Video of Flag Pole

Here is the link to the video taken by Brother Chase Nordhoy.  As you can see, this flag pole looks great out in front of Tau Zeta.  We thank everyone who was a part of getting the flag pole to Tau Zeta!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8klmwWEq9c&feature=channel_video_title&noredirect=1

Tau Talks October '11

Just this past Sunday, we had a great turnout for our annual Watermelon Bust.  We had a great time with the lovely sorority women that came over to Tau Zeta and participated.  We were also able to raise close to our goal of 5,000 pound of canned food for the Pullman food bank.  There is a very cool video posted on the blog right now of the days events from Watermelon Bust, please feel free to check it out!

A few weeks ago we had our Big Brother night followed by Associate Member Ceremony.  We currently have 26 AMs and they are loving every minute of Lambda Chi. We will be having initiation during the week of November 28^th.  I will be sure to send out a reminder invitation as the time of initiation nears closer for alumni to attend this great occasion. 

Tau Zeta was just visited the Lambda Chi Alpha’s Director of Chapter Services, John Holloway.  John met with every officer and came up with ways they can improve their position.  He gave us a lot of great tips and Tau Zeta was very fortunate to have him stay with us.  He helped Tau Zeta in a great way in trying to reach our goals and always reminded us to keep our crescent growing.

As I mentioned in the previous Tau Talks, Tau Zeta, made a purchase that is currently flying high in our front lawn.  That’s right, we now have a 30-foot flagpole right outside of the dining room.  It is proudly flying the American flag and soon to be flying a Lambda Chi Alpha flag as well.  Be sure to check the blog for the footage of the flag going into the ground.  We are very excited about our flagpole and admire it everyday. 

Homecoming came fast this year, taking place this week.  We are lucky to have the lovely women of Kappa Alpha Theta as well as the men of Phi Kappa Tau for our partners this year.  Our Homecoming team is very excited for the coming events and has high hopes of winning Homecoming this year.  Tau Zeta is also very excited for our alumni to come back this weekend.  We will be having a barbeque for which all are welcome.  If you plan to come back for the game, or are just in town for Homecoming festivities, please stop by and say hello, we would love to see you. 

In ZAX

Connor McCormick

High Rho

Tau 1756

Note from the President:

Alumni,

We are looking forward to welcoming you all back for another exciting Homecoming, and joining us for our Alumni BBQ Saturday. Each year, the turnout has been growing and we can’t wait to see you at the Tau Zeta chapter house. We will be giving house tours for those of you who have not seen the chapter house in the past few years, with all the new renovations. These tours will be Friday from 4-7pm, and Saturday during the BBQ and up until 3pm. That evening, we will have a closed house for the undergraduates to wind down homecoming and prepare for sorority serenades the next morning. The past few years we have had a few incidents with some alumni, and your support is greatly appreciated. We cant wait to see you at Tau Zeta and Go Cougs!

In ZAX,

John McMullan

Tau 1718

Lambdachi.wsu.pres@gmail.com

AMs Meet Their Big Brothers

Last night we had our Big/Little Brother night at Tau Zeta.  26 AMs met their Big Brothers last night and the event was a very fun and exciting one.  It is another step in the process towards initiation and all of the Associate Members were very excited to be able to associate themselves as a Lambda Chi Associate Member.  There will be a lot of learning and hard work in the coming weeks about Tau Zeta and LCA, but the AMs are up to the challenge and are looking forward to these opportunities.  Our chapter is continuing to grow tremendously and this is just another awesome thing that brings us closer together as we grow larger as a chapter.  We are all very proud of our AMs and little brothers and could not be more excited to the upcoming months!


In Z.A.X.


Δ1756π
Connor McCormick

First Tau Talks of the 2011 School Year

Hello Tau Zeta Alumni! My name is Connor McCormick and I had the pleasure of getting elected to fill the shoes of our Rho position.  I am no Andrew Talevich, but I can guarantee I will try my hardest to keep you updated with these Tau Talks and blogs.  I am currently a sophomore and ran for this position because I love to write and really want to attempt to reach out to all the alumni because Tau Zeta is so blessed with our Older Brothers.  I’m not only excited to meet Tau Zeta’s Alumni I have yet to meet, but also to be the liaison between our amazing alumni and the undergraduate brothers on the WSU campus.

On May 28^th, over 25 Lambda Chi’s and potential new members went to Safeco Field to watch the Mariners play the Yankees.  We sure got what we paid for, with the game going into extra innings with the M’s pulling it out in the bottom of the 12^th winning 5-4 to beat the Yankees for the second night in a row.  We had a great time out in those right field bleachers and would like to think that our yelling, screaming and a perfectly harmonized “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh inning stretch, was all a part of that base knock by Adam Kennedy that drove the winning run in.

