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Dave's Desk - Just 30 Years Ago?
Zeta Psi held its in 2010. I was a senior in college in 163rd Annual Convention
in New Orleans1980 and attended my
first Zete convention in New Orleans that year. To sum it up in a few
words - I had such a great time I became a regular convention attendee.
Probably the thing that made the 1980 convention so great was the many friends
I made. I continued to see those friends at future conventions and other
Zete and non-Zete events.
I found many similarities with the 2010 version
of a Zete convention in New Orleans. I had a great time and I met many
new friends. The most pleasure I had, however, was seeing the many Zetes
that I had met 30 years ago in New Orleans. Admittedly I could not
remember meeting some, and some could not remember meeting me back then, and
others were and are unforgettable (Scum, the Troll, Sparrow) - but sharing
those experiences was, well, special.
The 2010 convention was a reminder
of what Zeta Psi offers - life-long friendship. We should all take
advantage of that offer.
Zetes that attended the 1980 convention reunite in New Orleans in 2010
Sincerely in Tau Kappa Phi,
T.K.Phi, Dave Hunter, IA '80 (email me) |
Washington Scholars Fellowship Program
Fernando Cortes
The Washington
Scholars Fellowship Program thanks Zeta Psi for its support!
Thanks to Zeta Psi and
other program supporters, 31 young leaders graduated from the Washington
Scholars Fellowship Program on July 30, 2010.
The program celebrated its
largest class to date, and as founder RADM James J. Carey, Phi Alpha CXXIV,
proudly stated before graduation certificates were awarded, the program has
grown to be a truly vast network of young professionals in the workforce in and
around the District of Columbia.
The network's strong presence in Washington continues
to launch careers and bring change for the nation's capital.
The mission of the
Washington Scholars Fellowship Program is to provide opportunities for rising
leaders in public service, and to build a network to support and assist both
former and future Scholars in their careers. (www.washingtonscholars.org)
Canadian Austin Brigden (son of Sim Brigden - Zeta Psi Educational Foundation Alumni Development Director, Theta XI) is
pictured receiving his Washington Scholars Graduation Certificate at the Summer
2010 Class Graduation. During his time in Washington Austin served as a fellow
at the Reserve Officers Association. Also pictured is Washington Scholars Board
Member, Chris Bond (Beta Tau/Tulane '05).
For more information on the Washington Scholars Fellowship Program, please
contact fcortes@washingtonscholars.org.
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Zete
Kids Hosts Successful Auction
Ben Meck
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The Zete Kids Board,
which sometimes introduces themselves as the Zeta Psi "Philanthropy
Consultants," hosted another successful silent auction at this year's
convention in New Orleans, due entirely to the many generous donors and
participants.
Numerous donors contributed items from their personal collections
or those specific to New Orleans, ranging from a vintage editions of The Circle
to a book "In Flander's Field" to a Pat O'Briens Hurricane glass full
of Mardi Gras Beads. Some items fetched several hundred dollars, and one
item even drove several bidders up to the $1,000 range. Overall, the
event raised nearly $4,000 to benefit chapters in Zeta Psi and aid in
successful event planning.
For those wondering what Zete Kids does with funds such as these, the idea is
simple. Donate money to Zete Kids (or you could really call it investing)
and the Zete Kids volunteers will use that money to aid chapters in planning
philanthropy events, sometimes in the form of financial grants but most often
in terms of sharing expertise and knowledge. Providing this guidance and
small financial grants to chapters can help chapters in their philanthropic
efforts, multiplying the effects of a single donation several times over.
Last year, the board
announced their official name change to Zete Kids and introduced their new
website and logo and revised process. This year, responding to feedback,
the board plans to reevaluate the grant application process to make it easier
for chapters to apply for grants and work with the board.
Additionally,
the board has begun actively adding volunteers who wish to share their past
experience and volunteer by advising chapters planning philanthropic events for
the 2010-2011 school year.
