smoke signals fall 2013 › › ... · smoke signals fall 2013 smoke signals — fall 2013 smoke...

Smoke SignalSFall 2013

PreSident’S meSSage: John Feather

Smoke SignalS — Fall 2013

Greetings from Tejas! As current President of the Tejas Foundation, I am pleased to introduce this edition of Smoke Signals, which highlights the great work of the current Braves as well news about the Foundation.

The current Braves continue to make us proud. For the third year in a row, members will participate in Texas 4000, a bike race from Austin to Anchorage, Alaska, to raise money and awareness to fight cancer, as well as being the lead organization for the campus-wide suicide prevention effort. They are involved in student government, Cowboys, Blazers and just about every organization imaginable. Xinesi Seth Snyder and the other officers have provided specifics on the life of the Club in this newsletter. We are proud of the all of their achievements, but we are even more proud that they are outstanding individuals who continue to uphold the highest standards of leadership, scholarship, and friendship. It has been a great privilege to know and work with them, and I hope you will take have the opportunity to do the same.

It has been a busy time for the Foundation as well. With the generous support of Austin Ligon, we were able to hire our first professional help in the sixty year history of the Foundation when we brought on Sherry Reisman of the association management company Reisman-White. There is an introduction to Sherry below, but she has a similar role with the Texas Cowboys and Silver Spurs alumni groups, so she is well acquainted with campus organizations. Having an association manager will allow us to develop comprehensive programs to reach out to our alumni more consistently.

With that goal in mind, we are also revamping our membership database system and creating a Tejas Foundation website for the first time. This will allow us to reach out to our alumni more frequently and also make it possible for you to make changes directly to your contact information and make dues payments and other contributions. The website will give us the chance to create a history of Tejas and also keep up with each other on a more regular basis. Special thanks to Bob Robertson who has maintained our membership list for many years.

Of course, maintaining and improving the Teepee at 2600 Rio Grande remains a primary responsibility of the Foundation, and the House Committee has been particularly active this year. With a challenge grant from Dr. Lacho Ramirez, we were able to raise $12,000 to completely overhaul the electrical system on the second and third floors, thereby greatly enhancing not only the safety of the house but its

table oF ContentS

1 PreSident’S meSSage

2 Club rePortS

XineSi meSSage

3 ViCe PreSident

4 buSineSS manager

houSe manager

SoCialS

5 eXternal relationS

kitChen relationS

7 teJaS houSe rePort

hub CitieS rePort

8 FinanCial rePort

9 Cohort Program

90th anniVerSary

reunion

10 trailS oF teJaS PaVer

Form

11 memberShiP renewal


Smoke SignalS — Fall 2013 Smoke SignalS — Fall 2013

utility for our gadget-laden Braves. The gutters were also replaced this year, eliminating a cause of leaks and rotting wood. I want to particularly thank Bill Martin who has been chair of this committee for many years. We are grateful that he will remain on the committee as Steven Hardt begins his tenure as chair.

The 90th Anniversary Reunion is coming, and we already have the dates: September 5-6, 2015. Much more information will be coming over the next few months, but please mark your calendars now for this great opportunity to see old friends and make new ones. Speaking of dates, we also want to invite all of you to the next Board of Directors meeting of the Foundation, from 10:00 to noon on Saturday, April 5, 2014. The annual Bob Pees Croquet Tournament and Crawfish Boil will take place the day before, on Friday, April 4.

The Tejas Club and the Tejas Foundation are doing well, but we need you help. We have over 1,000 living alumni, but fewer than 200 dues paying member. If you are already a member, thank you! We ask that you consider increasing your contribution on the dues notice that accompanies this newsletter. If you are not a member, please join us today. We are part of a almost century old tradition, but we can’t do our work without you. And let me know how you would like to be involved or any other feedback at [email protected] or 202-725-6731.

May the fires of friendship forever burn!