Also, we want to thank Brothers Justin Alexander and Kennan Adams for opening up their beautiful homes on Lake Sammamish and Lake Washington. They graciously hosted BBQs for our recruitment events and provided entertainment for our members such as wakeboarding, inter tubing, swimming and many other fun activities. It was a great way for our members and PNMS to get to know each other during the summer months. We are currently standing at 17 new incoming freshman that have signed with us, but recruitment is over in two weeks, so we are going to find some more fine gentlemen and try and reach our goal of 30 Associate Members for this fall class.  Brother Blake Tamminen has done a great job in his High Delta position. It wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work he put into his position, along with all the Brothers who attended recruitment events

As many of you may have heard, Tau Zeta was featured in our National Magazine. --- we have been recognized for our great turn around in members and numbers we have had in the past couple of years.  We were also recognized for our grades, our community service with the Whitman County Humane Society “Furball” auction, and our awesome Firetruck had a nice little spread in the article as well. 

We also have been blessed with a grant from the Tolo Club to make some great improvements to the Chapter house.  We have new carpet in the second deck hallways, and new front entry tile.  We have also been working hard on the outside of our house, getting our brick pressure washed along with planting some trees and plants.  We have also installed a trellis on the east side of the house.  Soon a flagpole will be in the front yard of the house, and we will be dedicating it to Sean Ferguson, an undergraduate brother who passed away in 2008.  We are very excited to fly our national flag along with the Lambda Chi Alpha Flag in front of our house.  You can expect pictures on the blog of all of these improvements this coming Monday. 

Brother Knoben was elected to High Sigma this past winter elections.  He re-wrote our Scholarship Plan and boy did it work.  Our incoming sophomores recorded the highest GPA for a class as a whole on Greek Row in the spring semester with a 3.67. Lambda Chi also was first in grades on Greek Row for Fraternities upholding a 3.27 GPA.  We learned that 3.27 is the highest GPA ever recorded by a fraternity on the WSU campus.

This is greatly due to the hard work and effort of all of our Brothers to make grades, as well as Brother Knoben’s new Scholarship Plan.  Lambda Chi’s all over the nation has been contacting Tau Zeta to obtain our Plan.  We are so lucky to have determined brothers that want to work hard to achieve our study goals along with a scholarship plan that is second to none.

Brothers John McMullen, Blake Tamminen, Scott Knoben, and Justin Scherting all traveled to Ames, Iowa for the Stead Leadership Seminar.  At this three day seminar, our Brothers learned a lot of very valuable things that will help our chapter out greatly, such as a creation of a year long recruitment strategy, ideas for new member education and a network of other Lambda Chi’s around the country. *We also won two awards in Iowa, the Phoenix award, which recognized us for being the most improved chapter in the past three years.  Brother Knoben’s plan also won the Outstanding Scholarship Program Award, for our chapter having the best grades out of all the Lambda Chi chapters in the nation as well as the Plan he implemented into not only our house, but in many other chapters now as well.

I cannot wait to begin to meet many of you as you come over to Pullman for various .  I am very excited about my new position. Check the blog on Monday for pictures of the house and a new update.  Please contact me through the rho email tauzetarho@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments.

In Z.A.X.

Connor McCormick

Δ 1756π

Remembering Our Servicemen

During this Memorial Day, it is important to honor those who have served to protect our country. Many of us know individuals who have sacrificed so much in the military. These individuals include Lambda Chi's who embody what it means to be a true brother.

A while ago I wrote about the experiences Tau Zeta members had during WWII. What they lived through was unique and one can only hope this fraternity isn't exposed to this harsh reality ever again. Below is the blog entry about Tau Zeta during WWII:


http://wsulambdachialpha.blogspot.com/2011/03/tau-zeta-during-wwii.html

Tau Talks, May 2011

Greetings Brothers and Friends of Lambda Chi Alpha,

This edition of Tau Talks at the end of the year marks the last Tau Talks I will be writing. Earlier this month I graduated from WSU with a degree in communications. My graduation and departure from the Lambda Chi house is bittersweet. Bitter, in that I really don’t want my experience as a college student and Lambda Chi to come to an end. However, my departure at this time is sweet in that I could not be happier with the current state of the house. This semester Tau Zeta garnered the highest grades out of all fraternities on Greek Row; received an award from the Center of Civic Engagement for hosting an outstanding philanthropy; raised over $8,000 from dedicated moms for house renovations; and we are well on our way to recruiting another strong freshman class. These achievements paired with the recent renovations of the fire truck give me great pride to know that I will always be part of Tau Zeta. The fire truck, like the fraternity, was once stalled but is now running on all cylinders.

