april 2013 cross & crescent

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il 20

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Issu

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Cross & Crescent

FROM THE EDITOR

Tad Lichtenauer

Director of Communications/IT(317) 803-7322

[email protected]

In June 2013, the Office of Administration will begin publishing in the Chapter Directory listing of our website basic criteria about each chapters’ performance in five important areas. The information listed will be pulled from chapter reporting, ELC visit reports, or by what is sent us from each university,

The five major areas listed will be:

Membership

• Total Membership

• Campus Average

• Total Number of New Members

Education

• Outer Circle Score

• Attendance at Conferences/Conclaves

Risk Management

• Submission of Event Planning Forms

• Harm Reduction Report

Scholastic

• Chapter GPA

• All Men’s GPA

Alumni Volunteers

• Number of Chapter Advisors

• Advisor’s Collge Attendance

In addition, there will be an overall chapter status published of either “Good” or “Probation.” Finally, there will be a text box for each chapter president to provide an update about how the chapter is doing and what plans they have to address any areas of concern. As we partner with our host institutions to provide a meaningful fraternal experience for our members, we believe this new system of transparency will help our alumni, undergraduates, host institutions and Office of Administration collaborate better to evaluate and strengthen chapters and colonies going forward. The data for each chapter will be dynamically updated throughout the semester as updated information is provided.

In ZAX & friendship,

Tad Lichtenauer

Editor, Cross & Crescent Magazine

HeaderYOUR ONLINE SOURCE FOR ALL LAMBDA CHI ALPHA NEWSApril 2013 ISSUE 3

Cross & Crescent

CONTRIBUTIONS

Content for consideration should be submitted by the 25th of the month (except Aug/Jan)

Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity8741 Founders RdIndianapolis, IN 46268-1338(317) [email protected]/cross-crescent

11OSCAR BUZZAfter winning an Academy Award for Visual Effects, two Lambda Chi brothers discuss their groundbreaking work on Life of Pi and the obstacles that the visual effects industry is currently facing.By Andrew Talevich (Washington State)

15CULTURE, CHARACTER, AND BROTHERHOODFrom its early origins in 1867 as the Hawkins Literary Institute, the Kappa-Mu chapter at Culver-Stockton College has served as an example of longevity and sustained excellence.ByJon Williamson (Maryland)

21VIDGIVE: “WHERE WATCHING IS GIVING”Stephen Gordon, a Lambda-Alpha alumni brother from New Orleans, has launched a new video-sharing website where half the advertising revenue is donated to a charity of the user’s choice. By Cameron Dupuy (New Orleans)

1 Chapter News Chapter news, alumni news,

and reports of death.

23 Fraternity NewsAward Applications Due April 30

25 Fraternity NewsFall 2013 Expansions

28 History On Thermometers and Thermostats

30 History Celebrating 100 Years Since our

Spiritual Founding

Features

Departments

CREDITS

Publisher: Bill Farkas Managing Editor: Tad Lichtenauer Assistant Editor: Andrew TalevichLayout & Design: Thomas Roberts Photographer: Walt Moser Research: Jon Williamson Editors: Jono Hren Bob McLaughlin

Cross & Crescent April 20131www.lambdachi.org/cross-crescent

CHAPTER NEWS

Chapter NewsChapter news, alumni news, and reports of death


Ball State (Iota-Alpha)The chapter held the McKinley Mile, the largest annual philanthropic event on campus. The event includes a series of bike races and a street fair.

At the Greek Awards banquet, the chapter was named fraternity of the year.

Boston (Alpha)Paul M. Stella (1955) died June 8, 2012. For most of his business life he was involved with Connecticut Savings Bank Life Insurance. He served as two-term chairman and secretary. Stella was employed at several local savings banks including Connecticut Savings Bank of New Haven where he was promoted to a bank officer in 1971 and served as such throughout the 1990s when he retired.

Coe (Zeta-Alpha)Paul David Stanko (1988) has released a new single, “Superhuman.” This quirky, fun, high-energy party song is the perfect way to celebrate spring. Produced with Grammy-award-winning artist Matt Fink (Dr. Fink of Prince and the Revolution), this confection is

loaded with camp, hooks and frivolity. A musician with a day job, Stanko pays the bills by managing a food service operation for Macy’s department store. You can hear and purchase Superhuman on Amazon, iTunes, or CD Baby.

Colorado-Boulder (Gamma-Mu)James M. Thomaidis (1994) has joined the law firm of Pearl Schneider LLC in Denver. His practice will emphasize insurance defense and commercial litigation.

Cornell (Omicron)On February 23, 2013, the chapter participated in Relay for Life, a fundraiser to support the fight against cancer. The brothers walked around the track at Barton Hall, Cornell’s field house, to honor cancer survivors and in support of current cancer patients.

During March 2013, the chapter held a food drive to support a local soup kitchen donating more than 100 pounds of food.

Denver (Alpha-Pi)Chris Adams (1989) was appointed global CEO and executive director to the Board of Spondo, an online video streaming syndication company based in Australia. He will oversee all aspects of growing the company’s business including leveraging his career as a studio and internet executive to expand Spondo’s offering globally. Previously, he has worked with eBay’s Jeff Skoll, and he helped to build Participant Media, the production company that went on to win four Academy Awards with An Inconvenient Truth, Goodnight and Goodluck, Syrianna and more. Additionally, Adams has worked with Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook, built GlamTV for Glam Media, led entertainment business development for Amazon for four years and has consulted to and worked with Comcast Cable & Interactive, HBO.

Nicholas Girardi (2006) was promoted from business analyst to controller at Coorstek, Inc.

Greg Hearing (2006), after graduating from the University of


CHAPTER NEWS

Chapter news, alumni news, and reports of death


Colorado Law School in May 2012, has joined Gordon & Rees, LLP, as an associate, where he practices in the fields of complex commercial litigation and professional liability defense.

Joseph R. Ham has joined the Western Union Foundation as the manager of Global Partnerships.

Drexel (Epsilon-Kappa)The chapter hosted its first Atlantic Conclave since rechartering last year. The chapter would like to thank to Adam Lynn and ELC Brian Watts (Kansas State) for putting together a great weekend.

Ryan Pratt was re-elected as the Student Advisory Committee representative for the Atlantic Conclave.

The chapter added seven associate members during winter recruitment, raising the chapter total to 65 men.

Pierre “Pete” Joseph died March 9, 2013. He was a premier masonry contractor who graced many of the prestigious estates, academies, colleges, and universities throughout the Main Line and Chestnut Hill, with artistic stone structures. For more than 50 years, Joseph worked at his family’s masonry business,

Marcolina Brothers, Inc. He became president of the company after his father, Pietro Marcolina, retired. Marcolina Brothers was located in Chestnut Hill on Mermaid Lane, which included an active stone quarry. The quarry produced a supply of Wissahickon Schist stone that is used in many buildings, walls and pillars throughout the region.

East Carolina (Iota-Upsilon)Robert Liddle (1984) and his wife run a family business printing, Kustom Koozies, after they found it difficult to order fewer than 200 Koozies at a time. After three years of testing and experimenting, they discovered a method in which they were able to print small quantities in a cost efficient manner. They started printing in the spare bedroom and have now grown to a 5,000 square foot plant with 14 employees. Over the last six years, they have printed more than a million Koozies a year.

Eastern Illinois (Phi-Alpha)Matthew J. “Laz” Lulinski, a freshman biological sciences major from Mokena, Illinois, died on March 3, 2013. He was 18 and died of apparent natural causes. He had been highly involved with the chapter and was known to drop anything they were doing to help out with the fraternity. At his funeral, there were more than 1,200 people packing the biggest ballroom on campus. “During his short time in the Fraternity he constantly strove to better himself academically, within the Fraternity, and in his faith and physical health,” said chapter President Anthany Wingo. “His motivation wasn’t for selfish reasons, but rather to be able to help the Fraternity reach its potential.

Eureka (Theta-Chi)Bruce Darnall (1966) has written an article entitled, “Padres Pitcher is Passionate about Faith, Family, Farming and Baseball,” about San Diego pitcher Eric Stults. It was published on line by Athletes in Action, the sports ministry of Campus



CHAPTER NEWS



Crusade for Christ. It tells of his life and his Christian faith. The article can be found at www.athletesinaction.org/news, then general category.

Evansville (Iota-Mu)Kyle Tiemann, Justin Shotwell, Alex Seward, Chris Weisheit, Carder Labrake, Ashton Bishop, Nick Davlantis, Garrett Johnson, Cameron Wickes, Reid Mobley, Phillip Stevenson, Troy Burger, Ethan O’Rourke, and Skylar Shinn competed in the Mid-American Conference Championships for swimming.