XineSi meSSage: Seth Snyder

It is an honor and pleasure to now be reporting to you from the position of Xinesi. The past two semesters I tackled the position of business manager, which I have now passed on to Robert Svoboda. He is doing a fantastic job, and progressing the position to a point that I never even had in my sights. If you were able to make it to the BBQ in Dallas at Dr. Jones’s house you already heard me speak to the current condition of the club. Personally I cannot talk about Tejas enough, so it is easy for me to report that the Club is in the best state that I have seen in my two and a half years as a Brave. We are somewhat small right now, but even more enthusiastic and involved than I have ever seen. At the fall foundation meeting I had the honor of meeting the Xinesi from 1943, Clift Price. While exchanging stories, memories, and friendships I realized that this span of 70 years is simply that, just a number.

Holding officer positions in Tejas has taught me a tremendous amount about how to be a leader. One of the traits I have learned is how to allow others to lead through supportive management. With that said, I would like to leave it to the officers to provide all of the updates – so here they are!

Club rePortS

ViCe PreSident: ben JohnSon



So far, we have had 6 outstanding Coffees. We began the semester with a bit of a predicament. A few hours before hosting my first Coffee, the electricity in the Tepee went out due to a worn out transformer on Austin Energy’s end. Instead of cancelling coffee, the Braves united and moved the living room on to the front lawn. Macon Vining even figured out how to rig lamps to his car. That night, Dr. Brent Iverson, Dean of Undergraduate Studies, gave an inspiring talk on how not to think, “what do I want to do,” but “what do I believe in.” Our second coffee featured UT baseball coach Augie Garrido. Even though the highlight was my piano rendition of Miley Cyrus’ “We Can’t Stop,” Augie gave an amazing talk. The third coffee was Seth’s Xinesi Coffee. He decided to host a Tejas Shark Tank Coffee. The premise was similar to the hit TV show, Shark Tank. John Arrow, CEO of Mutual Mobile, and Dr. Bob Metcalfe, inventor of Ethernet, judged a competition between three start-ups. The next Coffee was our annual Suicide Prevention Week Coffee with representatives from the UT Counseling and Mental Health Center. For our fifth Coffee, we had an entertaining Newman Honorary from our Spring 13 Newman class. And for our sixth Coffee, we hosted UT’s first and only improv comedy group, Gigglepants. Our most recent coffee was Carole Keeton, former Comptroller and Mayor of Austin. She expressed her gratitude and love of the Club by herself and her father, W. Page “Dean” Keeton.

On September 7 and 8, we had Tejas Steak Fry and Initiation at the Mystical Lands. Many current and former Braves were in attendance. We initiated a Newman class of 11: Chris Jordan, Nate Roberts, Arjun Mocherla, David Cornyn, Adam Petras, Preston Covington, Zak Broderick, Levi Joseph, Nathan Waters, Travis Clayton, and Ethan Balsamo.This semester, we already have 7 members of the Fall 13 Newman class- Nosa Aimuyo, Connor Hughes, Arpan Chakraborty, Zak Schmitz, Derek Dohner, Oliver Noble, and Joe Panazella.

This semester, we only have one brave graduating. We have a great group of guys coming around the club right now and I see a great Newman class for this semester. Also, there are many exceptional freshmen coming around, so we have high hopes for Spring ‘14.Our upcoming Coffees are the Halloween Pumpkin carving, Carole Keeton Strayhorn, the Ransom Notes Acapella group, and HW Brands.


houSe manager: andrew Coulter

Smoke SignalS — Fall 2013 Smoke SignalS — Fall 2013

The house has seen some great improvements in the past few months. In the time that I have been in the club, I have absolutely seen an increase in appreciation for the house and a heightened respect for its delicacy. The major recent improvements have been the complete overhaul of the electrical system on the second and third floors. This has been a major improvement to several of the rooms that had very few functioning outlets, so we are all very happy with this. Another

large enhancement for the Teepee was the replacement of the gutters. Not a very noticeable change, but one that makes the infrastructure much more sound. Steven Hardt has been a huge resource for us recently and we will now be mainly working with him for house improvements and issues that may arise. We are all excited about this, but still extremely appreciative of everything that Mr. Martin has provided and will continue to provide in the future.

