fraternity Matters Lesson 8: A Lifelong Commitment
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CMB goes to the Military Bowl 2017 Medieval Times! Single digit weather! A massive, soul crushing loss! See how our brothers dealt with the debacle that was MILITARY BOWL 2017 Left top: Brother Ferraro hype for Medieval Times. Middle left: Brother Swetnam and Brother Afferton are NOT amused by Medieval Times shenanigans. Bottom Left: Brother Davis and Brother Rogers get into the Medieval Times spirit. Right: Brothers Crabtree, Summers, Weathered, and Berman throw the psi at Medieval Times.
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Bowl Game Snaps! Left: Brother Guarriello snaps her view during the Military Bowl. Middle: Brother Renelt puts a nice location filter on her bowl game snap #nohomefieldadvantage Right: Brother Berman snaps a pic before halftime
About the Chronicle
Keeping Up With Beta Chi
The Beta Chi Chronicle is a semesterly newsletter that features articles written by current brothers of Kappa Kappa Psi and Alumni. Articles are written on a volunteer basis and are collected by the Historian.
Kappa Kappa Psi – Beta Chi
If you would like to write for a future issue of the Chronicle, please contact Sarah Vanlandingham, the Chapter Historian, at sv2pq@Virginia.edu. If you are an alumni, our Alumni Relations Officer, Emma Afferton, can be reached at eca6pd@Virginia.edu
@BXofKKPsi http://kkpsibx.weebly.com/
Our Corresponding Secretary, Sydney Clark, can be reached at smc5pq@Virginia.edu
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