Evan Meiman, Gabe Carandang, Mark Smith, and Jarrod Holman participated in a St. Baldricks Foundation event raising money and awareness for childhood cancer.

Florida Southern (Epsilon-Xi)Rich Bishop, the owner and president of Bishop Coaching & Consulting Group, has written a book, “Child-Like Leadership: The Powerful Lessons We Learn From Our Kids.” This book studies what leaders can learn by looking through the eyes of children. It is currently available through Amazon. A former chapter president, Bishop currently serves as the president of the Epsilon-Xi Alumni Association.

Franklin & Marshall (Alpha-Theta)Frederick J. Wagner Jr. (1951) died February 1, 2013. A former chapter president and Eagle Scout, he played four years of varsity soccer. A U.S. Army veteran, he joined the Carter Oil Co. in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and later joined Skelly Oil Co. and eventual successors Getty and Texaco. Active with the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, he served as chairman of the Committee on Statistics of Drilling. He was co-founder and editor of Geobyte, a technical journal for the AAPG, advancing computer applications for the petroleum industry. After early retirement, he became science advisor with the AAPG, vice president of Petroconsultants in Geneva, Switzerland, and an instructor with Oil and Gas Consultants.

Georgetown (Kappa-Omega)Matt Master is a member of the men’s varsity basketball team.

Taylor Shaver, Tyler Whitehouse, Jake Niederhelman, Tyler Sexton, Hunter Conner, Josue Romero, Justin Davis, Mathew Murphy, Kyle Wright, Matt Huff, Cody Hill, and Zach Henson are members of the men’s varsity soccer team.

Jimmy Lacy, Kyle Wiedemer, Tanner Lee, Christian Williams, Tanner Alexander, Micah Crawford, Sam Heaton, and Matt Lillard are members of the men’s track and field and cross country team.

Georgia (Nu)David Vaughan (1984) owns the largest personal collection of Civil War photographs. Some of that collection is on display through September 2013 in an extensive exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Garry Spence (1983) was sworn in as a member of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission’s 19 member governing board.

Jonathan J. Tuggle (1995) was named on Georgia Trend Magazine’s annual list of 40 under 40: The Best and Brightest for 2012. He is a partner with the Atlanta law firm of Boyd Collar Nolen & Tuggle.

Georgia Tech (Beta-Kappa)Paul Taylor (1961) was added to the Innovative Hall of Fame at Rochester Institute of Technology. He is a pioneer for developing technologies that would assist deaf individuals. He was instrumental in not only developing the TTY but, more importantly, in helping to create the first TTY network in the world in St. Louis during the 1960s.


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the presentation of the Bob McMullen Memorial Scholarship Fund, as well as awards for outstanding alumni volunteers and outstanding chapter officers.

Marietta (Kappa-Alpha)The chapter won Greek Week. As a part of the competition, the chapter collected more than 900 pounds of food and won the canned food castle building event.

Maryland (Epsilon-Pi)Stanley Lore (1934) died February 27, 2013. He was 100 years old. A former chapter president, he was a member of the university’s baseball team and the MClub. After many years of service as a sales executive for U.S. Steel, he moved to Norfolk, Virginia, where he was the manager of JB Kendall Co. He served as the president of the Sales Executive International and relocated to Pittsburgh in 1954. Lore became the manager of High Strength Steel in 1966 and was known to many as “Mr. COR-TEN”, retiring in 1977. Later he became the director of Cor-Ten Steel Marketing and Technical Service for U S Engineer and Consultants before retiring again in 1998 after 62 years with U.S. Steel.

Miami-OHWilliam R. Long (1955) died June 4, 2012. He worked in the computer and stock industries even into his retirement. He also worked at the White House under Dwight D. Eisenhower, while serving his country in the Army.

Kansas (Zeta-Iota)The chapter held a mini golf tournament as a part of its annual Links at Lambda social event for current members.

Alumni brother Patrick Dipman (2007) spoke to the chapter about advice on transitioning from college into the working world.

Four brothers attended Sigma Kappa’s Dating for the Kids philanthropic event to help raise money for the Together We Rise non-profit organization.

The chapter held a Brotherhood Olympics, a recruitment event consisting of several mini competitive sports between the chapter and prospective rushes, on March 30, 2013.

Jack G. Kay (1952) died February 13, 2013. He was a retired professor and research chemist at Drexel University, where he served as chairman of the Chemistry Department for 16 years. He also served for many years as the chapter’s faculty advisor.

Kansas State (Gamma-Xi)In March the Gamma Xi chapter enjoyed a week off from school for spring break. With many members traveling to Gulf Shores, Al and Destin, FL. Members also enjoyed a scholarship dinner, and awards were handed out to many members after a sucessful first semester academically. March has been an intense for intramurals, the house basketball team fell in the semifinals, but the house was able to mantain its spot at second place overall. We look forward to a busy, but exciting April.

Kentucky (Epsilon-Phi)Gregory K. Brown (1973) is a partner a Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP in Chicago. He has 36 years of experience in employee benefits and executive compensation.

Kutztown (Sigma-Gamma)Alumni brothers held their annual banquet at the Kutztown Tavern in March 2013. Highlights of the banquet included


CHAPTER NEWS



New Mexico (Zeta-Mu Colony)

The chapter participated in a community service event helping the Albuquerque Mothers of Twins yard sale. They also gave us a donation.

The colony added one associate member during spring recruitment.

North Carolina-Greensboro (Phi-Theta)

On March 29, 2013, the chapter held an Initiation Ritual Exemplification for five brothers: Enoch Bastian, Richard Brower, Genesis Gaines, Benoit Sabourin, and Robert Victor.

The chapter celebrated its 30th anniversary of its chartering. The active chapter was proud to welcome back alumni as they celebrated the chapter’s successes. Those in attendance included alumni, undergraduates, and university administrators.

Alumni brothers created the first-ever endowed academic

Michigan (Sigma)The chapter held a centennial celebration that was attended by alumni from across the country. Alumni were given a tour of the chapter and the university, as well as a behind-the-scenes tour of the Big House. The centennial banquet had many notable speakers from Lambda Chi Alpha, including Executive Vice President Emeritus George Spasyk (Michigan 1949), current Lambda Chi Alpha CEO Bill Farkas (Butler 1988), and former Fraternity Board Chairman Dr. Murphy Osborne (High Point (1958).

Michigan Tech (Phi-Phi)The chapter is offering a rent-free room for a live-in graduate student. If interested, please contact House Corporation Treasurer Ernest Kurschat at [email protected].

Michigan State (Gamma-Omicron)

For the past few weeks, chapter brothers have been working weekends to help launch a Habitat For Humanity Restore resale outlet.

Montevallo (Sigma-Epsilon)Frank Demming was accepted to the National Theater Institute, Advanced Directing for the fall semester 2013.


CHAPTER NEWS



Greek scholarship. This scholarship will be awarded to an undergraduate chapter brother.

North Carolina-Wilmington (Delta-Sigma Colony)

Zachary Steffey was elected SGA president.

Brett Pinnix was elected SGA vice president.

Alfred Addy was elected junior class president.

North Dakota (Epsilon-Zeta)

The chapter house was named to the National Register of Historic Places.

Oklahoma City (Theta-Delta)

The chapter finished second in the Annual Spring Sing hosted by the Blue Key Honor Society.

Five chapter brothers attended the Ozark Conclave held on February 15-17, 2013, a the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Oregon (Zeta-Omicron)Randall Franke (1969) has been selected to serve as executive director of the United Way of the Mid-Willamette valley, serving Marion, Polk and Yamhill Counties.

Kenneth R. Beers (1951) died October 15, 2012. Following his service as a Marine in Hawaii and the South Pacific he attended the University of Oregon and joined Lambda Chi Alpha. After graduation, Beers moved to his hometown of Pocatello, Idaho, where he worked as a self-employed contractor, building more than 100 custom homes.

Pennsylvania (Epsilon)Joseph A. Loveland Jr. (1956) died October 19, 2012. He was a member of the men’s varisty tennis team. Loveland was a former Los Angeles attorney who became senior vice president and general counsel of what is now Bruzan Rum Ltd.

Pittsburg State (Lambda-Chi)Brad Aubin was recognized as a Golden Gorilla on Apple Day. He is one of approximately 25 students recognized with this award. The Golden Gorilla Award is a student honor given on Apple Day to recognize those students who have made exemplary contributions in community service, academic excellence and campus involvement.

Brian Wittman graduated from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC) at Fort Gordon, Georgia.