buSineSS manager: robert SVoboda

As Business Manager this semester, I have done my best to maintain the club’s finances with consistency, accuracy, and the systems that we have in place. All transactions and budgets are recorded in Quickbooks software and have been carefully kept throughout the course of the fall. In terms of alumni debt collection, I made significant efforts throughout the summer to contact alumni in order to reduce their debt owed to the club. This fall I have stayed in contact with those that are still in debt to remind them of their payments. Though not all debt from the 2012 and 2013 graduating classes has been successfully paid off, the alumni A/R is being actively reduced and all funds collected benefit the club by cushioning budgets or paying for improvements to the house.

I believe that the most significant aspect of the club’s finances at this moment is the major cultural shift that has occurred from past years. The active Braves are financially responsible - paying bills on time, making sure to eliminate future financial issues, and generally staying on top of any payments that need to be made on their part. This makes all the difference and ensures that the problems we have had in the past regarding club debt will not repeat themselves. Recently I have been approved for the second semester of the Business Manager yearlong term. This is the second year with this format in place, and it seems to be making all of the difference.

SoCialS: daVid Cornyn & kenton wilSon

The regular social events of Tejas have been taking place, but this semester seems to have embodied more enthusiastic Braves, and higher quality events. The Texas – OU weekend was a great one for us and we are extremely appreciative of any opportunity that we get to interact with older Braves. We really hope to continue

this tradition, as it is an integral part of the weekend, and a huge draw to active Braves. The remainder of the semester has fun events in store for us! We will have the annual Christmas party, a spring fling (semi-formal), and a trip to the Salt Lick for some great BBQ!



eXternal relationS: roSS mCgarity

Alumni Relations position has moved to the title of External Relations, which includes the planning and execution of Parents’ Weekend in the Fall each year. Parents’ Weekend was on the weekend of the Kansas State football game and included a dinner at Abel’s on the Lake where we mingled, had a buffet style dinner, and each Brave spoke to his involvement in the club. The weekend continued with a Saturday tailgate followed by taking pictures on the field.

The parents and other family members provided extremely positive feedback to the Club, and has proven

to be a very valuable event as it provides our families with a better understanding of what Tejas is.

Another aspect of External Relations is the mentorship program. I have been in contact with Jake Ward about ways to improve the mentor program. Currently we have some plans involving a more open program where each brave can potentially contact multiple alumni to gather a wider range of views, or advice. Working with surveys will aid in this improvement, and hopefully get this program to a more fluid system.

Future dates include the March 2nd breakfast on Friday, February 28th when we will celebrate Texas Independence Day. Bob Pees Croquet Tournament and Crawfish Boil will be on Friday, April 4th. The Spring Foundation meeting will be on Saturday, April 5th following Bob Pees. The Steak Fry and Initiation will be Saturday, January 18th.

kitChen manager: britton marlatt

The George Fleming Kitchen is still serving the club well this fall. Over the summer, new floors were put down to replace the chipped tile that had become a hazard. A new dishwasher was also installed.

Mealplan is running strong with impressive numbers of actives and prospects in attendance at consistently around 20 men. Kristen Van Nastrand is currently in her second year as our chef and is providing the club with hearty and healthy meals Sunday through Thursday.

There has been a heightened effort to improve the health aspect of meals as per request of Alex Cranberg. We appreciate the generous donations by alumnus and current UT regent, Alex Cranberg, which make mealplan possible. It is such a central part of Tejas, and provides a reliable time slot to spend time with one another.

The kitchen offers a luxury of home in a busy student lifestyle, and we take pride and appreciate the fantastic resource the foundation has made available to us.

On behalf of all the current Braves I would like to say that we truly appreciate everything you do for us. We cannot thank you enough for all the effort, mentorship and opportunity that you provide us with.

