Laurel Spring 2019

THE

OF PHI KAPPA TAU | VOL. 104 ISSUE 1 | APRIL 2019

LEADERSHIP: VALUES, RELATIONSHIPS, AND DEDICATION

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

P. 5

P. 10

P. 20

TEACHING LEADERSHIP

LEADERSHIP LEADS TO CHAMPIONSHIPS

PERFORMANCE REPORTS

This fall will mark one hundred years of incredible stories, news, and features in The Laurel. Watch for a special centennial edition this coming November, but in the meantime follow Phi Kappa Tau on Facebook for throwbacks from past features.

[2] THE LAUREL || APRIL 2019

good and loyal citizen. I shall try always to discharge the obligation to others which arises from the fact that I am a fraternity man.

Phi Kappa Tau, by admitting me to membership, has conferred upon me a mark of distinction in which I take just pride. I believe in the spirit of brotherhood for which it stands. I shall strive to attain its ideals, and by so doing to bring to it honor and credit. I shall be loyal to my college and my chapter and shall keep strong my ties to them that I may ever retain the spirit of youth. I shall be a good and loyal citizen. I shall try always to discharge the obligation to others which arises from the fact that I am a fraternity man.

Phi Kappa Tau, by admitting me to membership, has conferred upon me a mark of distinction in which I take just pride. I believe in the spirit of brotherhood for which it stands. I shall strive to attain its ideals, and by so doing to bring to it honor and credit. I shall be loyal to my college and my chapter and shall keep strong my ties to them that I may ever retain the spirit of youth. I shall be a good and loyal citizen. I shall try always to discharge the obligation to others which arises from the fact that I am a fraternity man.

14

LEADERSHIP: VALUES, RELATIONSHIPS, AND DEDICATION We spoke to five exceptional Phi Tau alumni to get their opinion on leadership.

FEATURES 5 TEACHING LEADERSHIP Leadership Academy Dean Guillermo Flores opens up on the importance of this National Program and the best ways to teach leadership.

13 5 MINUTES WITH BISHOP MARTIN FIELDS Bishop Martin Fields of the Episcopal Church talks to us about leadership from a religious point of view.

10 FROM THE ARCHIVES Together, two Phi Taus lead a team to the NCAA championship and an Olympic Gold medal.

20 2018 CHAPTER PERFORMANCE REPORTS The 2018 chapter performance reports shows membership, philanthropic dollars, graduation rate, and more from our 92 active chapters.

On the cover: left to right, General Terry Williams, Senator Mitch McConnell, and Representative Trent Kelly taken in Leader McConnell’s office, Senate Wing, US Capitol

DEPARTMENTS 4 | COO’s Letter 6 | E xpanding Our Mission 7|U ndergraduate of Distinction 9|A lumnus of Distinction 12 | B y the Numbers 13 | 5 Minutes With...

20 | Chapter Dashboard 25 | Laurels 28 | Chapter Eternal 30 | Sidelights

COO'S LETTER

MAILBOX A WORD FROM

THE LAUREL IS INTENDED TO START A CONVERSATION with brothers and friends.

Content is carefully selected to engage and excite our readers. It is our hope that stories you read start a conversation with those in your life. Any comments are appreciated. You can submit your feedback— positive or negative, we want it all—to phikapptau.org/ laurelfeedback/. ~

PHI TAU TWEETS Veronica Atins @theitinerantone Back at it with @PhiKappaTau! Looking forward to Presidents Academy!

Donnie Bantle @donniebantle Day one of #PhiTauPA has come to a close. These chapter presidents were able to learn more about their #leadership styles and began to draft their Wildly Important Goals (WIGs). Bring on day 2! @PhiKappaTau Guillermo Flores @GuillermoxF Love seeing all the @PhiKappaTau Presidents Academy posts. Lucky to have an outstanding crew working with our Presidents from across the nation! #GoFar

[4] THE LAUREL || APRIL 2019

THE EXECUTIVE OFFICES

THE EXTRA MILE

I

n this issue you will read about fine leadership examples from an array of outstanding Phi Tau alumni. Recently, I witnessed a display of leadership from a different brotherhood that I think will resonate with our brothers.

Our six-year-old plays Mites Hockey, a program through Miami University. In December, Brooks was a ‘player of the week’ at a varsity game. He got to play a ‘game’ against the Miami team captains, tour the Miami locker rooms, and spend time on the red carpet in the fan tunnel before they took the ice. The staff and the players treated him like a VIP. Recently, the Miami team extended another opportunity and hosted the Junior players for a “Junior Brotherhood Night.” The kids toured the facility and talked about work ethic, accountability, responsibility, and sacrifice. They were given one rule for the night – they could do whatever they liked, but they could not touch the red ‘M’ in the center of the locker room carpet out of respect for Miami University. In an attempt to be funny, Brooks ignored this rule. He disrespected the players and their space.

When he got home, my wife Kristen talked to him about what had happened. He admitted his mistake and was disappointed with himself. He wanted to apologize. Kristen helped him write an apology letter­– only helping with spelling.

We sent it to the head of the program, thinking we were done. We told Brooks he made things right and now he should put it behind him, as he was still upset.

But it wasn’t done – the head of the program sent it to the coaches. The head coach sent it to the players. And two captains sent back a video,

forgiving Brooks, thanking him for the apology, and saying they looked forward to seeing him around. Needless to say, when we watched it with Brooks, he was elated; I know he felt forgiven.

People like this are true heroes in youth sports. They went the extra mile to teach a boy about accountability, respect, and forgiveness. I have to think that what those guys did is a reflection of their coaches, parents, and other people that have pointed them in the right direction over time.

The lesson that moved me the most is how these players modeled forgiveness. Forgiveness is not a quality that we often prioritize in conversations about leadership, but it is absolutely a leadership quality. The men involved in the program allowed Brooks to make a mistake and learn from it in a safe environment, without feeling shame or isolation. Hopefully he will remember that display of leadership and model it for somebody else someday.

Leadership is something that unfolds overtime and impacts lives. You don’t lead to impact an organization, a company, or a business, you lead to impact young people. Hopefully, that is what our advisors and alumni are doing, and hopefully those young people will go on to have an impact on their community or the world.

Go Far,

TRAVIS ROBINSON CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

PERSPECTIVES

GUILLERMO FLORES, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS ’08

TEACHING LEADERSHIP

I

t’s hard to spend more than a week with Phi Tau at the national level without at least hearing about Guillermo Flores. The Southern Illinois alum has made his career in higher education and, more specifically, Fraternity & Sorority Life. After graduating Southern Illinois, he completed Ball State’s Master’s program in Student Affairs. He worked at the University of Houston as a fraternity and sorority housing coordinator, then arrived at Michigan State last summer where he now serves as Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life.

Guillermo dedicates his free time to Greek life as well – besides being an active Phi Tau alum, he recently facilitated Sigma Kappa’s Regional Conference, participated in the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors’ Annual Meeting in November, and gave four presentations at the Association of Fraternal Leadership & Value’s February conference.

And that’s just been the past three months.

Guillermo is superlatively active. In addition to his volunteer work outside of Phi Tau, he is the Dean of Leadership Academy, a position he was appointed to last July and will serve until 2020. It’s his job to design and execute curriculum for Leadership Academy, which he explains to people who aren’t familiar with the program as, “A developmental piece for up-and-coming, rising leaders within Phi Tau.” But what are “rising” or “emerging” leaders, and how do you identify them? To Guillermo, “It’s not always going to be someone who’s the most outgoing or who has the best grades – but you see that spark in someone and sometimes it’s undeniable. They’re the ones who speak up at chapter meetings, they’re the ones who set up early for events, they’re the ones who stay late, the ones who ask questions, they’re the ones who know their resources.”

Besides the developmental take-aways built into Leadership Academy – public speaking,

THE LAUREL OF PHI KAPPA TAU APRIL 2019 VOL. 104 ISSUE 1

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Lilly Steger COPY EDITORS John Sayers, Bethany ’78 Travis Robinson, Eastern Kentucky ’98 CONTRIBUTORS Tim Hudson, Truman State ’97 Barry Mask, Auburn ’78 Kristen Robinson

running chapter meetings, strategic planning, and engagement – Guillermo stresses the soft skills as well. “I think men especially need to understand the importance of relationship building, communication, and how you work with people inside and outside of the chapter,” he said.