William Craighead (1970) died March 7, 2013. He had a long career in the automotive industry, working in various roles including service representative and warranty administrator for companies such as Chrysler, Rolls-Royce and GMC Truck. He also was a service manager for Markley Motors in Ft. Collins in the early 1980s.

Rensselaer (Epsilon-Eta)Three chapter brothers were initiated into the Order of Omega honor society: Evan Day, chapter president; Christopher Volk, chapter vice president; and James Ohnoki, former alumni chairman.


CHAPTER NEWS



Richmond (Alpha-Chi)On March 1, 2013, the chapter held an Initiation Ritual Exemplification for 18 brothers.

On April 20, 2013, the chapter will assist Colony 294 at Virginia Commonwealth University with its Initiation Ritual Exemplification.

From April 12-14, 2013, the chapter will host the Colonial Conclave.

The chapter is hosting a spring semester alumni speaker series.

The series includes inviting brothers from around the area to speak about their careers and the core values. Josh Dare was the first speaker. He spoke about the uniqueness of true brotherhood.

Rose-Hulman (Theta-Kappa)

This winter the chapter held its annual Christmas Party benefiting the children of Ryves Hall. The event went well, with kids receiving gifts from Santa and participating in a wide variety of activities.

The next chapter philanthropy event is the annual Run for Kids’ Sake. This season the chapter has sought sponsorships to help us raise money for Big Brother Big Sister of Vigo County. The goal of this event is to spread the image to local Wabash valley as a positive Christian influence in the region. Last year’s event raised around $3,000 and the chapter hopes to surpass that number. The event is currently scheduled for 10 a.m. on April 27, 2013. If you are interested in registering, sponsoring the event, or just donating to the cause, please send an email to hoorncj@rose-

hulman.edu or go to www.run4kidssake.com.

The chapter has completed more than 200 hours of community service not including the combined 150+ hours devoted to the Christmas Party and Bikes for Tyke.

Sewanee (Iota-Nu)DeAndre Espree-Conaway was selected as a recipient of the 2013 Watson Fellowship Award. The Watson Fellowship is a one year grant for independent study and travel outside of the United States. Over the course of the next year, he will visit French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Indonesia, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Solomon Islands, Bangladesh,and Australia.

South Carolina (Epsilon-Psi)

On March 9, 2013, chapter brothers volunteered some of their Spring break time to work at aid station during the Columbia Marathon. The brothers spent several hours passing out water and snacks to the more than 3,000 runners. The chapter was the only Greek Organization to participate

On March 22, 2013, the chapter held an Initiation Ritual Exemplification for eight brothers. The chapter greatly appreciated the attendance and Ritual assistance from the brothers of Pi-Alpha at the University of South Carolina-Aiken.

On March 23, 2013, 25 chapter brothers traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina, to watch a NBA game between the Charlotte Bobcats and Detroit Pistons.

On March 26, 2013, Jim Tothill Epsilon was sworn in as the chapter advisor.


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South Carolina-Aiken (Pi-Alpha)The chapter added four associate members: Elliot Browning, Kyle Brookshire, Brandon McKenna, and Carson Faulkner.

The chapter held its annual formal, Boswell Ball, bringing in alumni donations towards the chapter’s philanthropy.

Brantley Westbrook and Cole Jennings were elected to IFC.

Joseph Berry was elected to SGA.

South Dakota (Alpha-Gamma)

Notable chapter brothers gathered together at the South Dakota State Capitol in Pierre, South Dakota, for a photo. Pictured left to right are Rep. Mark Mickelson, Harry Christianson, Rep. Fred Romkema, Gov. Dennis Daugaard, current chapter President Tyler Tordsen, and Senate Majority Leader Russell Olson. Tordsen is currently serving as an intern for Olson.

Chapter brothers supported the local Vermillion PTA with their annual PTA Carnival at the local high school.

The chapter added Andrew Kost as a new associate member.

On April 5-7, 2013, the chapter will host the Great Plains Conclave at the Neuharth Center. To register, please contact our Conclave Chairman Tre Gillaspie at [email protected]. Alumni brothers are welcome to attend.

Approximately 32 alumni brothers attended an alumni reunion event and House Corporation meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Southeast Missouri StateAustin Evans is traveling this summer to Khon Kaen, Thailand, as a full-time evangelical missionary with a team of college students from Campus Outreach. He is seeking donations to offset the cost of the trip. If you would like to make a donation, please

send your check to Austin Evans, 1015 Harmony Street, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701. You can also contact him via email me at [email protected].

Texas Christian (Iota-Pi)A former Lambda Chi Alpha professional staff member, Chris Molloy was named vice president of advancement for the University of Indianapolis. He is certified as a fundraising executive through CFRE International and has served since 2005 as president of IU Health’s Bloomington Hospital Foundation, overseeing development, special events, constituent relations and an increase of more than 300 percent in total yearly giving during his tenure. In his new job, he will manage day-to-day operations in fundraising, prospect research, alumni and parent relations and special events.

Michael Conway (1991) has created an inspirational video, Kona for the Kids, as part of a contest to win a spot in the 2013 IRONMAN World Championship. His aspirational story includes how he survived malignant brain cancer, opened a camp for youth battling Tourette’s syndrome (which he also suffers from), and started a Try for Tourette’s Foundation.


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Texas-El Paso (Zeta-Epsilon)

On March 14, 2013, Tony Villa was appointed as an SGA election commissioners, one of only six appointed by the university.

The chapter was recognized at the Gulf Coast Conclave for the “most pounds collected” for this year’s North American Food Drive.

Virginia Commonwealth Colony (Colony 294)

The chapter placed third in Greek Week fraternity competition and second overall for the team competition. The chapter placed first overall in the Greek Week games competition.

Virginia Tech (Sigma-Lambda)Chapter brothers participated in Homework Helpers at Gilbert Linkous Elementary School, focusing on the fields of math and building skills.

Chapter brothers also worked with the Special Olympics giving swimming lessons to children and adults with disabilities.

Washington (Alpha-Psi)

Chapter brothers volunteered at the Ballard Boys & Girls Club to help prepare their baseball field for their upcoming spring baseball season.

Kenneth E. Hedden died March 2012.

Farrell J. Brown died January 2012.

Western Kentucky (Lambda-Lambda)The chapter raised approximately $650 for St. Baldric’s Foundation, a foundation dedicated to funding and raising awareness for children’s cancer and research.

Joel Padgett was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army and is stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

Wilmington College (Pi-Delta)The chapter’s spring clothing and food drives netted 1,217 pounds of donations,

The chapter won the Greek Games for the first time in the chapter’s history.


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As a result of the chapter’s Greek excellence program, the university has awarded the chapter its first house. The chapter brothers will begin moving into this university-owned property next fall.

Witchita State (Colony 296)

Associate Director of Education Marcus Kelley visited the colony and helped educate the brothers about recruitment and charting standards.

The colony brothers attended the Ozark Conclave held February 15-17, 2013, on the campus of the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

The colony hosted its first mixer with another fraternity and the women of Delta Delta Delta.

On March 9, 2013, the colony members held their first Associate Member Ceremony.

Wittenberg (Nu-Zeta)The chapter held an Initiation Ritual Exemplification for three brothers on March 22, 2013.

Alec Biehl was invited to join Order of Omega and Phi Beta Kappa honor societies.

Biehl and Eric Mann became a member of Mortar Board this month.

Nelson Laracuente and Garrhett Via were inducted into Gamma Sigma Alpha honor society on March 26, 2013.

Gordon Li was accepted into the Duke Marine Lab co-op program for the Fall 2013 semester.

Biehl will participate in the San Diego State University Research Experience for Undergraduates program in mathematics this summer.


FEATURE

A young Indian man sits in a life raft in the middle of a 75-meter by 30-meter pool surrounded by blue walls with a nylon stuffed animal resting on his lap. Add some special effects, and suddenly this man is transformed to the middle of the Pacific Ocean and the stuffed animal is actually a fearsome but mellowed-out tiger.

The movie is Life of Pi, and the visual effects (VFX) team- including two Lambda Chi Alpha brothers: Bill Westenhofer (Bucknell 1990) and Korre Heggem (Nevada-Las Vegas 2007)- received an Academy Award for their groundbreaking efforts.

“There is absolutely no ‘make it cool’ button. These movies are worked on by VFX artists putting in sometimes 16 hour days, seven days a week, for months,” Heggem said.

Despite the instrumental role that these artists play in modern Hollywood films, their industry is facing a financial crisis that has cost many artists their jobs and brought financial woes to the top visual effects studios.