To learn more about Zete Kids, volunteer your
efforts, or apply for a financial grant - visit http://kids.zetapsi.org/ or contact president@zetapsi.org.
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163rd Zeta Psi Convention in New Orleans
Dave Hunter
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 After the 163rd Annual Zeta Psi Convention
in New Orleans we're not sure if New Orleans will ever be the same or if it is
Zeta Psi that will never be the same.
What we do know is that Zeta Psi
descended on the Crescent City and extracted much enjoyment from the visit. Most Zetes and guests arrived on Wednesday and enjoyed a Mississippi River
Paddleboat cruise on the Cerole Queen.
Thursday evening the groups were treated to a visit to historic Mardi Gras World. Friday evening Zetes
were free on the town. The convention culminated on Saturday evening with
the Grand Chapter Banquet. Wednesday afternoon, Thursday, and Friday
Zetes participated in the Lou Capozzoli Leadership Training Institute and on
Friday alumni interacted together at the Alan Rice Alumni Academy.
The LTI
Luncheon was held on Thursday and David Busacca hosted the Phi Alpha Luncheon
on Friday. The educational foundation meeting took place Friday morning
and on Saturday morning we held the 163rd Grand Chapter
Meeting.
This year's installment of the Zeta Psi Convention was yet
another in a distinguished line of great conventions.
Next year - look
out New York!
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Chapter Awards Recipients
2010
Dave Hunter
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-
McElroy Award for Excellence: Phi Epsilon
Chapter (Maryland)
- Gold Chapter Awards: Alpha Psi Chapter (McGill),
Phi Chapter (NYU), Phi Lambda Chapter (Washington), and the Pi Tau Chapter
(WPI)
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Silver Chapter Awards: Beta Tau Chapter (Tulane), Mu
Theta Chapter (Alberta), Kappa Chapter (Tufts), Nu Chapter (Case Western), Psi
Chapter (Cornell, and the Rho Alpha Chapter (MIT)
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Bronze Chapter Awards: Iota Omicron Chapter
(Oxford), Sigma Phi Chapter (UI-Chicago), and the Theta Eta (Brock)
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Comstock Trophy: Phi Epsilon Chapter
(Maryland), Pictured Below
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Dureyee
Award: Psi Chapter (Cornell)
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DC Elders
Mark Williams
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 First and foremost,
Congratulations are in order for DC Elders' very own Lauck Walton, who was
selected to and installed as Phi Alpha this past weekend at Convention in New
Orleans!
DC-area Zetes had a solid showing in the Big Easy with roughly
15 elders in attendance, representatives from Georgetown, American and the GW
interest group, and a very strong group of actives and recent grads from UMD,
who by the way won the Comstock Award! Lastly, and certainly not the
least - DC Elders' Treasurer, Andrew Frisvold, was recognized at the Grand
Chapter Banquet with the Henry Elliot Award for his outstanding commitment to
this fraternity.
Even though we could
have laid back and let our participation at convention suffice for the last
month of vacation, we decided to go ahead and fill the month of August with all
sorts of fraternal events.
We kicked off the month (or more technically,
closed out July) with our annual trip to the ballpark to cheer on the Washington
Nationals as they stormed back to beat that team from Philly with a walk-off
3-run homerun by Ryan Zimmerman. What's even more impressive is that we
had so much interest that we SOLD OUT the event in the week leading up to the
game!
We followed that with our first-Tuesday-of-the-month happy hour,
this time at Bullfeathers on Capitol Hill on August 3rd. These informal
gatherings of Zetes, dates and friends have been increasingly successful, and
we expect another good turn out on Tuesday, September 7th when we get together
at Tortilla Coast (1st & D Streets, SE) for margaritas, all the chips and
salsa we can handle, and their Tuesday burrito special.
Also, stay tuned
to your inboxes and the DC Elders' website (www.dcelders.org) for details about a Steak and Crab fest to kick off the
2010-2011 Capital Cup competition on September 26th at the UMD chapter house.