Yours in Tejas, Seth Snyder



Clockwise from bottom left:• Tejas spring 2013 Newmen enjoy a special tour of

the Tower with Tejas alumnus Jim Nicar• Braves gather with Bevo before the Ole Miss game• Tejas have an honored place right above the team

entrance to the field• At the Robert McCurdy Memorial Golf

Tournament

• Tejas Foundation President John Feather take a dip in Littlefield Foundation after “putting his foot on the table” and announcing his engagement at a recent Tejas meeting

• At the McCurdy Tournament• Teeing up for Tejas



hub CitieS rePort: Cal Chaney


DallasDallas alumni hosted the Tejas/OU Weekend party at Ellwood and Ann Jones’ beautiful home on White Rock Lake on October 12. The party was attended by about 120 alumni, actives, their dates and serious Club prospects who enjoyed the beautiful fall evening, great barbecue and celebration of the hard fought victory over OU that afternoon! Washington, DC/East CoastTejas alumni gathered the following weekend to continue the tradition of the Washington, D.C./East Coast Tejas BBQ . Thirty Braves and their guests from Washington, Richmond, New York, Chicago, and Austin gathered at the home of Carol and Joe Shull for the Sixth Annual Tejas DC Fall BBQ on October 19. We continue to enjoy meeting new transplants to the Washington, D.C. area and to catch up on events since we last met. Special thanks to Bill Reagan and Jake Ward for their help in organizing this event.

San Antonio Dr. Lacho Ramirez is planning an event in San Antonio during the coming year. If you are in that area and would like to help on that event, please contact Lacho at [email protected]. HoustonHouston alumni meet for lunch at 11:45am the third Friday of each month at Café Ginger (1952 W. Gray). Please contact George Barnstone ([email protected]) to RSVP and be added to the monthly lunch notification.

The Annual Houston Tejas Club Alumni Breakfast took place on December 5th at Harry’s Restaurant (318 Tuam). John R. Alford, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Rice University was a guest speaker.

teJaS houSe rePort: SteVen hardt

It’s been a busy year for the Tejas House with the completion of a new deck, a new gutter system, and a new electrical system installed on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the house. While the active Tejas braves have been very understanding of the ongoing repair work, much remains to be done in order to properly maintain a 100+ year old house that is home to undergraduate men. The active braves have also volunteered their free labor to help with the installation of new exterior lights beneath the columns, as well as patching potholes that are forming in the driveway. Other upcoming projects include reinforcing a basement wall, and repairing or replacing the shed to serve as a more permanent storage solution in lieu of the attic space. If any Tejas alum would be interested in helping with any of these projects, please contact [email protected]. Alumni are also invited to show up to the Newmen Workday at the beginning of each semester, which is a great way to spend some time with active braves and invest some effort in keeping our beloved Teepee in working order.



FinanCial rePort: doug batSon, Jim arth, Pete briCker

In November 18, 2012, John Feather, acting in the capacity of Chair for the Strategic Planning Committee, outlined initial elements to establish a structure for a long-range Tejas Strategic Plan.

Our current Foundation President, John Feather, is now encouraging the Board and Executive Committee to move the creation and formalization of this Plan to the front burner in preparation for our 90th Anniversary celebration.

The Financial Plan or component is a key element to the Foundation’s long-tern vision, mission and goals. To create a long-range Financial Plan, we first must understand our current financial and budgetary position and be comfortable that the information we have is consistent, reliable and accurate. The Finance Committee has worked with our CPA firm, Figer & Company, to modernize our reporting and simplify the accounting for both the Foundation and the Club.

Leases for the individual residents of the Club have been established including parental guarantees and financial responsibility agreements. Repayment programs have been enacted for all current and recent graduates who are delinquent on their financial responsibilities.

A standardized and online accounting system has been adopted for both the Foundation and the Club. The system allows for online review of the accounting entries by our CPA firm in addition to simplified but readily accessible reporting.

Both the Treasurer’s reports and the Investment Officer’s reports are now posted online for review and access by our Board Members.