Guillermo and Phi Kappa Tau like members to leave Leadership Academy with quantifiable outcomes: goal setting, being better bystanders, promoting diversity and inclusion, or running for chapter office. But with a skill as difficult to quantify as “leadership,” what are the more abstract measures of our success? “If this makes you love Phi Tau and has you thinking and working towards making this a lifelong commitment, then we really have done our jobs,” Guillermo explained. “Thinking about other people, being intentional with their programming, being intentional with who they interact with, and hopefully just being a better person. That’s what I hope they get out of it.”

UPCOMING EDITIONS Phi Kappa Tau publishes the Laurel three times a year. Each edition focuses on an aspect of the Phi Kappa Tau experience.

The schedule below identifies upcoming delivery dates.

September 2018; December 2018 ADDRESS CHANGES Visit phikappatau.org/address to update your current mailing information.

LAUREL ARCHIVES Past Laurel publications can be found online at phikappatau.org/laurel. Individuals can browse and view all past editions that are available.

THE LAUREL || PHIKAPPATAU.ORG [5]

EXPANDING OUR MISSION

CHARTERINGS

C

CHI CHAPTER North Carolina State

ZP

ZETA PI CHAPTER Boston University

COLONIZATIONS

EXISTING COLONIES

TEXAS TECH COLONY Texas Technological University

COLUMBUS STATE COLONY Columbus State University

DELTA KAPPA COLONY University of Tennessee-Knoxville

OMEGA COLONY University of Wisconsin-Madison

PI COLONY University of Southern California

ALPHA RHO COLONY Georgia Institute of Technology

OMICRON COLONY Pennsylvania State University

ALPHA THETA COLONY College of William & Mary

BETA THETA COLONY University of Kansas

DELTA RHO COLONY Eastern Kentucky University

EPSILON DELTA COLONY Virginia Wesleyan University

If you know a young man attending school at one of the institutions, recommend him to Phi Kappa Tau by visiting phikappatau.org/join.

If you would like to volunteer with one of Phi Kappa Tau’s colonies, visit phikappatau.org/volunteer.

[6] THE LAUREL || APRIL 2019

CLOSINGS

Epsilon Beta Chapter West Virginia Institute of Technology

After a campus relocation, from Montgomery, West Virginia to Beckley, West Virginia and a decline in overall student involvement in Greek life, the Epsilon Beta chapter has closed its doors. The Fraternity and chapter’s Graduate Council are in communication with the University administration to determine the best timeline for next steps.

UNDERGRADUATE OF DISTINCTION

SETH NOVOSEL, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ‘18 PI COLONY PRESIDENT UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

Phi Kappa Tau at Arizona State. However,

doing.” But as the President of a new

after realizing Arizona wasn’t the right fit,

colony, Seth doesn’t have examples of

he transferred to University of Southern

previous presidents to model his tenure

California spring 2018.

after. Instead, he looks to IFC leadership and other Greek officers on campus –

Once Seth met the recruiters, he jumped

both for what to do and what not to do.

in feet first. “I wanted to be there for

“For me, it’s looking at that and saying,

Seth Novosel, Southern California, first

everything,” he said. “I wanted to be

‘We need to do better.’”

learned Phi Kappa Tau was coming to

there every step of the way to make

campus through an Instagram post.

sure we were finding the right people.”

Now Pi colony is running independently

By the end of the semester Seth helped

and it’s up to Seth and the brothers to

create a 22-man colony.

secure a legacy at USC. “I want us to

“I saw the recruiters had made an Instagram

be in the new wave of fraternities

page, so I reached out and said, ‘Hey, I was a part of Phi Tau before, I see you guys are

Soon after, Seth was elected as first

at USC, where we’re making the

restarting here, I’d love to be a part of it.”

President of Pi colony. “President was

culture change,” Seth concludes, eager

Seth, a legacy whose father, Mark, initiated

a position I always wanted to have and

to embrace the leadership challenges

into Colorado State in ’86, originally joined

was something I felt like I was capable of

faced by starting a new colony.

THE LAUREL || PHIKAPPATAU.ORG [7]

ALUMNUS OF DISTINCTION

TRENT KELLY, OLE MISS ’87 STATE REPRESENTATIVE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MISSISSIPPI Trent Kelly, Ole Miss ’87, has been serving in high-intensity leadership roles since he was in his twenties. In 1991, he mobilized with Desert Storm and was responsible for the lives of 40-some soldiers at twenty-two. “It was very formative,” he said of that early leadership.

He finished law school in 1994, throughout which he furthered his military career. He deployed again in 2005, this time as a Major and Operations Officer for a battalion. During that rotation, the brigade lost 29 men, four of whom were in his battalion. He went back a third time several years later, now the Commander of 670 troops and officers. “That was a very gratifying experience, I brought all 670 of those kids back home with 10 fingers and 10 toes. That’s one of the proudest moments you’ll ever have.”

Today, Trent Kelly is a State Representative for Mississippi. To Representative Kelly, one of the highest priorities of leadership is relationship building. “You know, the reason most people join fraternities is because they meet people who are like minded who they like to be around, and who they can build relationships and friendships with.” This mentality is one that has helped him develop his political career in a way that prioritizes other people first. “People have to know that you care before they really care what you think or your ideas,” he said. “None of us have the capability and the skillset to do all the great things in life that you’d like to do without the help of others.”

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

LILLY STEGER

FROM THE ARCHIVES: LEADERSHIP LEADS TO CHAMPIONSHIPS

T

he 1959 NCAA championship team and the 1960 Olympic gold medal team had two men in common: Darrall Imhoff, UC Berkeley ’59, and Pete Newell, UC Berkeley ’58. Both Phi Taus, these two men worked together to earn two coveted championships. Read this excerpt about their leadership from a 1982 edition of The Laurel: DARRALL IMHOFF Leading the starting five is the man considered by most to be the fraternity’s greatest player, Darrall Imhoff of California. A two-time All-American, he was the top rebounder on Cal’s NCAA championship team of 1959 and hit the winning basket with 17 seconds left to give the Golden Bears the title. The next season, he was the leading scorer and rebounder as the team was NCAA runner-up. He was named to the 1960 U.S. Olympic team and became a Gold Medal winner.

Darrall was the New York Knicks’ top draft choice in 1960 and proved to be a top defensive player in the NBA for 12 seasons, pulling down 6,099 career rebounds while scoring 5,759 points.

His top scoring season was 1970 when he totaled 1,075 points, a 13.6 average, for the Philadelphia 76ers. His top rebounding effort came in 1967 with the Lakers as he pulled down 1 ,080 caroms to rank seventh in the NBA. Darrall is a member of the Citizens Savings Hall of Fame.

[10] THE LAUREL || APRIL 2019

PETE NEWELL Our choice as coach of the all-time squad is Pete Newell, the only Phi Tau in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and a man whose contributions to the game span 40 years. In 21 years as a head coach at San Francisco, Michigan State and California, he compiled a 233-123 record. He guided his teams to both NCAA and N.I.T. championships and directed the U.S. Olympic team to the Gold Medal in 1960, a year in which he was named “Coach of the Year.” In 1968, he won the Metropolitan Award, given annually by the coaches to the man who has contributed the most to the game.

Following the Olympic victory, Pete moved from coaching to the Athletic Directorship at California. Then, in 1968, he moved into the pros as General Manager of the San Diego Rockets of the NBA. When the Rockets moved to Houston in 1971, he stayed on as advisor until the Los Angeles Lakers named him as their General Manager in 1972. He left the Lakers following the 1976 season and joined the Golden State Warriors as Talent Consultant, his current position, prior to the 1978 season.

Although we cannot speak to Imhoff and Newell about the role of leadership in professional and college sports, you can read more about these two men in the winter 1982 edition of The Laurel, vol.

70, issue 2 at phikappatau.org/laurel.

CHAPTER OF DISTINCTION

ALPHA LAMBDA CHAPTER AUBURN UNIVERSITY / AUBURN, ALABAMA The Alpha Lambda chapter convened an emergency executive officers session just hours after the deadly tornados touched down in Georgia and Alabama on March 3rd. They needed to brainstorm on how to help their community after their area was devastated and 23 lives were taken just 8 miles southeast of Auburn University. Phi Kappa Tau was the first student organization at Auburn University to do so and had its GoFundMe account and social media appeals up by 9pm that evening. All 110 brothers participated in this social media campaign to drive up donations. The first donation was received just minutes later, at 9:35pm.