And speaking of the Capital Cup, DC Elders can use some able-bodied
alumni to help us defend our title from last season - if you're interested in
playing or just want to show up to root on your fellow Zetes, please contact
Jay Leblang (jayleblang@yahoo.com) or go to www.dcelders.org for details.
Lastly, DC Elders will be coordinating a
Zeta Psi t-shirt drive (and any other Zete paraphernalia) so that
alumni can get rid of all those boxes of shirts that are taking up space in our
basements, and at the same time outfit our undergraduate brothers at
Georgetown and American who have not had the benefit of many years' worth of
big brothers' Zeta Psi t-shirts getting passed down to them.
More details
will be coming soon to www.dcelders.org, or you can contact Mark Williams (markwil99@gmail.com) if you'd like to donate your gear.
TKPhi,
Mark Williams
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Zeta Psi Elects New Officers
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The
Zeta Psi Fraternity of North America and the Zeta Psi Educational Foundation
elected a new slate of officers at the 163rd Annual Convention in
New Orleans:
President:
M. Lauck Walton, PRI '84
Vice
President: Anrew Nunez, Texas '94
Secretary:
Barth H. Gillan, McGill '85
Treasurer:
Leslie Mann, III, Washington '73
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LTI
in New Orleans
Maurice Ducoing
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This
past August, the Zeta Psi Leadership Training Institute was held at the 163rd
Zeta Psi Convention in New Orleans. It was another major event for the
LTI, with nearly 100 active Zetes in attendance. This year, there marked a few
changes which were designed to enhance the LTIs.
First,
all courses were reviewed and refreshed by a team of dedicated Zetes within
Membership Development. This means that all courses were evaluated in
terms of clarity, usefulness and appeal, ensuring that all courses were still
relevant and engaging. As part of this content upgrade, the LTI courses
were given a major face lift, with a new logo and color scheme to really
freshen up the visual aspect of the LTIs.
This new design was thanks to
collaboration between Membership Development and Brother Ben Meck, a skilled
designer. The Membership Development team responsible for the content
upgrade was put together this year and you will hear more from them in the
future. These fine Brothers are John Doyle, Alan van Den Arend, Adam
Lessen, Mike Grossman, Andrew Darst, Obi Agbim, Peter Gamber, Raul Vinueza, and
Matt Keehn. Without their help, none of these changes could have been
made and the quality of the LTIs so enhanced.
In
addition to courses that already existed, the team, along with valuable subject
matter experts like Jared Sunshine and Anthony Shibata, were able to build ten
new courses that were unveiled at Convention to great fan fare.
New
additions to the course library include two budgeting courses, two Media
Relations courses, one course introducing Project Management, a new Law class
on Event Planning, and two new courses on interviewing among others.
Overall,
the three day LTI went well, receiving solid feedback from participants. LTIs will be held throughout the US and Canada over the course of the next
year. Please look out for an LTI near you!
If
you are interested in hearing more about Membership Development, please contact
Maurice Ducoing at mducoing@zetapsi.org.
In
TKPhi,
Maurice
Ducoing
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| A Million Steps...
Seth Cochran
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 Zete Taking a Million Steps for
African Women
Seth
Cochran (Psi '00) spent the hottest part of the summer sweating in Spain,
having vowed to take 1 million steps. He did it for the same reason men
take on any big challenge-for the ladies.
More
precisely, he and a friend walked for the roughly 2 million women worldwide who
suffer from obstetric fistula, a childbirth complication that leaves women
incontinent. The stench from this condition often results in social isolation,
as their husbands and other family members abandon them. Surgical
treatment is 90% effective and costs only $200 per woman. Cochran is
hoping to raise one penny for each of the 2 million steps, or $20,000, to
support treatment for 100 women in Uganda.
The
481-mile walking route spans northern Spain, from the French Pyrenees on the
eastern border to Santiago de Compostela a Spanish town near the Atlantic
Ocean. The route, called the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, or the "Camino",
is an old Roman trade route, but in modern times is oft-traveled by religious
pilgrims, adventure seekers, and tourists.