Filming the Unfilmable

Life of Pi, based on Yann Martel’s 2001 novel, is about a young man, Pi Patel, who finds himself shipwrecked and stranded on a lifeboat with a tiger named Richard Parker. The book and the film explore Pi’s journey of personal faith, spirituality, and understanding of humanity during his odyssey over the Pacific Ocean.

Prior to filming, many critics dubbed Life of Pi unfilmable.

After winning an Academy Award for Visual Effects, two Lambda Chi brothers discuss their groundbreaking work on Life of Pi and the obstacles that the visual effects industry is currently facing.

By Andrew Talevich (Washington State)

Oscar Buzz


FEATURE

“If you put it down on paper, here’s a movie that’s two hours long with just a boy sitting on a lifeboat with a tiger. It doesn’t sound like a box office smash,” Westenhofer said.

From the beginning, director Ang Lee knew he would have to rely on Westenhofer and the visual effects team under his supervision to create a realistic portrayal of a computer-generated Richard Parker. Westenhofer had previous experience with creating computer generated animals in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe; and the Golden Compass, which earned him his first Academy Award.

Of the 170 shots of Richard Parker, only 20 of them were of a real tiger while the rest were computer generated. Westenhofer wanted to make the computer generated tiger look and act real, so he and his team studied tigers in Taiwan for three weeks. They also worked with a tiger trainer on set.

They learned everything from the way a tiger’s wrist rolls, to the nonchalant behavior it displays when it’s frightened, to the specific elbow shakes a tiger demonstrates. Westenhofer and his team were able to translate these specific details to make Richard Parker as authentic as possible.

Westenhofer’s second challenge on Life of Pi was creating an ocean that would play a central role in the movie. Throughout the film myriad emotions are showcased by the ocean.

“Ang told us that he wanted the ocean to be as much a character as the tiger so we did a lot of studying of different waves and sky combinations to give a different visual effect,” he said.

Heggem worked as a computer generated lighting artist.

His eight man team was tasked with integrating animated characters into the film and making sure they were lit appropriately for each shot in the film.

“Life of Pi had day, night, afternoon, golden hour, overcast, underwater, and stormy environments to name a few. Every lighting rig for every sequence and shot was different. As lighting artists, we have to make sure those differences are believably balanced,” he said.

For Heggem, who was also part of the Oscar-winning VFX team that worked on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the year he spent on Life of Pi was truly a unique experience in his relatively young career.

“A perfect amount of people, talent, and gumption came together to make something like this happen,” he said. “I feel so lucky to be part of this film; to put as much work into it; and to put it out for the world to see, and have the world like it. It’s just overwhelming.”

For their groundbreaking work on Life of Pi, the VFX team received an Oscar for Best Cinematography. Westenhofer accepted the award for his supervision of the VFX team. The acceptance speech that Westenhofer delivered at the Dolby Theatre during the 85th Academy Awards would ignite controversy and unite the VFX community.

A Cloudy Future

Despite the large sums of revenue that the Hollywood VFX industry has generated for many films, the industry as a whole is currently in a state of flux. Outsourcing, budget cuts, studio closures, and lay-offs have caused a bleak outlook on what once was a booming industry.


FEATURE

started working on Life of Pi, developing the lighting on a computer-generated zebra for just one frame took 35 hours. Heggem had to create shaders, which are networks of computer code that tell how a material behaves when it has light and color applied. Because a zebra has a high fur count, Heggem had to pay close attention to detail or else the zebra would look fake.

As the visual effects industry embarks on projects that push the boundaries of imagination and entertainment through their craft it is not unusual for these companies to spend upwards of $100 million on a single film. Because of these rising costs, the VFX companies have very low margins of revenue.

According to Westenhofer, 47 of the top 50 movies that have grossed the highest amounts of revenue have large visual effects budgets. Westenhofer considers it a “sad irony” that VFX artists are working hard on these films, yet not enjoying the lion’s share of the profits.

There have been a number of solutions discussed by California-based VFX artists as to how to save their industry. The first option would be to form a trade association. A trade association would enable the VFX industry to lobby the government to help curb the tide of outsourcing. The second option would be to unionize, which would set a standardized compensation system for VFX artists and possibly give them more power in their negotiations with film studios.

A union may also open the gate for VFX companies to receive residuals, or a portion of the revenue that movie studios collect after a movie is released.

“We need to have lot of bravery and do something, because if we do nothing our jobs will continue to go away, we’ll continue to beat ourselves into the ground until we have to leave and do something else, and this will become a dying art,” Heggem said.

Just two weeks before Westenhofer accepted his Oscar, his company, Rhythm and Hues Studio, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and had to lay off 254 employees as a result.

Rhythm and Hues was following an unpleasant trend of the downsizing of other visual effects studios. In September of 2012, Digital Domain Media Group, another visual effects and animation company, also filed for bankruptcy and laid off close to 300 employees.

These layoffs were the result of studio executives choosing to opt out of employing California-based VFX artists and instead turning to several companies overseas that have a competitive edge due to tax breaks and subsidies from their governments.

During Westenhofer’s acceptance speech it was not so much what was said, but what wasn’t said that would resonate throughout Hollywood. Just as Westenhofer was about to make a point about the significant role that VFX studios play in Hollywood, he was cut off by the orchestra playing the ‘Jaws’ theme song.

“What I wanted to say in my speech was to remind people that we aren’t just technicians, we are artists and if we’re not careful with what we’re doing, we may start losing some of the artists in this line of work, and lose the artistry that you see in a lot of films today,” he said.

One of the main problems with the business model between major film studios and VFX companies is that VFX companies are contracted on a fixed bid. This means that the film studio will give the VFX companies a specific amount of money to create certain shots in the film. If the VFX company goes over budget, they must fund the additional costs themselves.

And it’s often difficult to estimate the cost of certain shots. For example, Heggem said that when he first


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Whether the best solution lies in forming unions or trade associations, or lobbying the state government, Westenhofer believes the fate of the California-based VFX industry lies in the decisions of a select few.

“What it comes down to is that there’s going to have to be decisions by the people who are making the films and funding the films about the work they want to keep in California,” he said.

Working Through It

In light of the financial uncertainty that the VFX industry is facing, Heggem has expanded his career opportunities by working in a similar field, the gaming industry. He is a founding partner of a new start-up company called Slide Rule, Inc., which is developing video games that use augmented reality.

“The effects world is in such disarray that we figure other people aren’t looking out for our future, so we have to look out for our own,” he said.

Heggem is still involved with the film side of the VFX industry. He recently finished working on a commercial for a cruise ship. He has been heavily involved in networking with other VFX artists to find a solution to the current crisis the industry faces. His hope is that the actions taken now by his colleagues can create a sustainable business model.

“My hope is that (the California-based VFX community) keeps that spark of innovation, artistry, and add in there a little bit of self-preservation,” he said.

Westenhofer is also still involved with the VFX industry. He treasures his experience from Life of Pi. He hopes that his team’s work on Life of Pi will continue to be admired and will create a lasting legacy for the California-based VFX

industry.

“Life of Pi was definitely one of the most rewarding projects I’ve ever worked on. If anything, it showed that the VFX industry can contribute in a very significant way to the development of a film,” he said

“I hope that we are recognized for that fact in the future.”


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In 1867 a group of undergraduates at Christian University, which was founded in 1853 and whose doors opened in 1855, met in the Christian University Chapel on October 11, 1867; Dr. Madison Hawkins gave the principal address. Thus the founding of the Hawkins Literary Institute took shape with Dr. Hawkins serving as the organization’s faculty sponsor. “A prominent characteristic was his interest in a sympathy for young men, ever ready to help with his counsel, as with his purse: He placed many on the high road to a successful career.”

The founding members were F. W. Bush, O. C. Clay, L. C. Hendren, H. J. McRoberts, George Pratt, and O. M. Spencer. C. W. Barrett was one of the first new men to be

initiated. The first president of the ‘Hawks’, as they quickly became known, was LaCossit Hendren, class of 1870.

Born in 1850, Hendren chose to become a farmer and achieved significant success in his occupation and was also educated as an attorney, although he never practiced law. At the time of his death on October 12, 1924, Hendren was the president of the Executive Board of Culver-Stockton College.

The purpose of the Hawkins Literary Institute was to “share knowledge through their programs of learning parliamentary procedure and cultivating literary and forensic skill, and establish a better way of life, both educationally and morally”.

From its early origins in 1867 as the Hawkins Literary Institute, the Kappa-Mu chapter at Culver-Stockton College has served as an example of longevity and sustained excellence.