As of March 11th, the campaign had raised $5,125.00 and three pick-up trucks full of water, cleaning supplies, and personal care items were collected at the chapter house. Several days after the initial damage, a dozen brothers went to the site and helped remove debris while other members distributed flyers for the campaign around campus. Go Far, Auburn!

CHAPTER INFORMATION

CAMPUS INFORMATION

CHARTERED: 1927

ESTABLISHED: 1856

CHAPTER MEMBERS: 110

STUDENT ENROLLMENT: 21,500

CHAPTER GPA: 3.15

AREAS OF STUDY: 76

ALUMNI MEMBERS: 1,630

IFC FRATERNITIES: 27

THE LAUREL || PHIKAPPATAU.ORG [11]

BY THE NUMBERS

PHI KAPPA TAU BY THE NUMBERS:

NATIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAMMING Phi Kappa Tau continues to offer outstanding leadership opportunities and provide service for the greater good.

92

1,037 TOTAL NUMBER OF UNDERGRADUATES WHO COMPLETED

* *

*

* *

* ** * * *

11

NUMBER OF ATTENDEES AT ANNUAL LEADERSHIP ACADEMY

NUMBER OF STATES WITH NATIONAL PROGRAMS (Texas, Washington, Oklahoma, Virginia, California, Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, Colorado)

1,746

6

TOTAL UNDERGRADUATES WHO PARTICIPATED IN AN EDUCATION PROGRAM

456

NUMBER OF ATTENDEES AT A REGIONAL CONFERENCE

77 NUMBER OF ATTENDEES AT PRESIDENTS ACADEMY

NUMBER OF NATIONAL PROGRAMS

122 NUMBER OF UNDERGRADUATES AT CONVENTION

[12] THE LAUREL || APRIL 2019

FIVE MINUTES WITH...

BISHOP MARTIN FIELD, BETHANY ’75

5 MINUTES WITH A BISHOP

A

fter graduating from Bethany College’s Phi chapter in the 1970s, Bishop Field found himself doing what he always knew he would do: ministering. Unlike so many students who enter school and leave as uncertain as when they arrived, Bishop Field’s calling had been clear to him from the start.

• What drew you to becoming a Pastor? Clear back when I was in high school, I had a very distinct sense that that’s where I was being called.

When I went to Bethany, I went there because they had a good pre-ministerial program to get me ready for seminary.

As far back as I can remember, I had a bug, it was the career God was calling me to. I hate to use the word career, because it’s more of a calling than a career. What motivated me was always this sense that God is calling me to do this, so therefore as an act of faithfulness, I’ll follow that call.

• So you were religious throughout college? Actually, I was a Religious Studies major and I started serving church in the area around Bethany college when I was 18 years old, so I’ve been at this for a long time.

• How would you challenge college men to stay faithful or religious despite the temptations they may face on college campuses, or throughout young adulthood in general? I would say what the key thing for all of that, is trying to keep your life in sync for what God made you to be. Discover it and try to discover what purpose God really has for you. Most people tend to think in material terms, and I’ve always been drawn to think of life in spiritual terms. I think that’s because when I was very young – I can’t remember who this quote is from – but I heard a quote that said, ‘We are not material beings that have a spiritual side, we are spiritual beings that have a material side.’ That has always profoundly affected me – the fact that we are first and foremost meant to be spiritual people in touch with our creator.

• Do you think organizations and fraternities like Phi Tau prepare men for the rest of their lives? Do you think it helped prepare you for your calling? It did. It gave me an opportunity to explore leadership even at an early age in college. It gave me the opportunity to find out who I was as a leader, who I could be, and it gave me a chance to test my values and my faith with men who were on the same journey.

• The mission of Phi Kappa Tau is ‘to champion a lifelong commitment to brotherhood, learning, ethical leadership and exemplary character.’ You have already touched on a few of those points, but do you feel like this is still a relevant mission statement?

And given that, what would your leadership challenge be to our young men today? I think that’s one of the things we need most in this world, to produce men and women who have ethics, integrity, and the commitment to live by their values, not surrendering to the exigencies of the moment. Let your values be the guiding star by which you steer the rest of your life. It’s very important to form those values early and make the commitment to never lay them aside, just because it may be more convenient, but to hold onto them and let them guide you through life.

For me, that’s what my fraternity experience was all about. I came with a set of values when I joined the Fraternity. They were able to mature and grow, they became more real and more important, not less so. I was able to, at the end of my Fraternity experience, have a clear, really solid sense, of where I was going in life and where God was leading me.

Thank you to Bishop Fields for giving us his time and his unique perspective on the role of leadership.

THE LAUREL || PHIKAPPATAU.ORG [13]

MPLARY CHARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG COMMITMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, NG, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY CHARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG FEATURE TMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, LEARNING, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY CHARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA AU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG COMMITMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, LEARNING, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY ARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG COMMITMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, LEARNING, EADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY CHARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG COMMITMENT BROTHERHOOD, LEARNING, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY CHARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO N A LIFELONG COMMITMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, LEARNING, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY CHARACTER. THE N OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG COMMITMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, LEARNING, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP MPLARY CHARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG COMMITMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, NG, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY CHARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG TMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, LEARNING, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY CHARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA AU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG COMMITMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, LEARNING, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY ARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG COMMITMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, LEARNING, EADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY CHARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG COMMITMENT BROTHERHOOD, LEARNING, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY CHARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO N A LIFELONG COMMITMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, LEARNING, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY CHARACTER. THE N OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG COMMITMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, LEARNING, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP MPLARY CHARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG COMMITMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, NG, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY CHARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG TMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, LEARNING, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY CHARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA AU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG COMMITMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, LEARNING, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY ARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG COMMITMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, LEARNING, EADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY CHARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG COMMITMENT BROTHERHOOD, LEARNING, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY CHARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO N A LIFELONG COMMITMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, LEARNING, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY CHARACTER. THE N OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG COMMITMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, LEARNING, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP MPLARY CHARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG COMMITMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, NG, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY CHARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG TMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, LEARNING, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY CHARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA AU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG COMMITMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, LEARNING, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY ARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG COMMITMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, LEARNING, EADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY CHARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG COMMITMENT BROTHERHOOD, LEARNING, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY CHARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO N A LIFELONG COMMITMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, LEARNING, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY CHARACTER. THE N OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG COMMITMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, LEARNING, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP MPLARY CHARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG COMMITMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, NG, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY CHARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA TAU IS TO CHAMPION A LIFELONG TMENT TO BROTHERHOOD, LEARNING, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND EXEMPLARY CHARACTER. THE MISSION OF PHI KAPPA

PHI TAU

LEADERSHIP

BY LILLY STEGER

For this leadership edition of The Laurel, we interviewed five Phi Tau alumni who we felt demonstrated exemplarily leadership skills in their given field. The idea was to pull men from different career paths – science, politics, business, the military, and broadcasting – and see what they all had in common. This is what they said.

[14] THE LAUREL || APRIL 2019

I

f you did not already know Ted Lietner, Oklahoma State ’66, had a career in broadcasting, it would not take you long to realize he should.

“I would not go to school, Lilly, and give my report. I would not! That’s the way I was,” he exclaimed over the phone, in reference to how shy he was growing up.

Ted’s fear of public TED speaking was so bad as a kid that if he had to give a presentation or oral report, he would skip school entirely.

“Uncle Teddy,” as he’s now referred to affectionately by Padres and Aztecs fans, has been a fixture of the San Diego sports scene for forty years. At one point, when he was on television 2-3 times a day, he was recognizable by 90% of the San Diego market. His career has taken him all over the country - from its beginnings in Stillwater, Oklahoma, to just an hour up the road for graduate school in Oklahoma City, to Hartford, to Philadelphia, and finally out to San Diego, where he settled down.

Growing up in the Bronx, Ted knew he wouldn’t be staying on the East Coast. College was too expensive and, despite how much he loved the sport, he wasn’t talented enough to earn a football scholarship. When it came time to pick a college he traveled out west to Oklahoma, where his brother had gone and where tuition was cheap.

But Ted, a shy New Yorker displaced

LIETNER, OKLAHOMA STATE into a small heartland town, did not fit in. He tried to rush a couple of fraternities, however as a Jewish man in the 1960s, he was unwelcome. “I knew there was no chance that when they found out I would be asked to join their house or their fraternity,” he said in regard to some of the other major groups on campus.