Cochran's
last adventure fundraiser netted $40,000, a sum he helped The Smile Train put
to work in the Congo to treat 160 children with cleft palate.
"Zetes
really made Summit for Smiles a huge success and I am hoping we can get a few
brothers to pitch in for ladies who need our help."
To
learn more about the project and donate please visit www.millionsteps.org
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133rd PHI ALPHA - Lauck Walton
Lauck Walton
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It
is an honor to serve as the 133rd Phi Alpha of Zeta Psi. For
those of you that attended the New Orleans Convention, thank you - you already
know it was amazing. If you missed it, you should consider joining those
of us who make a point to include the middle week in August as a part of an
annual routine in a great city every year. Next year we travel to New
York City, the birthplace of Zeta Psi. The dates are August 17-21,
2011. Do yourself a favor and block out the dates now. As
the new Phi Alpha, I have a couple of recommendations, and requests for help. Actives
- You are the present of Zeta Psi. You help create the future. We are one of the very few organizations on the planet where a young man gets
to learn leadership surrounded by lifelong friends. It is a great
opportunity to have fun and learn something along the way. It also
carries a lot of responsibility to select new members carefully, to treat
everyone with respect and dignity, and to think about the implications of your
actions lest a careless deed or act sully your (and our) reputation - or
worse. Strike a disciplined balance and you will surely have friends and
Brothers for your entire life. Elders - You, too, are the present of Zeta Psi
(and not just its past as you might assume). You help create the future
by sharing your time, talent, and treasure. For many of us, we would not
be who we are today if it were not for Zeta Psi. I know that I can never
repay these gifts, but my involvement in supporting my local Elders Association
and the Grand Chapter of Zeta Psi helps balance the scales somewhat. A
lot of the Brothers that get the UpZete give generously of their time and
talents, but if we had more Elder volunteers, we could make Zeta Psi even better. Many of our chapters need better, or more Elder support. If you want to
volunteer in any capacity, please click on this link - development@zetapsi.org. If you have something specific to offer, or want to work with your Chapter
please say so. If you just want to help, we will contact you to discuss
it. I hope that you do it now. And
finally, a quick thought about treasure. , Some of the Brothers who receive the
UpZete already give generously to the Grand Chapter of Zeta Psi and their local
chapter., But many don't. In fact, Zeta Psi has an average annual gift
that is the envy of the fraternity world. We all salute our annual
donors, but the truth is that we need more. If you don't already support
the Grand Chapter and can, please go to http://www.zetapsi.org/elders/donate. I hope that you also do this now. Brothers,
thank you for the opportunity to serve.
Faithfully
in Tau Kappa Phi,
Lauck Walton, Phi Alpha CXXXIII |
Click below to visit our Online Archives of the Circle magazine or our monthly e-newsletter, the UpZete.
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DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROGRAM INFO ONLINE
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Information on Zeta Psi's Dispute Resolution Program, now in effect and
known as "Binding Arbitration," is available online at www.zetapsi.org. |
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Circle Centennial
Sponsor-a-Circle Today
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June
2009 marks the 100 years of the Circle of Zeta Psi. We hope to
commemorate this major milestone - and the enduring vision of Bill
Comstock - by archiving all 100 years of the Circle online in the
coming years! SPONSOR-a-CIRCLE: This huge task will take many years and many dollars, but with your help we can start now. CLICK HERE to pick an issue and donate the cost of archiving ($200). Sponsors will be recognized in the Circle Centennial's Honor Roll.
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Zete Ties!
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CLICK HERE
to buy
your very own Zeta Psi neck tie - Only a few dozen left, buy
soon!
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| | Zeta Psi Active &
Elder Services
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Get "LinkedIn" with Zeta Psi - CLICK HERE to join 625+ Brothers on this networking site, or
look for smaller groups for several individual Chapters.
Kaplan offers Zetes 10% off - CLICK HERE for GMAT, GRE, LSAT, MCAT, DAT and OAT courses.
NEW: 15% off Living Language products: 
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