Culture, Character, and Brotherhood

By Jon Williamson (Maryland)


FEATURE

Dr. Madison C. Hawkins

Dr. Madison C. Hawkins was born in Bath County, Kentucky in 1818. In 1830, he and his parents moved to Tully in Lewis County, Missouri. He was quite a renaissance man. He studied medicine under Dr. Alfred Frazier and attended the Lexington Kentucky Medical College in 1842

and 1843. He moved to Camden County where he practiced his profession for a few years before tiring of it and attending Cincinnati Law School in 1853 and 1854.

During this time he was a member of the Missouri General assembly. He then became engaged in business and joined the Freemasons. He was a Democrat who ran for office, but was defeated. He was selected to the Board of Trustees at Christian University and served as its president. He also served on the faculty, first as professor of Commercial and Constitutional Law and then as a professor of Geology and Mineralogy. Dr. Hawkins died on April 15, 1872, leaving a substantial portion of his estate to the Hawkins Literary Institute.

In 1917 Christian University changed its name to Culver-Stockton College in honor of two generous donors, Mary Culver and Robert Stockton. Two years before that the Hawkins Literary Institute had taken a Greek name, Alpha Delta Theta, which it would remain until May 22, 1926, when they became Missouri Gamma of Theta Kappa Nu.

On that day in May the ritual took place in the Masonic Temple in Canton, Missouri, with the exemplification by the team from Iowa Wesleyan College. At that time 35 actives and 23 alumni took the pledge and became members of TKN.

One of the initiates that day was John Hepler Wood, the president of the college who served in that capacity from 1917 until his death in 1936. A hall on the campus is named in his honor.

Congressman James Tilghman Lloyd, who served in Congress from 1897 to 1917, was also initiated that day. In 1939, thanks to the merger of Theta Kappa Nu with Lambda Chi Alpha, the chapter became our Kappa-Mu Zeta. Through the official name changes by both the college and the group of men, there were a number of constants: They were always known as the Hawks; their house was always the Hawks Nest; they were always very selective in choosing members; and their colors were always red and white.

Unfortunately, most of the early records of the Hawkins Literary Institute were destroyed in a fire in the Old Main building in 1903. Frank Lesley Black, president of the Hawks in 1905, entered the burning building and saved the organization’s gavel, gavel block, organization seal and the minutes from 1886, but all other memorabilia and minutes were consumed in the fire. Black later became the Superintendent of Schools in Lockport, Illinois. The loss of


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Old Main was especially painful to the Hawks since it was in this building that they held their first meeting. They met on the second floor in the northeast corner room of Old Main.

After fire destroyed that building they met in room 34 (second floor, northeast corner room) of Henderson Hall. Their meeting room was known as Hawk Hall. Over 700 men had been inducted into the Hawkins Literary Institute and Alpha Delta Theta prior to 1925. Unfortunately, the majority of those names have been lost through time.

By researching the archives in the Culver-Stockton College Library we have identified many prominent members whose occupations were banker, lawyer, minister, and educator. Space doesn’t permit a listing of all of the members; however a few can be noted. Dr. John Richie Schultz served as the president of Allegheny College from 1942 to 1947; Hudson Grant (1874) became a judge in California and also became the Grand Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias in California; Dr. George W. Buckner (1898) was the former editor of World Call, a journal for members of the Disciples of Christ, and later helped form the National Council of Churches in the United States; professor emeritus Dr. Lacy Leftwich of Culver-Stockton College, Louis S. Cupp, former Chancellor of Culver-Stockton College; Judge Charles J. Schofield of Illinois; T. F. Reavis a missionary to South America; and Jesse W. Barrett served as Attorney General of the state of Missouri from 1921 to 1925.

Harvey & McCoy

Any recounting of the history of the chapter would be incomplete without a discussion of Paul Harvey and Clyde McCoy. Paul Harvey Aurandt was a world-known radio broadcaster for ABC. He received many, many awards during his lifetime including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005.

In the late 1940s he made a speech at Culver-Stockton College and was then invited to have lunch at the Lambda Chi Alpha house by Bill Drews, long-time chapter advisor and recipient of Lambda Chi Alpha’s Order of Merit. While visiting with the members, Drews invited Paul Harvey to join the chapter. He accepted the invitation.

Although he did not participate in the ritual at that time, he

Kappa-Mu Notable Alumni• Aubrey N. ‘Jake’ Allen, former instructor of psychology and direc-

tor of public relations at Culver-Stockton College, also served as assistant to the president of Culver-Stockton in addition to teach-ing journalism and business administration. Allen began pencil collecting pencils in 1959 and organized the first convention of the American Pencil Collectors Society held at Culver-Stockton College. His widow donated approximately eight thousand pen-cil writing implements to Culver-Stockton.

• Roger Ayan, retired senior vice president of Dun & Bradstreet Inc., Tucson, Arizona

• Robert E. Ayers, president of Ayers Oil Co., soccer fields dedicat-ed in his honor, member of the Culver Stockton Board of Trustees

• Dr. Larry Wilson Bader, physician, Columbia, Missouri

• Dr. Harry Ball, professor emeritus at the University of Hawaii

• Gregory A. Bell, controller of Hohenberg Bros. Co., Memphis, Tennessee

• Ken Brickman, former COO of the Iowa Lottery

• Dr. John Milton Brodmann, professor emeritus of chemistry, Culver-Stockton College

• Joseph Thery Charles, president & CEO of Charles Industries Ltd, trustee of Culver-Stockton College, Culver-Stockton Field House named in his honor, recipient of Lambda Chi Alpha’s Distin-guished Service Award

• Peter Jay Collier, director of strategic accounts, Charles Industries, trustee of Culver-Stockton College

• Richard Lee Conquest, secretary/CFO of Wells-Gardner Electron-ics, Chicago, Illinois

• Dr. Barney Jay Conrath, professor/research associate at Cornell University

• Dr. Gael L. Cooper, professor of communications at University of Southern Indiana

• Dr. James Keith Cutler, optometrist, Geneva, Wisconsin

• Harvey Dickinson, athletic director and football coach at Hins-dale High School, recipient of National Athletic Director Award of the year, coached four teams to undefeated seasons and #1 rankings, football field at Hinsdale High School is named in his honor, inducted into the HCHS Foundation Hall of Fame

• Dr. John Joseph Dougherty, associate dean of clinical education and medical affairs at the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences


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• William Drews, recipient of Lambda Chi Alpha’s Order of Merit

• Jason Peter Eisfelder, sales director of the central region for Bayer Healthcare, Bloomington, Illinois

• Charles E. Elste, former president and CEO of NuCal Foods, Inc., Acampo, California

• Dr. Edgar Arthur Franz, professor emeritus of mathematics at Illinois College

• William Fritz, member of Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago, Illinois

• Dr. Robert J. George, director of the Atlanta Psychological & Voca-tional Center, Inc., Atlanta, Georgia, donated a hand-tooled leather design of the Lambda Chi Alpha coat of arms to Gerlach Hall

• Warren ‘Slick’ Gerlach, residence hall housing Lambda Chi Alpha at Culver-Stockton named in his honor

• Donald Keith Gnuse, former president & CEO of First Bankers Trust Co., Quincy, Illinois, trustee emeritus and former COB of Culver-Stockton College

• Mark Alan Hamilton, national accounts manager for Great Western Products the largest supplier, manufacturer, and processor of high quality popcorn and concession supplies

• Dr. George M. Harper, professor emeritus at Florida State University

• Paul Aurandt Harvey, former news commentator, recipient of Presi-dential Medal of Freedom

• Madison C. Hawkins, former president of the Board of Trustees at Culver Stockton College and for whom the Hawkins Literary Institute was named. He also served as faculty sponsor of the organization and its members became known as ‘Hawks’. The purpose of the organization was to establish a better way of life, both education-ally and morally. He left a substantial portion of his estate to the Hawkins Literary Institute.

• Dr. George M. Harper, professor emeritus at Florida State University

• Dr. Daniel Paul Hoehne, doctor of osteopathic medicine, Washing-ton, Missouri

• Colonel Ralph C. Hoewing, former test pilot for the United States Air Force

• Hazel Huston, housemother of the Hawks for over 20 years and selected as Lambda Chi Alpha’s Housemother of the Year

• Byron Ingold, former professor of mathematics at Culver-Stockton

• Dr. J. Michael Jones, professor of biology at Culver-Stockton Col-lege, recipient of Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching

• Donald Keith, president & CEO of First Bankers Trust Co. in Quincy, Illinois, trustee emeritus of Culver-Stockton College

• Joseph Knittig, attorney, recipient of Culver-Stockton College Distin-guished Alumni Award, CEO of Global Orphan Project Inc.