But while he was looking for fraternities, an equally influential force came into Ted’s life - the campus radio station. A then-future chapter brother, also working at the radio station, invited Ted over for some recruitment activities. “I just got the feeling that if religion came into it, they wouldn’t care, and I was right. This warmed my heart, coming from New York and already feeling out of it in a totally different culture. The warmth of the Phi Tau house and the guys there really made me want to join, and I did.”

These two forces completely transformed Teddy from the quiet city kid to the spirited entertainer he remains today.

After becoming a member, the chapter

president asked him to perform for the potential new members during recruitment actives. “Because I was in the radio-TV department, they assumed I had some talent, which I didn’t at the time! Finally, I was mortified enough to get up there and do that and get laughs and get confidence. That was the first performance I had ever '66 done.” Ted continued to do these sorts of events and, along with the work he did for the campus radio station and play-byplay at local high school football games, his skills began to develop. “I did that year after year and opened up as a person to where I think the kids back in New York would not have recognized me.”

Today, Ted faces different challenges, but shyness is no longer among them.

However, his taciturn origins are not a distant memory. Sometimes at Padres games, he told me, “I’ll just stand there and look at the 40,000 people I’m about to talk to at home plate, and I’ll laugh and think to myself, ‘How the hell did I get here?’” When asked about the way his public speaking and entertainment skills improved over the years, he is generous with his praise to both the campus radio station and the Fraternity, “All of that skill came from the radioTV department and the college radio station, but in terms of confidence to do it, that strictly came from Phi Kappa Tau and my brothers.”

THE LAUREL || PHIKAPPATAU.ORG [15]

FEATURE

DON PHILLIPS, TEXAS '82 While some members do experience the same level of personal growth and professional development Ted did as an undergraduate, oftentimes the skills learned and benefits of being in Phi Tau do not make themselves fully apparent until later. For Don Phillips, Texas ’82, Phi Tau has always been a long-term investment.

Don takes my call on January 30th, the day Chicago reached historic negative temperatures, nearly a one-hundred-degree difference than the weather Ted was experiencing in California. He’s friendly and formal, the type of cadence you might except from a leader in a company that manages more than $200 billion in investments. Morningstar, Inc., the company where Don has made his name, is a juggernaut in the finance world. They offer investment ratings in the form of “stars” for mutual funds, ETFs, stocks, and other

[16] THE LAUREL || JULY 2018

portfolio tools. Don, who began his career with Morningstar as a First Analyst, eventually rose to CEO and now works part-time as Managing Director where he is involved in research initiatives.

Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that the way Don talks about his time with Phi Tau feels chronological. “When you’re 20, you don’t think, ‘Hey, this is something that’s still going to matter to me when I’m 40, 50, 60, 70, and beyond,’ but that’s exactly what the fraternity has done for me,” he says.

The “long-term view” is an important outlook for the financier, and one deeply applicable to the relevance of leadership that Phi Tau promotes. “I think the things you learn from Phi Tau point your moral compass in the right direction and take a long-term view,” he says.

“It’s thinking about what you want to do to become the right kind of

person, and then taking a longterm view.”

To a man whose career exists in a world where, as he puts it, “excellence is determined by what you do over decades,” – it makes far more sense to measure the success of Phi Tau in decades than four brief years.

In Don’s world, leadership is not just something that happens by accident, it’s something that emerges from investing wisely in yourself. “It’s having that vision, that ability to look a little further down the road than most people because they’re caught up in the moment. Leadership is thinking about where you are and where you want to go, and to be cognizant of that process, your actions today, and the outcomes they’ll lead to in the future.”

So, when you go back and look at it in the ‘long term view,’ is Phi Tau something that helped make Don into the man he is today? Unequivocally. “My experience with Beta Alpha and Phi Tau were unanimously positive. The role models I met, the people I met, the people I continue to be great friends with – this wasn’t just an excuse to have a party. We were cognizant of trying to be better men of character.”

The process of leadership development – uniting men together and challenging them to improve their campus and the world – involves many actors: parents, professors, coaches, and in our case, fraternity brothers. We must be purposeful in our education, our programming, and our philosophy so as to shape the way young men see and interact with their world as both leaders and followers, so that the “long-term view” is one that reflects both the vision and mission statements of Phi Kappa Tau. Throughout General Terry Williams, UCLA ’85, career, he has had a profound effect in shaping the paths of many young men.

General Williams grew up in a military family – his father was in the Air Force – but he was not always certain he would enlist. He does not have 20/20 vision, which disqualified him from following his father’s footsteps into the Air Force. It was not until he ran into a couple of Marine Corps recruiters on UCLA’s campus that he made his decision. “They kind of challenged me by doing reverse psychology. They looked at me and I looked around like, ‘Who are you looking at? Are you looking at me?’ And I went up there and they were like, ‘Nah, nah, we were looking at you, but we don’t think you have what it takes.’ That was all it took, they got me,” he laughed.

Now, some thirty years after the fact, it’s no simple thing to say that General Williams career in the Marine Corps is extensive. But two of his most notable positions revolve around the transformational process that is Marine Corps basic training. For his second enlistment, General Williams was stationed at MCRD San Diego, where he was a Series Officer commanding a platoon of Drill Instructors for the West Coast training depot. Following that, he was promoted to Commanding General of MCRD Parris Island, the infamous East Coast boot camp.

It’s no wonder, with as many men who became Marines under his authority, that General Williams can speak to the influence organizations have on young men’s lives. General Williams himself was a founding member of the UCLA’s Beta Rho chapter.

“We were the first guys to bring it back,” he said about the chapter. “We knew it would be unique and different than some of the other fraternities that already existed there.”

General Williams’ time on both Marine Corps training depots transforming civilians into Marines, “the first to fight,” and instilling within them the uncompromising motto of the Corps – Semper Fidelis, “always faithful” – makes him uniquely qualified on the best way to develop “men of character.” I pose the question to him: how do you think undergraduates can train and prepare themselves to be leaders in their community? After a pause, he gave a thoughtful reply. “There is right and wrong. There is such a thing. You know what right and wrong is, and when nobody’s looking you still need to do what’s right. It’s hard to do, but you have to do it. As a leader, when you think they’re not watching – they’re watching.

Be a man of integrity. Be a person of humility.”

But beyond that, it’s diligence, it’s discipline, it’s taking the time to research and prepare yourself for your role as leader. “As a leader, you have to understand the mission or area that you’re going into and you have to be sincere about it,” General Williams explained. “Understand and know the details of whatever you’re going into. You can’t be a leader without understanding the details of the field you want to be a leader in. It takes work, and it takes homework.”

GEN. TERRY WILLIAMS, UCLA '85

THE LAUREL || PHIKAPPATAU.ORG [17]

FEATURE

This is a common point reiterated among these men, although it is General Williams who puts it the most succinctly. Leadership takes more than outgoingness or the ability to give directions, it takes practice and discipline. It is a skill that requires time to master, and there is no one who better understands how much time it takes to become an expert in your field than Dr. Leroy Chiao, UC Berkeley, ’79.

DR. LEROY CHIAO, UC BERKELEY '79 There’s a framed photo of Dr. Chiao in the Executive Offices with his legs up, reclining, and grinning with the Phi Tau flag in space.

It’s from his 1994 mission aboard the STS-64 Columbia his first 15-day exploration to outer space. “It was especially important on my first flight to bring things that were significant or had influenced me through my life in some way, so Phi Kappa Tau was a part of that. My fraternity experience was a very positive one and I think it was a very enriching one to me,” Leroy explained in a conversation late January.

“I was 8 years old when we landed on the moon and even though I loved all those flying machines, I never really thought about being an astronaut myself until we did that,” He said when asked if he grew up wanting to be an astronaut. “I just remember feeling, ‘Wow, I want to be like those guys, so I’m going to try and do it.’” He continued, “When I was studying, I remember thinking, ‘What kind of career do I want to have?’ and I kept going back to ‘Well I want to be an astronaut.”

[18] THE LAUREL || JULY 2018

Dr. Chaio was an undergraduate at Berkley studying engineering when he joined Phi Tau. “I remember going through the houses and meeting the people and getting a good vibe from the Phi Taus. It just really had everything to do with the members and it felt like that would be a good fit for me.” After leaving Berkley, Leroy obtained an M.S. and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbra, in addition to learning both Russian and Mandarin, before being hired by NASA. He would go on to partake in four missions, spending a cumulative 229 days in space, and to become the Commander of the International Space Station.