Lambda Chi’s Bring in Top Grades

For the spring semester, Tau Zeta garnered the top grades out of all WSU fraternities with a 3.27 GPA. The overall GPA of WSU fraternities was a 2.99. Tau Zeta’s stellar GPA shows they hold a deep commitment to academics. This is a great recruitment tool because it attracts potential new members who hold the same desire to achieve academic success at WSU.

This strong GPA can be attributed to the dedication of Scholarship Chair Scott Knoben and the hard work of every Tau Zeta members. Each brother of Lambda Chi realizes that their fraternity offers them an opportunity to collectively excel in academics which will help with future opportunities. With a system where each brother encourages and inspires other brothers to achieve good grades, the Tau Zeta house will hopefully keep this streak of academic excellence up.

To continue to encourage Lambda Chi’s in academic success, a scholarship has been set up which benefits members with the top grades. This scholarship is discussed in more detail later in the Tau Talks.

Philanthropy Award Given to Tau Zeta

Tau Zeta takes great pride in their work that benefits the Pullman community. Their hard work paid off last month when they were honored with the Center for Civic Engagement’s Outstanding Student Group award. This award was in recognition for Tau Zeta’s involvement with the Whitman County Humane Society. Each year, Lambda Chi’s assist the Humane Society in running Furball, a dinner and auction that raises funding for the organization.

During the ceremony, a representative from the CCE said this about Lambda Chi:

“Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity has ‘adopted’ the Whitman Country Humane Society for several years- taking the lead in organizing the main fundraising event for the WCHS, ‘The FurBall and Yappy Hour.’ The proceeds from the event go to the no-kill shelter, Animal Haven. The men of Lambda Chi Alpha make a significant difference through their enthusiastic participation and investment in this partnership”

Tau Zeta looks forward to this continued partnership with the Humane Society.

Blog Aims to Improve Communication

To enhance communication between the current membership and alumni, a Tau Zeta blog was set up last semester. This blog covers events and achievements that may not show up in Tau Talks. Recent entries include dinners with Pullman Mayor Glenn Johnson, The Pullman Fire Department, and the WSU Athletic Director Bill Moos; a pinning ceremony between brother Joey Pettersson and Kappa Alpha Theta sister Erin Stirling; a profile of Chef Mike; and videos of the fire truck.

To stay updated on all Tau Zeta happenings feel free to visit the blog at:

http://wsulambdachialpha.blogspot.com/.

Mom’s Weekend Proves to be Fun for Mothers and Sons

Every year, WSU mothers invade Pullman in the spring for Mom’s Weekend. Lambda Chi hosts a variety of fun events for our mothers. This year Lambda Chi moms enjoyed a karaoke party, a brunch and a silent and live auction. During the brunch and auction Chef Mike prepared an impressive spread of appetizers. For the auction, moms were asked to bring a basket that would be auctioned off to other moms.

The auction raised $8,000 which will help fund various summer projects to improve our house over the summer. The large amount of money raised from our moms is a clear example of the dedication and love our mothers have for their sons and the fraternity their sons are a part of. Thank you Lambda Chi moms for a great mom’s weekend!

Tolo Club Meeting Sets Out New Goals

Last week, the Tolo Club hosted a golf tournament and meeting to discuss the current state of Tau Zeta. One of the main topics discussed was the addition of a Tau Zeta scholarship.  The scholarship program consists of six scholarships: three for freshmen and three for seniors. Members in their respective classes who earn the highest grades will be awarded these scholarships. The scholarships will encourage freshmen to start off strong in academics at WSU. Seniors who are awarded the scholarship must live in the house. Therefore, the senior scholarships will encourage seniors to live all four years in the Tau Zeta house. Tau Zeta hopes this scholarship program can build upon the recent academic success that the membership has achieved.

In order to support the scholarship program, the Tolo Club has set up a membership dues process where alumni can give to the house. More information about the scholarships and membership dues can be found at the Tolo Club’s website: http://toloclub.org/.

The Tolo Club also announced they would help fund and coordinate improvements to the house over the summer. These projects include new flooring over the linoleum flooring in the back and front entryway, and new flooring to replace the old “casino style” flooring on second deck. We are very excited to see these new improvements to the house come fall.