• Capt. Richard Knittig, MD ‘93, an obstetrician/gynecologist, serves as Officer in Charge at the Naval Branch Health Clinic in Bahrain, the most forward deployed clinic of the U.S. Naval Hospital in Sigonella, Italy. The clinic is responsible for providing care to Naval Support Activity Bahrain, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, Commander Fifth Fleet, and 91 tenant commands. His brother Bill is also a Lambda Chi.

• Dr. Robert Lee Kocher, former professor of art at Coe College

• James Tilghman Lloyd, former Congressman from Missouri who served from 1897 to 1917, former editor-in-chief of the Christian University Record (1878)

• Dr. Leslie Long, retired dentist, Sebring, Florida

• Dr. Christopher Scott Loudermilk, dentist with the United States Air Force

• Matthew Brian Luebbers, member of the Board of Trustees of Culver-Stockton College

• Dr. Joseph W. MacDoniels, professor emeritus of communication at Hope College

• Dr. Harold Martin, professor of psychiatry at the University of Colo-rado

• Roger Lee Marting, member of the Board of Trustees of Culver-Stockton College

• Joseph L. Mauck, former vice president at Iowa Wesleyan College

• Clyde McCoy, trumpet player for over seven decades, best known for ‘Sugar Blues’

• Members of the Culver-Stockton College Athletic Hall of Fame: Harvey Dickinson (track & field), Frank Gutierrez (baseball), Arthur Hendren (football), Edward Owen, Jack Walz (baseball)

• Glenn Miller, former president of the Canton State Bank, sons W. Neal and S. Kent are also members of Lambda Chi Alpha

• David Craig Mobley, member of the Board of Trustees of Culver-Stockton College

• Douglas Richard Mosley, senior athletic director at the University of Cincinnati

• Bounchanh Mouangkham, broadcaster at Radio Free Asia, Wash-ington, D.C.

• John Nardini, executive vice president of Dinalli Flavors, Grand Rapids, Michigan

• Steven T. Oslica, director of marketing for Pittsburgh Corning Corp., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Maxwell Guideon Parsons, former president of Kmart Enterprises (automotive and sporting goods retail division), former member of the Board of Trustees of Culver-Stockton College

• Rolla Dean Phillips, president of the Town & Country Bank, member of the Board of Trustees of Culver-Stockton College

• Ellision Poulton, attorney, member of Alpha Delta Theta, football stadium named in his honor and it was first used in 1948, he also donated his family home at 800 College to Culver Stockton College and it has been used as the President’s Residence.

• Larry Roeder, formerly with the United States Department of State as a policy advisor, with the United Nations as an Affairs Director, and currently series editor for Springer Science & Business Media

• David Rosebraugh, member of the Board of Trustees of Culver-Stockton College

• Judge Fred Rush, judge of the 45th judicial district, Troy, Missouri


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• Kurt Sangmeister, court administrator at 12th Judicial Circuit Court, greater Chicago area

• Dr. Alvin Schleappe, veterinarian, Tempe, Arizona

• Dr. John Richie Schultz, 14th president of Allegheny College serving from 1942 to 1947, member of the Hawkins Literary Institute

• Dr. W. E. Schultz (Alpha Delta Theta), former professor of English at Culver-Stockton College, former chapter president, wrote alma mater song – ‘Here’s To Culver-Stockton’

• Bruce Alden Shipp, pilot with Southwest Airlines, manager at L & F Aviation, Wichita Falls, Texas, fighter pilot in the United States Air Force during Operation Desert Storm

• Charles Strain, sculptor in Harrisburg, Missouri

• Jeffrey A. Stuerman, president and CEO of Edward Jones Trust Company, treasurer of the Board of Trustees of Culver-Stockton College

• Dr. David ‘Twitty’ Terwische, chair of the department of elec-tronic media, theater, and film at Eastern Washington University, memorial scholarship fund named in his honor

• Tyler Tomlinson, head coach of women’s soccer at Culver-Stock-ton College, the Tomlinson Foundation in the Quad is in honor of this family

• Curtis Ralph Troeger, former COB, CEO of Doremus & Co., larg-est advertising agency on Wall Street

• H. B. Turner, president of Heatron, Inc., Leavenworth, Kansas, member of the Board of Trustees of Culver-Stockton College

• Richard Valentine, current president of Culver-Stockton College

• Lew Waldron, former COB of Columbia Chemical Co., former publicity chairman of the PGA

• Jeff Weckback, director of retail sales (large format) for Anheuser Busch, greater Atlanta area

• James O. Weldon, provided the funding for the construction of Weldon Hall and the American Free Enterprise Endowed Chair at Culver-Stockton

• Wayne Louis Winter, former senior vice president of the Sunmark Division of Nestle USA

• Dr. John Hepler Wood, served for 20 years as president of Culver-Stockton College, ordained Disciples of Christ minister, John Wood Community College in Quincy, Illinois, named in his honor

• Nathan Grant Zelinske, member of the Board of Trustees of Culver-Stockton College

later contacted the chapter and asked to attend an Initiation which was arranged. In the November 3, 1952, edition of the school newspaper it was reported that, “On October 26, 1952, Lambda Chi Alpha welcomed Paul Harvey at the Quincy Airport and escorted him to the Lincoln Douglas Hotel for a breakfast banquet.

During his remarks he was reported as saying, “It is an honor and privilege to be an alum of Culver Stockton and Lambda Chi Alpha.”

Another notable alumnus was Clyde Lee McCoy, a jazz trumpet player who performed for almost 70 years. He was an honorary member of the chapter, initiated a couple of years before Paul Harvey. McCoy’s most famous piece of music was Sugar Blues which can still be heard on YouTube.com. McCoy has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Chapter President

While I love researching the history of our chapters, I wanted a current picture of the Hawks, so I called Cameron Morford, the chapter president.

“Presently, we have 44 actives and three associate members and are the largest fraternity on the campus. We are very supportive and active in all aspects of college life and although we participate in all sports and won the football championship last year and achieved a 2.9 GPA, we excel in our philanthropic efforts.”

Where are those efforts directed?

“This year we raised $900 in our Relay for Life for breast cancer. The all-night event takes place in downtown Canton, Missouri, with relay teams taking laps around a track and receiving money for each lap from their sponsors. We also


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gave 54 units of blood to the Canton Blood Bank, which was the most of any campus group. Each year the school sets up Henderson Hall for groups to volunteer to call their alumni and raise money for the school’s foundation. We usually raise in excess of $13,000 and lead all of the other groups.”

You are approaching your 150th anniversary; what are your favorite traditions as a Hawk?

“Our Shirttail Parade dates back to 1907. All of the members wear a white shirt and serenade all of the sorority chapters and faculty. Prior to it becoming a chapter of Chi Omega in 1927, the women’s literary society on the campus was the Zetolophian Literary Society and they were the sister society of the Hawks. The serenading would always begin with them. All of the associate members also visit the grave of Madison Hawkins.”

The Hawkins Literary Institute owned the first fraternity house on the campus, purchasing it in 1924.

“Yes, that was the Hawk’s Nest located at 7th & White Streets in Canton. Now the brothers reside in Gerlach Hall, which is named in honor of Brother Warren Gerlach.”

Go Hawks!

In preparing this article I was greatly aided by the Culver-Stockton College archivist, Ms. Carla Steinbeck, who allowed me access to the digital historical files; Aaron Fieseler, former educational leadership consultant for Lambda Chi Alpha and former “Hawk”; and Steve Pyle, historian extraordinaire for the Kappa-Mu Zeta. Thank you.

In the headquarters building of Lambda Chi Alpha is a scrapbook that was probably prepared sometime in the 1930s by the Culver-Stockton chapter. In it is a message to all entering freshmen regarding the Hawkins Literary Institute. It reads in part: “Our emblem is the star and crescent, representing light and progress and as the moon enlarges to its fullness, glory and splendor, so shall we in

the struggle for education enlarge our vision of humanity and its needs, until the whole world becomes our field of service.”


Header

FEATURE

Editor’s Note: Author Cameron Dupuy is an undergraduate brother and the High Rho

(alumni chairman) for Lambda-Alpha at the University of New Orleans.

I t’s a late Friday afternoon and Stephen Gordon (New

Orleans) frantically runs around the office of his headlight

company, Flashtech. He is trying to make sure orders are

correct and are going to the right destinations.

When he is finally able to sit down with me face-to-face, he hastily tears open a Burger King bag and pulls out a

Stephen Gordon, a Lambda-Alpha alumni brother from New Orleans, has launched a new video-sharing website where half the advertising revenue is donated to a charity of the user’s choice.

Vidgive: “Where Watching is Giving”

By Cameron Dupuy (New Orleans)

Whopper and fries. He tells me that he hasn’t eaten since the previous day. He looks tired, worn out, and exhausted.