Today, Dr. Chiao works as an entrepreneur, contractor, and motivational speaker. With his company, One Orbit, Leroy gives keynote speeches to corporations and runs skill building workshops on leadership, avoiding complacency, and taking your business to the next level. But another mission of the company, one where Leroy’s passion is obvious, is education.

With One Orbit, Dr. Chiao travels to schools and teaches kids about science. “I have 12-yearold twins, and I’m especially interested in young people and helping them develop their futures,” Leroy explained. “We visit their school and motivate the kids and get them excited and thinking about what they want to do, that’s really rewarding.”

Leroy is friendly and engaging and, when asked to elaborate some of the challenges he helps corporate leaders prepare for, he reiterates a point similar to General Williams’, “It’s always about honesty, integrity, and being able to do the right thing. A lot of the time that might be very difficult, because there might be enormous consequences to making that decision and going down that path. But if you’re a leader who’s always willing to do the right thing, you’re going to earn the respect of all the people around you… Sometimes it comes with enormous cost, you may lose your job or your position of leadership over it, but if you have those qualities of a leader, you’re going to find other opportunities.”

Leroy’s passion for education is obvious, but his advice on adhering to your convictions, despite the consequences it may cause, is undoubtedly his most important leadership lesson, and there are few people that know as much about standing their ground in the face of blowback as Senator Mitch McConnell, Louisville ‘61.

Publicly, Senator McConnell is a controversial figure. A mention of his name can lead to an abundance of praise or a spiral of social media outrage. However the Senator is no stranger to being the subject of mixed reactions, and with that in mind we discussed leadership under scrutinty and standing with your convictions.

On the phone Senator McConnell is polite but matterof-fact. He thinks through his answers carefully, replies, and does not elaborate. “At that particular juncture, it was about reputation. Phi Tau was the best fraternity on campus,” Senator McConnell answered, his southern draw elongating the vowels, when I asked why he joined Phi Tau. The Senator, a native of Alabama, moved to Louisville in 1956 just before starting high school where he was Student Council President. “It’s hard to know what you’re drawn to when you’re a kid, but my interest in politics, to me, was not an afterthought… I was always interested in public service,” he said about his desire to enter politics as a young person.

When he entered the University of Louisville in 1961, he, like many other students at the time, first attended as a commuter. Phi Tau, in his words, “provided a social avenue.” More importantly, Phi Tau allowed Senator McConnell to improve his leadership skills. “I was President of Student Council in high school and I wanted to do that again in college. So, it was a natural place for me to land and I ended up learning a lot about leadership, as well as having a good social schedule, as a result of being in the Fraternity. From that launching pad I ended up being President of the Student Council for the College of Arts & Sciences, my division of the university.”

I asked Senator McConnell what his thoughts were on the characteristics of a good leader. He replied, “I think you have to be a good listener and not think you’re the only smart person in the room. If you aspire to lead people, you need to learn what their interests are and what direction they may want to go. I got a lot of practice of that in college, and Phi Tau was a part of that… If you’re a

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, LOUISVILLE '61

good listener, they’re likely to respect you because people want to make a contribution. If they think you’re dismissive of their views, they’re not likely to give you the authority you need to lead.”

It comes as a surprise to no one, least of all the Senator, that many of his decisions and actions are met with major blowback. I asked him what his advice would be to undergraduates who, on a microlevel, may be facing unpopularity for their own decisions, whether that be the decision to go dry or restrict social events. “If you try to please everyone, you will be unsuccessful and uniformly unpopular with almost everybody. I think you need to decide what’s important and stick to it. It does take a bit of getting used to,” he advised. “The way to sleep well at night is to be doing things that you think the people you admire would agree with.”

By any standards, there is very little these men have in common. They have different career paths, different degrees, they are from different parts of the country, and they attended different universities. But, without fail, they reiterated the same common points about the nature of leadership, the importance of core values, and their fondness for Phi Tau. Their similarities begin with what drew them initially to Phi Tau. It was not the parties, the social status, or a house that brought these five men to their chapters. Instead, it was the bond they formed upon meeting the Phi Taus – or, in General Williams case, a group of friends who would be-come Phi Taus – at their given chapter. All of these men “rushed” Phi Tau because as young men they realized the importance of building

lasting, meaningful relationships and they knew they found the right group for the task.

They also recognize that to be a respected leader, you must have an unwavering faith in your “core values,” the beliefs you hold that you are unwilling to compromise. This is not the same as being resistant to hearing new ideas or opinions, but finding values that are central to you and your code of ethics.

Whether that be humility and integrity, as General Williams and Dr. Chiao both cited, or justice, humility, compassion, or forgiveness – adhere to them and be recalcitrant to abandon them in the face of scrutiny, even if there is a price.

Their final similarly delivered point is that, despite the success they have found as professions, not one of these men claimed to have started off as a leader.

Leadership, like confidence or optimism, is deceptive; it presents itself as a trait, rather it is a skill that takes time and dedication to learn, like speaking in front of a crowd of 40,000 or analyzing stock trends.

Their leadership skills, like their careers, took practice, patience, and dedication to develop.

These five Phi Taus are distinctive men with varying career, skills, opinions, and backgrounds. They are from different socioeconomic, racial, and religious backgrounds, but their messages regarding leadership are so consistent and similar that perhaps what we can take from it is that there is some universal truth in leadership – in a commitment to brotherhood, learning, ethical leadership, and exemplary character. Because regardless of the careers these men would go on to have, they all started the same way: as students, and as Phi Taus.

THE LAUREL || PHIKAPPATAU.ORG [19]

PERFORMANCE REPORTS

KEY

MEMBERSHIP

TOTAL PHILANTHROPY $ RAISED

TOTAL SERVICE HOURS

GRADUATION RATE

GPA

# OF INITIATED ALUMNI

# OF CURRENT LIVING DONORS

CEG BALANCE

B

OHIO

47

$600.00

0

89%

2.775

2018

54

$77,547.26

G

OHIO STATE

63

$33,131.41

2609.5

92%

3.046

1808

42

$5,534.81

D

CENTRE

35

$2,783.50

1085

90%

3.126

934

17

$1,455.10

E

MOUNT UNION

49

$11,921.00

2354

83%

3.31

1413

31

$35,932.16

Z

ILLINOIS

71

$2,855.00

1096.05

N/A

3.0962

1360

25

$5,970.03

Q

TRANSYLVANIA

46

$-

41.5

82%

3.258

1151

15

$2,076.74

I

COE

31

$1,365.80

234

100%

2.808

921

21

$1,950.65

K

KENTUCKY

79

$11,970.50

1011

73%

3.08

1511

24

$1,564.15

L

PURDUE

37

$894.35

2121

100%

2.95

1516

35

$60,355.24

M

LAWRENCE

7

$200.00

15

95%

3.179

974

12

$633.02

N

UC BERKELEY

57

$-

0

91%

1262

23

$3,499.59

X

FRANKLIN & MARSHALL

46

$180.00

185

N/A

1418

12

$374.48

[20] THE LAUREL || APRIL 2019

3.16

O COLONY

PENN STATE

15

$-

0

N/A

1400

17

$20,346.81

P COLONY

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

24

$-

0

N/A

1160

47

$1,532.15

U

NEBRASKA WESLEYAN

52

$11,868.00

2691.5

91%

3.5

1668

75

$7,606.49

F

BETHANY

32

$3,706.70

348.5

91%

3.13

910

26

$2,753.04

X

NORTH CAROLINA STATE

72

$787.19

0

N/A

2.809

1069

27

$1,435.14

Y

COLORADO

121

$5,230.00

1180.5

N/A

2.9

1662

23

$11,152.70

W COLONY

WISCONSIN-MADISON

16

$-

0

N/A

351

0

AA

MICHIGAN STATE

58

$3,500.00

213

N/A

1332

16

$6,807.06

AD

CASE WESTERN RESERVE

22

$1,125.00

274

70%

3.462

1070

29

$808.14

AH

FLORIDA

87

$13,794.86

0

91%

3.101

1907

30

$10,924.30

AQ COLONY

WILLIAM & MARY

7

$360.00

77

N/A

3.41

1066

12

$314.88

AK

WASHINGTON STATE

75

$-

0

100%

1252

11

$1,075.42

AL

AUBURN

144

$2,060.00

0

86%

1630

25

$29,265.77

AP

WASHINGTON

51

$375.00

882

92%

3.22

695

5

$2,680.93

AR COLONY

GEORGIA TECH

15

$-

0

N/A

2.945

1001

22

$2,855.42

AS

COLORADO STATE

83

$2,055.00

1084

N/A

3.11

1206

18

$1,536.14

AT

CORNELL

59

$2,935.00

1357

95%

3.412

999

16

$25,282.72

AU

COLGATE

64

$550.00

93

100%

3.24

806

4

$530.76

AF

AKRON

29

$3,060.00

559.5

80%

2.79

1208

28

$1,653.47

AX

MISSISSIPPI STATE

61

$-

693

N/A

2.9

813

42

$530,508.89

$201.17

THE LAUREL || PHIKAPPATAU.ORG [21]