Final Words

Finally, I would like to thank all the alumni, parents, and current members who have invested so much energy into Tau Zeta. The strides which Tau Zeta has made have been a part of a collective effort. I feel very privileged to have met a broad array of individuals who care about Lambda Chi Alpha as much as I have. The alumni correspondent who will be taking my place next year is sophomore Connor McCormick. I hope this position can continue to fuel communication between the current membership and those who have an invested interest in the fraternity.

Aside from the worthy accomplishments that Tau Zeta has achieved perhaps the greatest aspect which the fraternity offers is an unbreakable bond between an amazing group of young men. Through this bond, we can make a positive change in the world around us which will in turn better each one of us.

To my brothers of Tau Zeta, remember: What’s worth having is worth working for. Keep up the good work and thank you for all the memories.

In ZAX,

Andrew Talevich

Tau 1731

Lambda Chi's Achieve #1 in Grades

The men of Lambda Chi started out their summer with some good news. For the spring semester, Tau Zeta received the highest grade point average out of all the fraternities at WSU with a 3.27. The average GPA for all fraternities was 2.99.

This strong GPA can be attributed to the dedication of Scholarship Chair Scott Knoben and the hard-work of every Tau Zeta members. Each brother of Lambda Chi realizes that their fraternity offers them an opportunity to collectively excel in academics which will help with future opportunities. With a system where each brother encourages and inspires other brothers to achieve good grades, the Tau Zeta house will hopefully keep this streak of academic excellence up.

This great news comes less than two months after Lambda Chi garnered an award from the Center of Civic Engagement for their involvement with the Humane Society.

Keep up the hard work in academics, the community, and the fraternity!

Fire Truck Videos

Below are videos of the Lambda Chi fire truck before it carried a group of Lambda Chi's and their mothers on a drive around Pullman during Mom's Weekend.

Impromptu Visit Spurs Reconnection

On Thursday afternoon, seven members of the Lambda Chi class of 1961 had an impromptu visit to the Tau Zeta house. These men were visiting WSU for the “Golden Grad” events which included tours of the university and luncheons with other individuals who graduated from WSU fifty years ago. Unfortunately they had been unaffiliated with the Lambda Chi house for a number of years.

During a luncheon, Tim Pavish who is also a Lambda Chi alum and works at WSU noticed that some of these visitors had their Tau’s written on their name tags. Pavish was delighted to meet these fellow Lambda Chi’s and told them they should stop by the house for a tour.

When the seven members showed up at the house, they were happy to find out that the membership is in a strong state. We shared stories and talked about how many Lambda Chi traditions still have remained intact for over fifty years.

As a Lambda Chi who will graduate in a week, I am always happy to find alumni who still value the fact that they are brothers of Tau Zeta. This common link is something that is so important because it enriches our lives and aids in making life-long friendships. I hope that I will have the same opportunity to visit the Tau Zeta house fifty years from now.

Dick, Jerry, Jim, Dave, John, David, Dennis and all other Tau Zeta alumni:

You are always welcome to our house. Please feel to stop in, share stories, and continue your commitment to Lambda Chi.

In ZAX,

Andrew Talevich

Alumni Correspondent

Tau 1731

A Pinning for the Ages

Congratulations to Brother Joey Pettersson and his girlfriend, Erin Stirling who is a member of Kappa Alpha Theta. Last week, the men from Lambda Chi and women from Kappa Alpha Theta aided in the pinning ceremony between this couple. For those who are unfamiliar with the pinning ceremony, it is a Greek tradition when a boyfriend shows his commitment to his girlfriend. The boyfriend gives his girlfriend his fraternity pin. It typically occurs when one, or both the individuals are a senior.

For Brother Pettersson who is set to graduate in a week, the time was right.

“I just thought it was the right thing to do. I’ve been going out with Erin for seventeen months and this is a way to show my faith to her,” he said.

During the ceremony, Lambda Chi’s sang three traditional songs for the Erin and the Thetas: “Hey Ho Is Anybody Home,” “Lambda Chi Alpha Darling,” and “Hip Hip Hooray for Lambda Chi.” The big brother and little brother of Brother Petterson and the little sister and big sister of Erin shared stories about their relationship. After the ceremony the Thetas and Lambda Chi’s socialized and enjoyed ice cream. 

Tau Zeta Awarded for Partnership with Humane Society

The men of Lambda Chi won a very special award yesterday.

The 2011 Excellence in Civic Engagement Award was given to Tau Zeta at the fourth annual Cougs Care Celebration Event for our participation with the Whitman County Humane Society. A large group of well-dressed Lambda Chi’s were very happy to accept this award at yesterday’s event.