But when I ask him about Vidgive, his eyes light up and it is though a fire is instantaneously ignited within him. All of the stress, anxiety, and frustration of the past 15 minutes seemingly melts into oblivion. He smiles and begins talking about the project that has been his passion for the past three years; the project he believes will redefine the way we watch videos online.

For those of you who do not know Gordon, he and fellow Lambda-Alpha alumni brother Cody Comfort brought the New Orleans chapter back after Hurricane Katrina seemingly left the chapter with nothing in August 2005. The two of them single-handedly revised and revitalized the chapter into what it is today.

Launching Vidgiv

Gordon is a very passionate man, one who strongly believes in both his abilities and the abilities of those around him. Gordon is a man with a plan for seemingly everything and his newest creation is no different. He immediately begins our interview by telling me about how relieved he is to have finally launched the site, although he makes sure to mention that the easy part is over, and that “the hard part is actually getting Vidgive out there for everyone to see.”

He discusses the past few weeks and the strenuously strict time crunch he has been under in order to get the site up and running. He recounts the many late nights spent toiling at the website’s infrastructure and inner workings at his office on Veterans Boulevard.

Vidgive: “Where Watching is Giving”

FEATURE

“You know you’re up late when the people at the bar next door aren’t even there,” he says with a subtle smile on his face. According to Gordon though, it’s been worth every second.

Vidgive is essentially a video-sharing website, much like YouTube. It has, however, one significant catch: half of the advertising revenue generated from watched videos is donated to a charity of the user’s choice. This opens up an entirely new dimension for watching media on the internet.

Advertisements now have a value beyond aggravating the person watching. The causes they support are distinctly humanitarian in nature, which reshapes the idea of sitting down and watching a video. Now watching anything online has purpose beyond entertainment. No other website has ever done anything like this, and Vidgive is currently poised at the ready to completely revolutionize the way we watch videos. But like any great concept it started with an idea.

Gordon delves into the long and arduous process of bringing Vidgive to life. It started three years ago when he had a dream to create a new, intelligent way to share and upload media online. This dream was essentially a newer, better, and faster YouTube. Gordon drafted a manifesto and took it to a marketing group made up of three Lambda Chi alumni brothers: Marco Perez, Steven Barkate and Henry Hom. While they found his four-page manifesto impressive, they unanimously agreed that his vision was too big and needed to be cut down.

Thus was created the idea of a video-sharing website solely built around charity. While Gordon and the other brothers involved did meet infrequently over a three year period in an attempt to come up with something that could work, what was then just a prototype of Vidgive was constantly being shelved due to the demands of Flashtech and his personal life.

But, like all great ideas, a random spark of inspiration only six months ago caused him to sit down and write up a scaled-back version of the vision his brothers and he had created. The logical next step was securing advertisers, but considering this was a completely new property without a proven formula, background, or user base, most companies were hesitant to dip their toes.

“Because everything is so interconnected with this site, everybody has to be on board from the beginning,” he says. “If we don’t have advertisers from the beginning the website doesn’t work.”

Gordon pitched the idea to Spot Exchange, the second largest ad company in the country, and got the green light to move forward with the concept.

“That officially got the ball rolling,” he says.

Now, after spending “tons of money” on developers, data compilation, and servers, Vidgive is officially launched and fully operational.

So What’s Next?

Well, according to Gordon, it’s getting the site out there and showing people why it’s truly something worth paying attention to. He makes sure to mention that he plans to put together a campaign that will tie into both Lambda Chi Alpha and our philanthropy, the North American Food Drive.

Gordon carries with him the spirit of being a lifelong brother. His passion for our Fraternity and his moral ideals about helping others by creating something that benefits those around him are reflected in his goals for Vidgive.

As for the future of Vidgiv, Gordon quietly displays a look of genuine confidence.

“Vidgive will do incredible things,” he says. “It’s not a matter of if, but when. Be it six months or two years from now, it will be the next big thing.”

Cross & Crescent November 2012 22www.lambdachi.org/cross-crescent


FRATERNITY NEWS


By Nick Zuniga (Ball State)

The applications for individual and chapter awards that will given out at this summer’s Stead Leadership Seminar are due April 30.Award Applications Due April 30

Every summer, Lambda Chi Alpha brothers and chapters that excel in specific operations are rewarded for their efforts by the General Fraternity at our annual conference. This summer we are looking for all capable Zetas to apply for these awards and showcase the great work being done by our brothers across North America.

In the spring of 2011 we introduced new standards that must be met before chapters are eligible to receive an award. We also introduced new award applications in the spring of 2012. The new applications were designed to incorporate our True Brother program and the Tactical Operation Guides.

All award applications for the 2013 Stead Leadership Seminar are due April 30, 2013. All applications are located in the Officer Portal Document Library.

Each chapter/colony must meet the following minimum standards before your award applications will be accepted:

Cross & Crescent April 201324www.lambdachi.org/cross-crescent Cross & Crescent April 201324www.lambdachi.org/cross-crescent

FRATERNITY NEWS

1. Be in good standing with the General Fraternity and host institution.

2. Have an officially appointed High Pi (chapter advisor).

3. Must be at a zero balance with the General Fraternity as of April 30, 2013.

4. Not have been subjected to any disciplinary action by the General Fraternity or host institution within the past nine months.

5. Have had at least one (1) representative at the last General Assembly or Stead Leadership Seminar.

Below is a list of awards that will be recognized at the 2013 Stead Leadership Seminar:

Chapter Awards1. Alumni Affairs2. Bruce H. McIntosh Standards for Chapter

Excellence3. Rev. S. George “Doc” Dirghalli Scholastic

Programming4. Lewis A. Plourd Fraternity Education5. Tozier Brown Public Affairs Programs & Project6. Warren Cole Recruitment Award7. Website Development8. Alumni Publication9. North American Food Drive

Non-Application AwardsThese awards are determined through data collected by the chapter visit report.

• Grand High Alpha Award• Phoenix Award• Academic Achievement• Joseph T. Charles Mentor Leadership Program

• Campus Involvement• Membership Recruitment

Individual Awards• Cyril F. “Duke” Flad Outstanding Undergraduate• Order of Achievement• Fraternity Advisor of the Year Award• George W. Spasyk Order of Interfraternity Service

If you have any questions about the award applications please contact Operations Coordinator, Tina Waldrop-Barnett at [email protected].



FRATERNITY NEWS

By Tad Lichtenauer (Denison)

In the fall of 2013, Lambda Chi Alpha will return to Stetson University, South Dakota State University, and Huntingdon College in Alabama.

Fall 2013 Expansions

In addition to starting a colony at a new university, Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity will return to re-colonize at two dormant chapters in the fall of 2013.

The three new fall 2013 colonizations are: Huntingdon College, South Dakota State University (Lambda-Theta), and Stetson College (Zeta-Tau). + In the spring of 2011 we introduced new standards that must be met before chapters are eligible to receive an award. We also introduced new award applications in the spring of 2012. The new applications were designed to incorporate our True Brother program and the Tactical Operation Guides.

Huntingdon CollegeFounded in 1854 in Tuskegee, Alabama, Huntington College moved to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1909. The college’s motto is: “Enter to grow in wisdom; go forth to apply wisdom in service.”

The college is located on a 67-acre campus in a safe and beautiful residential neighborhood of Montgomery, the state capital.

The student body is comprised of approximately 1,100, representing nearly every county in Alabama, approximately 30 states, and several countries. The enrollment is 50 percent male and 50 percent female with a student to faculty ratio of 13 to 1.


FRATERNITY NEWS

The purpose of Huntingdon’s Greek Life is to create a better student experience through greater involvement in co-curricular activities and in leadership opportunities. The Greek Life mission is to:

• Foster Service through civic engagement and community outreach;

• Foster Leadership through campus involvement in other organizations;

• Foster Scholarship by promoting and rewarding academic excellence.

• Currently, Huntingdon has three fraternities and three sororities:

Fraternities• Kappa Alpha Psi, Inc.• Sigma Nu• Sigma Phi Epsilon

Sororities• Alpha Omicron Pi• Chi Omega• Phi Mu

South Dakota State University (Lambda-Theta)

Located in Brookings, South Dakota, South Dakota State University is the state’s largest, most comprehensive institution. A public land-grant university and sun grant college, it was founded under the provisions of the 1862 Morrill Act. SDSU

had a fall 2011 enrollment of 12,725 students from all 50 states and 63 countries.

Students can choose from 69 majors, 39 specializations, 67 minors, 29 master’s degree programs, 12 Ph.D. programs

and two professional doctorates. The student mix is 47 percent male and 53 percent female.