PERFORMANCE REPORTS

AW

BALDWIN WALLACE

35

$590.00

508.5

81%

3.066

1117

17

$11,613.81

BA

TEXAS

25

$-

176

73%

3.397

603

15

$39,081.52

BB

LOUISVILLE

110

$25,331.00

0

100%

2.78

1459

41

$264.55

BG

IDAHO

37

$2,797.00

348

N/A

2.8

649

10

$488.09

BE

SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI

34

$870.00

1112

70%

3

1116

17

$5,821.81

BQ COLONY

KANSAS

32

$-

0

N/A

569

8

$874.26

BI

FLORIDA STATE

82

$7,519.00

388

100%

1186

21

$10,922.36

BK

OKLAHOMA STATE

59

$475.00

2171.5

93%

3.1956

1061

33

$1,077.68

BL

INDIANA

38

$5,076.00

918

93%

3.147

708

15

$23,422.20

BM

KENT STATE

38

$3,692.00

322

81%

3.03

617

25

$13,584.85

BX

GEORGIA

91

$6,645.00

0

88%

3.22

981

18

$1,663.29

BO

MARYLAND

77

$9,341.00

568.5

93%

3.18

719

22

$13,517.22

BF

WESTMINSTER

20

$549.86

505

100%

2.699

1045

16

$4,129.78

BC

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

63

$476.00

1350

92%

2.861

664

16

$6,733.21

BY

CAL STATE-LONG BEACH

46

$525.00

1088

N/A

2.9

755

14

$76.65

BW

CAL STATE-CHICO

71

$6,236.62

694

100%

2.65

1171

11

$160.80

GA

MICHIGAN TECH

34

$5,300.00

362.5

100%

2.91

834

34

$242,855.13

GB

CINCINNATI

28

$2,161.75

607

100%

3.06

550

33

$2,353.83

GI

SACRAMENTO STATE

13

$80.00

117

N/A

2.524

262

8

$7,318.48

GM

BRADLEY

73

$567.00

59.5

91%

3.1

890

15

$1,051.84

[22] THE LAUREL || APRIL 2019

GX

EAST CENTRAL OK

22

$1,026.00

748.5

N/A

3

513

6

$1,999.82

GO

CAL STATE-FULLERTON

51

$6,883.00

296

94%

2.69

902

13

$4,639.97

GT

OLD DOMINION

62

$-

594

76%

2.58

206

9

$5,861.15

GY

TEXAS STATE

23

$-

0

N/A

377

4

$4,497.41

DB

EVANSVILLE

26

$1,952.96

276.5

88%

3.21

570

10

$11,426.75

DG

OLE MISS

99

$5,125.00

629

88%

2.75

933

10

$927.45

DE

ST. CLOUD

43

$7,026.36

705

91%

2.65

311

3

$359.59

DQ

GEORGETOWN

4

$25.00

0

67%

620

14

DL

MUSKINGUM

19

$9,835.00

708

88%

3.026

597

9

$922.07

DP

MURRAY STATE

19

$3,050.00

545.5

N/A

2.79

182

1

$4,881.08

DR COLONY

EASTERN KENTUCKY

19

$282.00

90

N/A

2.8

362

8

$11,525.99

DT

CAL POLY-POMONA

60

$9,885.00

1870

100%

2.72

435

7

$2,229.04

DC

ROCHESTER

43

$622.60

21

96%

3.5

353

1

$425.31

DW

TRUMAN STATE

24

$3,789.42

526

100%

2.71

404

5

$3,900.25

ED

VIRGINIA WESLEYAN

9

$-

0

N/A

231

1

$2,353.65

EE

WILLIAM PATERSON

23

$732.00

901.5

N/A

2.789

270

7

$352.99

EQ

SAN FRANCISCO STATE

40

$800.00

124

89%

2.83

250

2

$2,031.20

EK

RUTGERS

48

$1,700.00

1596

86%

3.11

296

5

$9,863.23

EL

LONGWOOD

18

$100.00

20

100%

301

3

$448.50

EM

UNC-PEMBROKE

21

$50.00

159

100%

192

2

$354.56

2.5

$4,233.90

THE LAUREL || PHIKAPPATAU.ORG [23]

PERFORMANCE REPORTS

ER

INDIANA U OF PENNSYLVANIA

19

$2,500.00

63

100%

2.65

162

0

$60.77

ES

CHAPMAN

79

$2,012.00

1284

88%

2.056

265

4

$1,695.72

ET

ARIZONA

67

$1,850.00

1174

63%

2.941

155

7

$1,453.90

EC

VIRGINIA TECH

33

$300.00

176

88%

3.09

201

2

$40.02

EW

SHEPHERD

19

$1,400.00

75

93%

2.77

79

1

$656.18

ZA

BELMONT

44

$4,160.00

587.5

65%

3.2

186

1

$4,786.29

ZB

SAGINAW VALLEY STATE

15

$261.39

242.5

67%

2.9526

77

2

$395.84

ZG

SAN JOSE

20

$1,470.00

139.5

95%

2.5

58

1

$475.08

ZE

LYNCHBURG

23

$1,791.58

0

N/A

2.77

41

1

$162.35

ZZ

ILLINOIS-SPRINGFIELD

23

$727.00

807.5

N/A

3.23

43

2

$401.16

ZH

ALABAMA

52

$-

1222

N/A

3.16

34

0

$1,161.55

ZQ

NORTH TEXAS

31

$2,475.00

0

N/A

33

2

$1,158.97

ZK

KENYON

23

$5.00

233

N/A

3.39

25

0

$157.22

ZL

MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE

32

$-

764

N/A

2.8

48

3

$136.69

ZM

APPALACHIAN STATE

74

$-

746

N/A

3.091

45

0

$136.69

ZN

MINNESOTA DULUTH

12

$1,410.00

78

N/A

2.97

16

0

$106.91

ZX

SOUTH CAROLINA

101

$5,300.00

1074

N/A

3.12

2

0

$626.19

ZO

ARIZONA STATE

84

$-

0

N/A

4

0

$409.06

ZP

BOSTON

40

$750.00

0

N/A

3.15

0

0

$1,134.20

ZR

COLUMBUS STATE

18

$3,035.81

122

N/A

2.74

0

0

$504.12

[24] THE LAUREL || APRIL 2019

LAURELS

~

LAURELS

[1959] Fritz Kronberger, Texas, Fritz has been selected as Chair of the Board of Trustees for Arkansas Tech University for 2019. Fritz was also a member of the Board from 2005-2010 and served as its Chair in 2009. His current five-year term as Trustee is scheduled to end in 2020.

[1964] Joe Cohen, Louisville, Joe was honored by the Louisville Bar Association with the Justice Martin E. Johnson Special Recognition Award in November.

Joe has served as a Bar Counsel

for more than two decades. His work in commercial real estate law was critical in forming the Louisville Bar Center, the space where the LBA is headquartered.

[1964] John Gaston, Mississippi State, John’s new book, “TwentyFive Strategies for Organizational Success” is written to help readers with strategies that will help them become more competitive managers or leaders in their organization.

The book was written for those who need a concise solution, as well as readers who would like a more in-depth explanation. John brings 40 years of experience leading a number of nationally recognized organizations within the government and private sector to this book.

JIM RUTLEDGE, LOUISVILLE ’62, Jim Rutledge, former Four Roses master distiller, has announced he will be opening the J.W. Rutledge Distillery, a 69,000-square-foot facility near LaGrange, Kentucky. Jim and his team have also recently purchased the rights to Cream of Kentucky, a bourbon brand originally created in 1888 and popular during the 30s and 40s. He hopes to release 4,500 six-bottle cases in a few states, including Kentucky.

