newsletter zeta psi

8/13/2019 Newsletter Zeta Psi

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House ManagerReport

Coming in as house man-ager this semester, there was

a lot I wanted to accomplish.My belief as house managerhas always been that the stateof our house is indicative of usas a fraternity. It was my goalto bring the house to a levelthat I believe reflects the pridewe have as brothers of ZetaPsi. To do this I focused onmainly on the condition of thefront of the house, as this is

what people see first. This wasin hopes to draw more peoplein in hopes of strengtheningrush as well as the overallpride in our house. To do this,bushes and monkey grasswere planted in the previouslyunutilized flower beds, alongwith dirt and mulch. In addi-tion, grass seed was spread toimprove the state of the yard.Later, the deck, benches, andrailing were all painted to re-new the look of the porch. Theinside hasn ’t been left outthough, as more in -depthcleanings have been done toprepare the house for moreprepared renovations. Thishas included organizing thekitchen and shed, replacingthe broken floor grates, remov-ing staples, and many othersmaller things that keep theinside in a better condition.

Next semester, while I willnot be able to be house man-ager due to studying abroad,there are still many things Iplan to accomplish while wehave this momentum of im-proving the house. I plan tocontinue improving the front of

the house, cleaning the wallsof the front and painting trim-mings around windows anddoors. I also hope to do thesame on the insides, as wellas painting multiple rooms,

such as the upstairs bath-rooms, the living room, and thepool room. I feel that thesethings, while relatively smallwill make a huge difference onthe overall appearance of thehouse.

In Tau Kappa Phi,

Tanner Beuke

Before

After

Recruitment Recruitment this fall can best bedescribed as a learning experi-ence. Our rush model was notyielding the results we hoped for.This changed immediately afterTyler Boisvert and Jamie Eideboth came to Austin and provid-ed invaluable advice as well ashands on work to help fine tuneour strategies. In the months of

August and September the chap-ter hosted dozens of interestedunderclassmen, most, if not all,of which had great experiences.We made significant progressenhancing the reputation of thefraternity around campus and setourselves up to have a spectacu-lar spring rush.

In Tau Kappa Phi,Connor Kelly



Pledge Class Presi-dent

It’s been a busy se-mester for my pledge -brothers and I. Not onlywere we tasked withlearning the necessaryknowledge about outfraternity, but we alsodid quite a few projectsaround the house. Ourfirst build involved usrefurbishing and paint-ing our beer pong ta-ble. The final product isa white table with goldZψ outlined in blackand centered atop of it.

We also aided TannerBeuke, our house man-ager, in numerous pro-

jects involving woodworking, painting andrestoring our historicalhouse.

The greatest part aboutthis semester wasbonding with the broth-ers and being inductedalong with my seven

pledge -brothers intothis wonderful and cul-turally rich fraternity.Together, my pledgebrothers and I have bigdreams for the future ofthe Iota Alpha chapterand with your positivereinforcement we willbe able to achievemore together.

In Tau Kappa Phi,

Luke Krogness

The pledge project this semester included painting letters on to the chapter pong table

Philanthropyupdate The Iota Alpha chapter had astrong Fall 2013 semester forPhilanthropy. During the monthof November, Brothers pooledtogether their mutual resourcesto contact friends, family andalumni to help raise $3,460 andwin the Texas IFC Movembercompetition—two years in a row!Honorable mention goes out toPhi, Michael Wiggins, who wasresponsible for $2,820 of ourdonations and also for winningthe individual award for the en-tire IFC. This was a great victoryfor both our chapter and theMovember foundation which pro-motes awareness and researchof male cancers. In addition toMovember, Brothers also partici-pated in volunteer days at theUT Microfarm, the University'snew co -op & research garden,as well as with DiscoverUT—an

organization dedicated to en-couraging under -privileged chil-dren to earn a college education.

The Brothers of the Iota Alphachapter have upheld the highstandard of community serviceexpected of them this Fall se-mester and will continue to do sothrough many other outlets in themonths to come.

In Tau Kappa Phi,

Pratham Mohapatra



Elder Phi ’ s

Report

The Fall of 2013 was a busy time for Iota Alphaalumni. Our dear friend and poker master MattSteffans has departed for points west, where wehear he has started yet another Zete chapter atthe University of Arizona. So, the position of PokerMaster, though unofficial, remains vacant and I amtaking applications. I have appointed as Beta Pi Connor Martens, whowill be working alongside Ben Sherman to help mewith various tasks relating to the smooth runningof the chapter and the house itself. His institutionalmemory and diplomatic skills are most helpful.Welcome, Connor. Dave Hunter and I have had extensive discussionswith banks, contractors, city specialists, greenhousing experts, landscape architects, etc overthe past 16 months to develop an overall plan for2806 Nueces. We are still in process. Progress isslow but I remain hopeful that we will achieve thegoals of bringing the house back up to a standardbefitting its historic status as well as that as ouronly chapter house in Texas. Keep a lookout for areport from me to the Elder Chapter soon on thedetails.