For more than 40 years, Greek Life at SDSU has been home to high achieving students and future leaders.

Currently, South Dakota State has six fraternities and four sororities:

Fraternities• Alpha Gamma Rho• FarmHouse

• Delta Chi• Sigma Alpha Epsilon• Sigma Phi Delta• Sigma Phi Epsilon

Sororities• Alpha Omega Epsilon• Ceres• Alpha Xi Delta• Chi Omega

The Lambda-Theta chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha was originally colonized in 1966 and chartered on May 18, 1968. They were our 195th chapter and have 452 initiated members. They were closed in 2006.

South Dakota State University President Dr. David L. Chicoine (South Dakota State 1969) is an alumni brother.

Stetson University (Zeta-Tau)Founded in 1883, Stetson University has two campuses in Florida: DeLand (175 acres) and Gulfport (21 acres).

The university has an undergraduate enrollment of 2,500 students, with 67 percent living on campus.



FRATERNITY NEWS

The college enrollment is 44 percent male and 56 percent female. Seventy-four percent come from in state and 21 percent from out of state.

Stetson students come from 43 states, the District of Columbia, and 47 other nations.

For over 100 years, fraternities and sororities have played a vital role in the rich history of campus vibrancy at Stetson. Contrary to some of the national negative stereotypes, our fraternity and sorority program is designed to help students learn, develop, and grow by providing incomparable opportunities to better themselves and the world around them.

Stetson fraternity and sorority members traditionally have higher grade point averages, community service hours, philanthropy dollars raised, retention, and four-year graduation rates than other non-Greek-affiliated students.

Currently, Stetson has six fraternities and five sororities:

Fraternities• Delta Sigma Phi• Pi Kappa Alpha• Sigma Phi Epsilon• Sigma Nu• Phi Sigma Kappa• Alpha Tau Omega

Sororities• Zeta Tau Alpha• Alpha Xi Delta• Alpha Chi Omega• Delta Delta Delta• Pi Beta Phi

Our Zeta-Tau chapter at Stetson was installed on April 22, 1949, as the 145th chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha. They have had 1,014 initiated members and were closed in 2008.

How Can You Help?Are you an alumnus of Stetson or South Dakota State? Are you an initiate of another chapter but live close to one of the three campuses? Do you know of any students currently enrolled (or will be enrolled next fall) in one of these schools? Do you live far away but would like to give money to set up colony scholarships for the new members to attend conclaves and summer conferences?

If you can give your time, talent or treasure to our fall expansions, please contact Associate Director of Chapter Services Matt Roy at [email protected].


HISTORY

Twenty-five years ago, Executive Vice President Emeritus George Spasyk shared an important lesson about personal courage.

By George Spasyk (Michigan)

On Thermometers and Thermostats

[Editor’s Note: The following article is being republished from the Spring 1988 edition of the Cross & Crescent]

I grew up in New England, where winters were cold and the snowdrifts sometimes came up to the second-floor windows. In the cellar was this enormous coal furnace, and on the living room wall was a thermometer. Now this thermometer told us what the temperature was, and when it registered below a certain level, my Dad, or one of my brothers or I would go down to the cellar to shovel more coal in the furnace. At night, when we were going to bed and didn’t need as much heat, one of us would go down to bank the fire, and that would keep it going until

morning. The thermometer didn’t do anything but report the conditions around it.

Some years later, my Dad bought a new oil furnace, and with it came one of the most fantastic gadgets I’d ever seen. It was called a thermostat. You just set it at whatever temperature you wanted to maintain, and when the temperature in the living room went below that, the thermostat went to work. It kicked the furnace on, and when the desired temperature was reached, it turned the furnace off. In other words, the thermostat didn’t just report the conditions around it, it made things happen to change the conditions to the desired level.

In working with our chapters, both at the undergraduate as well as the alumni level, it occurs to me that we have among them both thermometers and thermostats. Unfortunately, in my experience, we have too many thermometers and not enough thermostats. We have too many brothers who simply live with the conditions around them, no matter how unacceptable they might be. I guess that’s what we call “apathy.” They may even complain about those conditions, but they either won’t, or are afraid to do anything about them.

What we need in Lambda Chi Alpha are more thermostats, brothers who will take the initiative to change what is unacceptable. This, obviously, requires a commitment to excellence, and it requires courage. There is nothing complicated about courage in the physical sense, when we’re called on to aid or save another person. There lies in all of us a reservoir of strength and courage that perhaps we never knew we had.

Moral courage, however, requires a higher level of strength. We call on it when we may have to stand by a person under criticism, or about to be judged, perhaps falsely. Conversely, when a brother has obviously done wrong and merits censure or discipline, courage is needed


HISTORY

to take a stand, no matter how unpopular. I believe Winston Churchill was right when he said, “The prime virtue is courage because it makes all the other virtues possible.”

As an example, let’s look at illegal drugs. It takes courage to deal with this subject. Some suggest tolerance, at least of experimentation, and withholding judgement, let alone censure. I submit that this is not being brotherly; we are not doing anybody a favor by not asking questions, by failing to hold up a mirror for the experimenter to view himself in.

The same applies to the abuse of alcohol which, in the opinion of many, constitutes the single greatest problem facing fraternities and student society in general. Taking a stand against open parties, serving alcohol to minors and playing drinking games, requires a great deal of courage. Taking a stand against sexual harassment requires that we become thermostats, rather than thermometers.

Is it really courageous to refuse to intervene in a brotherly way when these problems occur in a chapter; when failure to deal with these issues may be endangering its existence? Could it be that this amounts to betrayal of brotherhood? Why doesn’t somebody speak up, point out the consequences, widen the options? I have to believe that many chapters are waiting for the one strong voice that has the courage to say, “This is wrong!”

Should a brother be permitted to “do his own thing,” or do his actions affect the rights of his brothers? It is my firm belief that real courage lies in taking a stand.

Theodore Roosevelt put it this way,

The credit in life does not go to the critic who stands on the sidelines and points out where the strong stumble, but rather, the real credit in life goes to the man who is

actually in the arena, whose face may get marred by sweat and dust, who knows great enthusiasm and great devotion and learns to spend himself in a worthy cause, who, at best if he wins, knows the thrill of high achievement and if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that in life his place will never be with those very cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

Roosevelt was describing the difference between thermometers and thermostats. I don’t remember who said it, or if the words are exactly right, but I would put it in stronger and less eloquent terms—the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, when faced with a moral decision, choose to remain neutral.

I’m not suggesting that taking a stand for change will be easy. Eighteenth century French writer Jean Jacques Rousseau had this to say,

There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.

Agreed. But we must try.

If it is to be, it is up to me!


HISTORY

At the Second General Assembly held at the MIT chapter house in Boston on March 22, 1913, the first real efforts at national solidarity were made.

By Tad Lichtenauer (Denison)

Celebrating 100 Years Since our Spiritual Founding

Lambda Chi Alpha was now truly a national fraternity, even though most of its chapters were still very young and not yet well organized. The first real efforts at national solidarity were made at the Second General Assembly, held at the MIT chapter house in Boston, March 22, 1913.

When Dr. John E. Mason (Pennsylvania 1913) found it impossible to attend the 1913 Assembly, he “pulled an all-nighter” in order to give a handwritten letter to Albert Cross (Pennsylvania 1913) before his departure for Boston. The letter, which Cross presented to the Assembly delegates, contained Mason’s vision of the ideals and principles of Lambda Chi Alpha and how they would be

expressed. His reason for the adoption of a new Initiation Ritual was based on the following rationale:

“The first question is, what should be the highest aim of a college fraternity? The answer is — I think — to have men of sterling character, who are efficient workers along all the lines of human activity; not students merely, not animals merely, but men with big, all-around sympathies, who can deliver the goods in whatever activity they take up. In other words we have to preach two doctrines, the doctrine of work and the doctrine of character; or, if you wish to join the two, the doctrine of mighty energy working toward a high ideal. Nothing else counts. It makes no difference how pleasant a chap he is, if he can’t do good sincere work he’s not good, and we don’t want him for a brother. The people we do take for brothers we want to encourage along these lines all we can.”

In addition to the development of a new Initiation Ritual, the 1913 General Assembly saw the adoption of the significance of Zeta and Lambda Chi Alpha and revisions to the coat of arms and badge.

Because of the tremendous impact of the second annual General Assembly held on March 22, 1913, this date has been chosen as Lambda Chi Alpha’s Founders Day. This was the date on which the spiritual basis of Lambda Chi Alpha was decided by its early leaders and founders.

april 2013 cross & crescent

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