Jim is also in the process of releasing Reclamation Rye and Reclamation Bourbon, bourbon from Castle & Key Distillery. 100% of profits will go to impoverished areas of Eastern Kentucky.

THE LAUREL || PHIKAPPATAU.ORG [25]

LAURELS

JOHN M. “JOHNNIE” ADAMS, UCLA ‘83, John was recently appointed as President of the Executive Board of FBI National Academy Associates.

John serves as Chief of Police for the Santa Monica College Police Department. He was previously Deputy Chief of Operations at University of Southern California and has worked in law enforcement since 1983, beginning as a Student Community Service Officer at the UCLA Police Department.

[1964] John Shirey, Purdue, John was recently elected to the Board of Directors for the Golden Pacific Bank in Sacramento. In 2018, he was also appointed to the Board of Directors for the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera and will be serving as President of that board this year. At the beginning of 2018, John was elected to be Chair of the Board of Directors for the Natomas Basin Conservancy.

John, now retired, was previously Sacramento City Manager.

[1985] Scott Diamond, Georgetown, Scott and his team received the Business Fast 50 Award from

Louisville Business First. Scott serves as CEO of Unified Technologies.

[1985] Jeff O’Hara, Florida State, Jeff has recently published his first book, “Have Fun, Fight Back, and Keep the Party Going: Lessons from a New Orleans Entrepreneur’s Journey to the Inc. 5000.” In his own words, it is “a business book about entrepreneurism, overcoming obstacles and natural disasters, and an insider’s look at the charmingly quirky city of New Orleans.”

Jeff’s book was published in December.

~

[1986] Eric Jacobs, Rider, Eric was appointed Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of Wheels Up, an aviation company that aims to reduce the upfront costs of flying privately. Jacob will now oversee finance and accounting as well as investor relations and strategic corporate development functions.

[1988 & 1975] Bill Burr, Bethany, and David McDonnell, Bethany, Bill and David were both added to Bethany Communication’s Wall of Fame in September.

[26] THE LAUREL || APRIL 2019

[1989] David Livingston II, Georgetown, David was just reelected as Representative to the 7th district in Scott County, Kentucky, a position he will hold for the next four years.

David was also recently the grand prize winner of the 2019 Commonwealth of Kentucky Bowl.

[1991] Matthew Hal Maschler, Maryland, Matthew and his wife Wendy were honored at the 2019 Israel Bonds International Prime Minister’s Club Dinner and received the Israel71 award for their work as long-standing investors and advocates of Israel Bonds.

Both are active members of the Jewish Federation and hold leadership roles within the Congregation B’nai Israel. They are residents of Boca Raton, Florida.

[1998] Patrick Noltemeyer, PhD, Centre, Patrick has accepted a position at Elon University as Chief of Staff, where he will work closely with the University’s President managing

communications, activities of the Board of Governors, and supervising operations at Office of the President. Patrick was selected after a national search and began his new duties in March 2019.

[2001] Ian Andrews, Mount Union, Ian’s work as Executive Director of Lakewood Alive, a development corporation for Cleveland’s Lakewood neighborhood, has earned him a spot on Crain’s Cleveland Business “40 Under 40” list. Lakewood has seen one of the highest increases in real estate value in the entire country under Ian’s leadership.

[2002] Jim Mercke, Georgetown, In June, Jim was promoted to Plant Engineering Region Environmental Manager for UPS Supply Chain Solutions.

[2006] Tim Donahue, Virginia Tech, Tim Donahue and wife Christina welcomed their daughter Evelyn in September.

[2009] D’Andre Crump, Oklahoma State, D’Andre has accepted a new position as Inside Sales Enablement Manager for the Dallas AppDynamics Office.

[2009] Max Smith, Georgetown, Max and wife Hillary welcomed their first child in September.

[2011] Andy Cole, Belmont, Andy Cole passed the bar in October 2018, and has officially joined Pentecost, Glenn, Mauldin, and York in Jackson, Tennessee.

[2012] Geoff Hilt, Arizona, Goeff married Kristy Hilt this past October.

[2013] Eliot Bush, Oklahoma State, Elliot Bush was promoted to Fort Worth Sales Manager for Goosehead Insurance.

[2014] Alex Fruth, IllinoisSpringfield, Alex has started a new position as Advancement Director at Wyman Center.

~ MATT PARKER, EVANSVILLE ‘93, Matt was unanimously elected to the Board of Directors for Double H Hole in the Woods Ranch in Lake Luzerne, New York. Double H Ranch is a SeriousFun camp Matt began volunteering at during his undergraduate days with Phi Kappa Tau. Matt, a co-founder of the Parker Foundation for Health & Happiness has donated at least a week a year to volunteer at Double H every year since.

[2012] Connor Dethlefs, Nebraska Wesleyan, Connor married Megan Hillmer in August of 2018.

[2008] Phil Frandina, RIT, Phil and wife Jessica welcomed their second child, Matthew, this January.

THE LAUREL || PHIKAPPATAU.ORG [27]

CHAPTER ETERNAL

CHAPTER ETERNAL The followed members were reported deceased to the Executive offices between August 26, 2018 and March 6, 2019.

MIAMI Norman Dohner, ’41 James Dulmage, ’48 Ron Bayliss, ’54 Bill Rhodenbaugh, ’50 OHIO STATE John Thor, ’89 Louis Lushina, ’47 Skip Igel, ’56 John Speck, ’42 Richard Stinson, ’66 Richard Edman, ’66 MOUNT UNION Wilton Eckley, ’49 Ed De Graw, ’43 Kenneth Remita, ’43 ILLINOIS Duncan Brown, Illinois ’49 MUHLENBERG Jerry Winkler, ’60 David Coover, ’51 Roger Spencer, ’68 TRANSYLVANIA Gordon Wilson, ’38 COE Bob Ellis, ’76 KENTUCKY Harold Reams, ’56 Ronald Morgan, ’56 Peter Morgan, ’85 PURDUE Richard Bunch, ’68 Anthony Stedge, ’63

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Richard Noble, ’53 Jerry Bryson, ’47

WASHINGTON STATE Curtis Tang, ’50 Edward Deeble, ’51 John Amoruso, ’70

RENSSELAER Richard Wilkinson, ’48

AUBURN Alfred Searcy, ’48

MICHIGAN Robert Mann, ’48

IOWA STATE Bernard Wight, ’43

NEBRASKA WESLEYAN George Edgar, ’51 Bill Meyer, ’48 Russell Lang, ’53 Harold Sell, ’49

WASHINGTON Glenn Austin, ’48

BETHANY Todd Jones, ’81 Jerry Shearer, ’49 Rudy Yaksich, ’55 Roland Kamerer, ’47 Andrew Gallina, ’85 COLORADO Richard Wise, ’58 Chester Johnson, ’46 MICHIGAN STATE William Rees, ’50 DELAWARE Wallace Cook, ’53 CASE WESTERN RESERVE Allan Schurr, ’41 Kermit Kuhl, ’54 KANSAS STATE Rob Kroeker, ’66

LAWRENCE Frederick Brechler, ’54

OREGON STATE Clifford Rehart, ’35 Mike Smith, ’58

UC BERKELEY Laurence Burnley, ’34

FLORIDA Oscar Reeder, ’40

PENN STATE Jack Jantzer, ’52 Edward Tezekjian, ’53 Ron Frear, ’52

WILLIAM & MARY James Monahan, ’56 Richard Gustafson, ’59

[28] THE LAUREL || APRIL 2019

COLORADO STATE Melton Newell, ’55

Paul Lewey, ’56 Warren Trest, ’55 William Hill, ’52 William Adams, ’64 William Stagg, ’56 Wiley Bishop, ’53 Daniel Tanner, ’71 John Broadus, ’64 Thomas Patterson, ’65 Robert Smith, ’ 48 William Abney, ’57 Robert Denson, ’56 Charles Hutson, ’54 Charles Martin, ’58 Clarence Pierce, ’58 Eugene Stanley, ’63 Albert Pitts, ’60 Benny Rackard, ’52 Bert Clark, ’56 Douglas Burkett, ’67