Aside from the “Big Think” of the above, my workday to day largely consists of making certain theplace is run properly. We had the ac units servicedat a cost of $3500, largely due to years of spottyattention to changing filters. I obtained a numberof space heaters as an interim solution for therooms in the NIB Crib, which do not have heating.My handyman, Ryan Roecker, laid a durable tilefloor in the kitchen and all bathrooms. He also re-paired various things in need of attention. Nowthat Ryan ’s semester is over and his availability

more regular, he will work through a punch list ofitems that Dave and I agreed on, including fixingthe front and rear doors, the French doors in thebilliard room, replacing any missing drywall, assist-ing me with coming up with a final solution for ourfloors, etc. I plan to introduce Ryan to our HouseManager, Tanner Beuke soon so they can work

together. Tanner has already shown great initiative in man-aging the house and it has not looked so well as itdoes now for years. He organized a work day torepaint the front porch with Behr Deckover, a prod-uct intended for use on older wooden surfaceswith heavy foot traffic. We ’re talking about re -painting the carriage house in the coming months.We have a number of other jobs that need doingwhich do not require the skill of an experiencedhandyman—painting, clearing brush, laying mulch,etc. All Zetes in Austin over the winter break whowant to work with us should contact Tanner. Some

jobs will be compensated at $15/hour(undergraduate actives only.) Which brings me at last to the plans for exteriorrenovation. Unfortunately, and despite great efforton the part of IHQ and belatedly, the chapter, ourpledge class did not hit its goal of 20 men. Whilewe initiated a class of 7 outstanding pledges inNovember, the cold, hard fact is that this chapter ’seconomics need to stabilize before I can commit toan expenditure of that size. We would be bestserved by a 50 -60 man chapter. At that size, allproblems become much easier to solve. I am con-vinced that out Phi, Michael Wiggins -Goff, has theright tools and drive to lead the chapter to a signifi-cant improvement in the Spring class. We Elderswill back his efforts financially and through thework of IHQ specialist and Rush Badass, TylerBoisvert, who Dave tells me will once again visitthe chapter to help us find our footing. So, let ’s go, fellas! That fine sport court and barbe-cue pit aren ’t going to build themselves—give mea sizeable pledge class so I can raise the neces-sary funds. Nobody is going to write me a checkfor an anemic chapter, so let ’s show our Eldersthat Iota Alpha is a winning team this year.

In Tau Kappa Phi, Jay Maguire, IA ‘92 Elder Phi

Alpha Sigma



Phi ’ s

Report

After a difficult start to fall rush, Tyler Boisvert gracedus with a visit from IHQ and gave us a crash course inrecruitment tactics that helped triple our pledge class.In total, we initiated 8 brothers this semester and planto add at least another 12 this spring to give us ourmost successful recruitment year since our refounding.In addition, we've managed to forge relationships withthree new sororities and spirit groups this semester,and have one of our most eventful social calendars inrecent memory. Finally, we are currently neck and neck

for first place in the Movember fundraising competitionfor the second year in a row. We have currently raisedover $2,400 and we hope to reach at least $3,000 bythe last day.

Perhaps most importantly, the house is currently in thebest shape that I have seen it in my 5 semesters inZeta Psi. Despite the drought that Austin has faced, wehave managed to nurture the lawn to health and grownew bushes along the front porch. In addition, we'vebeen able to repaint the porch, railings and pillarsthanks to a generous paint donation from our Elder Phi,

Jay Maguire.

Despite all of this progress, we will not rest on our lau-rels and let our enthusiasm wane in the spring. Wehave already developed a calendar for spring rush, andhave begun plans for an alumni event commemoratingthe 35th anniversary of the Iota Alpha chapter's found-ing. We also plan to invest the Zeta Psi scholarship thatI was awarded in further landscaping and repair effortsfor the house. Above all, we plan to continue raising thebar that we set for ourselves and let this year be re-

membered as turning point in the growth of the chapter – we hope you'll join us in our effort.

In TKPhi, Michael Wiggins, Phi

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