During the event, John Fraire, Vice President of Enrollment and Student Involvement, spoke about how giving back to the community is a very important aspect of being a student at WSU. Furthermore, he spoke about how WSU sometimes struggles with a bad reputation compared to other universities he worked at, but that today’s award-winners showed that WSU was not worthy of this bad image. He also acknowledged that Greeks played a very important role in community outreach.

Here is what the Center of Civic Engagement said about Lambda Chi in winning this award:

“Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity has ‘adopted’ the Whitman Country Humane Society for several years- taking the lead in organizing the main fundraising event for the WCHS, ‘The FurBall and Yappy Hour.’ The proceeds from the event go to the no-kill shelter, Animal Haven. The men of Lambda Chi Alpha make a significant difference through their enthusiastic participation and investment in this partnership”

Previous Lambda Chi’s who have held the position of philanthropy chair played a significant part of garnering year’s award. These members include:

Bryan Ernsdorff

Dave Simpson

Peter Kitzmiller

Ben Krein

Justin Scherting

The philanthropy chairs have sat on the board for the Humane Society’s FurBall each year, making Lambda Chi’s presence in the community that much greater. Furthermore, the philanthropy chairs are in charge of organizing all Lambda Chi’s in their assistance with the FurBall dinner and other volunteer services we provide for the Humane Society.

Brother Justin Scherting currently serves as Lambda Chi’s philanthropy chair. His efforts were instrumental in helping the Humane Society and Lambda Chi raise $42,000 in this year’s FurBall.

For four years, Lambda Chi has had a strong partnership with the Whitman County Humane Society. We would like to thank them for nominating us for this award. Lambda Chi’s look forward to many more years working side by side with Humane Society workers in helping homeless doggies and kitties.

Community Service is Key for Lambda Chi's

Lambda Chi’s are known for many things, but the one that gets the most overlooked is usually volunteer work.

This is not the case for Brother Dave Simpson, who takes many hours every week out of his senior year schedule to volunteer at the YMCA at WSU. While most seniors are worrying about their own immediate futures, Dave is busy worrying about the futures of the children he works with. 

He started volunteering his time over one and a half years ago, working at after school programs. He now is the student Vice-President to the YMCA, and coordinates many of its programs. Some of these programs include Healthy Kids Day, a day when YMCA volunteers encourage the community to get out of the house and play with their kids instead of  playing video games or watching television. This is a great step forward to shave off obesity for these kid’s futures. Other projects include the recently held YMCA event partnered with the WSU Art Club to host a silent art auction with all the proceeds going directly to the YMCA. 

Organizing is not the only thing Dave does when he volunteers; he also tutors and mentors weekly at local Sunnyside Elementary. Effecting the youth in a positive light is really what gives the meaningful work substance.

And the volunteer work is not going to slow down anytime soon for Dave, he will continue to be a valuable asset to the YMCA after he graduates. This is the true meaning of altruism, giving a whole lot of yourself, without expecting anything in return. We can all learn a lot from Dave’s example and take him as a role model. We all could be doing a little more to better our communities. It’s a cliché but its true: making a difference really does start with one person.

In ZAX,

Trevor Johnson

Tau 1734

Tolo Club News: Scholarships and Golf Tournament

A big shout goes out to the members of the Tolo Club and prominent alumni who have worked diligently to set up a Tau Zeta scholarship. Last Monday, Tolo Club President Jim King laid out the details of the scholarship to the current membership of Tau Zeta at chapter.

Next year, three seniors with the highest GPA’s and who still in the Tau Zeta house will be awarded $500 in scholarship funds. Also, three scholarships are set up for next year’s associate member class for the members that have the highest GPA’s in the fall semester. The scholarships consist of $500, $300, and $200 for the associate members with the first, second, and third best GPA’s.

These scholarships will provide an incentive for Lambda Chi’s to continue to work diligently in their studies and live in the Tau Zeta house for their entire college careers.   

In other Tolo Club news, the Golf Tournament and Tolo Club meeting is quickly approaching. This event is at Willows Run Golf Course in Redmond on Saturday, May 21^st. The Golf Tournament starts at 8:00 a.m. and the lunch and meeting will begin around 1:00 p.m. Golf and lunch costs $105.00. If you only want to attend the Tolo Club meeting and not play golf then it will cost $20.00. A paypal account is set up on the Tolo Club’s web site to pay for golf and/or lunch.

Any additional information about the Golf Tournament, Tolo Club meeting, or scholarship program can be found on the Tolo club’s web site: Toloclub.org.  

In ZAX,

Andrew Talevich

Alumni Correspondent

Tau 1731