COLGATE Craig Bright, ’49 David Luerssen, ’59

NEW MEXICO STATE Marvin Cates, ’53 Ronald McDaniel, ’53

YOUNGSTOWN STATE Joseph Gazarik, ’68

AKRON Jack Kilgore, Akron ’57

OKLAHOMA STATE Michael Reifel, ’66

NEBRASKA-KEARNEY Phil Weaver, ’76

MISSISSIPPI STATE James McMullen, ’47 Roger Williams, ’65 Andes Best, ’58

INDIANA Walter Olds, ’59

TEXAS STATE Ronald Jones, ’68

KENT STATE Jim Heilmeier, ’49 Jay Robison, ’66

LA SALLE Lawrence Grabenstein, ’68

GEORGIA TECH Karl Ellzey, ’89 Melburn Hibbard, ’48

TEXAS-EL PASO Carl Webb, ’55 BALDWIN WALLACE James Huhta, ’57 David Sanderson, ’74 Mark Gusley, ’86 Vernon Schill, ’45 Andrew Cheslock, ’44 TEXAS Duane Juvrud, Texas ’51 LOUISVILLE Ronald Gist, ’62 Ronald Guyton, ’57 Bob Shepard, ’54 Thomas Burke, ’64 Emory Miller, ’52 John Thomas, ’49 Harry Singley, ’78 Jimmie Crosby, ’51

GEORGIA Richard Deacon, ’60 Greg Toth, ’58 MARYLAND Nick Keck, ’56 Daniel Arris, ’51 WESTMINSTER William Segelken, ’73 Franklin Jones, ’52 Wallace Giffen, ’55 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS Theodore Somogyi, ’61 Jim Sandrin, ’59 CAL STATE-CHICO Jim Allgaier, ’58 Richard Judd, ’82

Kevin Hollingshead, ’76 Rowland Denney, ’58 Andrew Gaglione, ’91 MICHIGAN TECH John Arneth, ’60 Brian Fojtik, ’80 Douglas McDonald, ’58 CINCINNATI Raymond Loase, ’61 Jerry Miller, ’60 ST. JOHN’S Bob D’Angio, ’62 CONNECTICUT Frank Boros, ’62 RIT Nick Lesniak, ’08

TENNESSEE John Morris, ’97 MUSKINGUM Scott White, ’91 WRIGHT STATE Don Mardis, ’85 WEST VIRGINIA TECH Robert Patterson, ’14 UNC-PEMBROKE Thomas Everett, ’12 MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE Jackson Rumley, ’17

WHY I GIVE

A

s the National Education Advisor and a Boles Society level donor, Allyn Shaw, Michigan State ’85, is accustomed to giving both time and treasure to Phi Tau. “Phi Kappa Tau has been a great experience for me, in terms of changing my life as an undergraduate and as a professional in the higher education field,” he said.

“If we can start the ripple with one person coming to a Regional Conference or a new President coming to Presidents Academy, or a Good to Great, or a BMC, we are hopefully starting that ripple that will create a tidal wave that will make society better,” Allyn explains. “These programs give so many valuable skills, like conflict resolution, how to run a meeting or operate an executive board.

All the services can help you learn to think on your own, to critically think, and help you with decision making.”

But as for what it is that undergraduates get out of these

programs that make them so important – “I think it gives them their first exposure to the Fraternity being bigger than just their individual chapter. They’re part of an international group, we have chapters all over the country and men living all over the world.”

He continued, “We’re giving the opportunity, but it’s up to the men to take those opportunities and make them their own.”

If the undergraduates participating in our educational programs are able to fully absorb the “exposure to leadership,” as Allyn puts it, then we can truly expect to see our vision statement reflected on campuses and across the world. These pursuits are why Allyn calls volunteering and giving to the Foundation, an “honor.” Allyn currently works as Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs at Michigan State University and has been National Education Advisor for nearly three years.

THE LAUREL || PHIKAPPATAU.ORG [29]

SIDELIGHTS

SIDELIGHTS LEADERSHIP MESSAGE

Phi Kappa Tau 2020: Focusing Our Vision is Phi Kappa Tau’s strategic plan.

Created by the National Council and Executive Offices staff, the plan was ratified in 2016 by the 62nd National Convention in Sacramento, Calif. The plan focuses the organization on five strategic imperatives.

GOVERNANCE RECRUITMENT/RETENTION EDUCATION LEADERSHIP SERVICE Giving back to Phi Kappa Tau is one of the finest traditions of our Fraternity. With strong strategic plans in place for both the Fraternity and Foundation, it is an exciting time to be a Phi Tau. Support the mission, vision and strategic direction of our Fraternity by donating today. You will be glad you did!

phikappatau.org/give

[30] THE LAUREL || APRIL 2019

LEADERSHIP THROUGH ORGANIZATIONS

B

elonging to an organization provides many opportunities for leadership. This has many different facets – seizing the opportunity to lead, failing along the way, learning from mistakes, and applying those lessons. It also includes taking the time to practice the art of listening, celebrating accomplishments, making tough decisions and standing by them, even when not popular. Leadership is helping those in need, being aware, and being prepared.

The above statements are all applicable to experiences I have been fortunate to have in both Scouting and Phi Kappa Tau, two organizations that have played a major role in my life. Both have provided amazing mentors as a component of the membership experience.

In this issue, you have heard from some outstanding members of our Fraternity. They make an impact. They are leaders. They, too, have been impacted by mentors who helped them on their journeys.

A network of people who truly care is one of the most important resources anyone growing as a leader can have at their disposal. Boy Scout Troop 107 in Jacksonville, IL, was blessed to have several long serving Scoutmasters. Dick Matthews, an Eagle Scout himself and a USMC veteran of Vietnam, was a selfless motivator of young men, a family man, and a disciplinarian. He was a man with an identifiable laugh and cared in that “tough love” way. Much in the same way, Lt. Colonel Ralph Cupelli (Ret.) provided same direction to young men joining our Fraternity at Truman State University. For more than three decades, he has been a sounding board, a moderator to an untold number of bad ideas, a champion of the Fraternity experience, and a constant source of thoughtful direction and advice to hundreds of men.

“Take a moment to reflect on the mentors you have had in your affiliation with Phi Kappa Tau (or other organizations). Send them a thank you note, I’m sure they will appreciate it... It’s something we are called to do as Phi Tau men.”

There is so much more I could say about each of these men, and a long list of other folk who have provided mentorship to me personally. That said, let me make an ask of you, the reader.

Take a minute to reflect on the mentors you have had in your affiliation with Phi Kappa Tau (or other organizations).

Send them a thank you note, I’m sure they will appreciate it. Think back to the lessons they have helped you learn and the examples they set, and then model them for someone who is looking to grow as a leader. It’s something we are called to do as Phi Tau men.

In Phi,

WM. TIM HUDSON CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

DIRECTORY NATIONAL PRESIDENT Bill Brasch Louisville ’67 bbrasch@phikappatau.org NATIONAL VICE PRESIDENT Dale Holland Kent State ’87 dholland@phikappatau.org

CALENDAR OF EVENTS Leadership Academy Session I Oregonia, OH [May 20-June 2] Leadership Academy Session II Colorado Springs, CO [June 27-30] Conclave Miami University, Oxford, OH [July 12-14] Leadership Academy Session III Eatonton, GA [July 25-28]

For further details and registration information, please visit phikappatau.org/events If your chapter is hosting an anniversary celebration, alumni event, or other major event, submit the event to communications@phikappatau.org for publication in The Laurel or on the website.

FOUNDATION CHAIRMAN Wes Fugate Centre ’99 wfugate@phikappatau.org FOUNDATION VICE CHAIRMAN Buzz Green Ole Miss ’66 bgreen@phikappatau.org CEO Tim Hudson Truman State ’97 thudson@phikappatau.org COO Travis Robinson Eastern Kentucky ’98 trobinson@phikappatau.org EDITOR Lilly Steger lsteger@phikappatau.org

Contact information for the Executive Offices Staff, Fraternity National Council, Foundation Board of Trustees, National Advisors, Domain Directors and Educational Deans can be found online at phikappatau.org/contact.

THE LAUREL || PHIKAPPATAU.ORG [31]

PHI KAPPA TAU FOUNDATION Ewing T. Boles Executive Offices 5221 Morning Sun Road Oxford, OH 45056

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID OXFORD, OH PERMIT # 13

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OUR REACH, YOUR IMPACT!

Your financial support allows undergraduates to participate in programs that improve their recruitment & retention, promote health & wellness, and develop leaders for tomorrow.

In 2018 You: • Helped fund 6 national programs • Sent 88 chapters & colonies to these programs • Made 1,746 undergraduates better Men of Distinction EXTEND YOUR REACH. PHIKAPPATAU.ORG/GIVE