For the last five years the funding for the Tejas Foundation has come from three principal sources: Alumni Dues (38%), rental income from the Tejas

liSt oF organizationS teJaS iS inVolVed with: • Texas Cowboys• Silver Spurs• Student Government (Vice

President of student body, Chief of Staff, philanthropy director)

• University Wide Representatives

• Union Board (Chairman of the Board)

• Texas 4000• Texas Mascots• Club Soccer

• American Institute of Chemical Engineers (Vice President)

• University Business Council• Ransom Notes• Supply Chain Management

Student Organization• Camp Texas Executive Board• Longhorn Legislative Aids• Texas Blazers• Mobile Loaves & Fishes• Resident Assistant• Daily Texan Writers

• Colleges Against Cancer• Model United Nations• Senate• Texas Student TV• Texas Creative• Texas Media• Engineering Council• Young Life• Neighborhood Longhorns

Program• University Area Partners



Foundation to eStabliSh 10 year Cohort Program: Cal Chaney


If you have ever wondered what ever happened to good ol’ what’s his name who was your Tejas roommate, mentor, or designated driver, the Tejas Foundation has an answer for you. Led by Ed Elmore and Chris Fellows, the Tejas Foundation is launching a program to connect alumni with each other through a “10 Year Cohort” initiative. The concept developed at the 85th Reunion when alumni organized happy hours or other events for groups of alumni who had been in the Club during certain periods of time, for example, 1955-1960. The idea is to coordinate communications, email lists, chat rooms, and events within those “cohorts” between now and the 90th Reunion to rekindle the fires of friendship and camaraderie, culminating in gatherings that Reunion Weekend. Alumni who span a couple of cohorts can choose one or more with which they wish to affiliate. Watch for coming announcements for how you can participate!

Club (40%), and a dues matching challenge from Austin Ligon (22%). Last year was the final year of the Ligon Challege, so going forward we won’t have that revenue source. It will be really important this year for dues paying members to continue at their previous giving levels, as well as enlisting new dues payors to make up for the loss of the Ligon revenue. This year there will be a concerted effort by the membership committee to obtain new payors. Please look at the list of paying members and encourage your peers to contribute according to their abilities. While we will have additional income from the Jackson Hinds Endowment this next year (now that we’ve repaid the loan from the Endowment) it won’t make up the entire loss of the Ligon Challenge funds. The house continues to be an expensive property to maintain and we need the assistance of all alumni to do so.

Now that we have established a clearer picture on our current accounting and investment positions, the Finance Committee, working with the House Committee, will create a reserve and replacement schedule for our largest ongoing expense, the Tejas House. The schedule will help in the projection of future upkeep, repair and equipment expenses. This is an important element in the future financial planning for the Foundation.

teJaS 90th anniVerSary reunion: John Feather

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! The Tejas 90th Anniversary Reunion is set for September 5-6, 2015. Yes, we are planning two years in advance because we want everyone to be there! The reunion will follow the same format as in recent years, with a reception at the Tejas Club on Saturday night followed by a brunch on Sunday morning. We are also planning special get togethers for groups from different eras on Saturday afternoon. The 85th Reunion brought 300 Braves and their guests together, and we want the 90th to be bigger and better. Watch your mail and email for more details coming soon.

Name: _____________________________________________ Tejas years:_________________

Home address: _________________________________________________________________

City: __________________________ State:___________________ Zip: ___________________

Phone: (_____) ________________________ Email:___________________________________

leaVe your mark on the trailS oF teJaS

make CheCkS Payable to:The Tejas FoundationP.O. Box 1448 - Cedar Park, TX 78630

PriCe liSt: 4” X 8” $150 8” X 8” $250

The Tejas Foundation - P.O. Box 1448 - Cedar Park, TX 78630www.tejasalumni.org - Fax: (800) 784-9034

4” X 8” PaVer

In 1925, “believing that a more complete life is realized when men share their personalities, abilities and efforts…” a diverse group of UT students founded the Tejas Club. Eighty-five years later, Tejas enjoys a rich tradition of serving the University and promoting “friendship, leadership and scholarship” among active Braves. Indeed, the Tejas Club continues to reflect the words of the first Brave, Tom Renfro, whose vision of a “club composed of honorable men and long-standing friends” lives on.

Among the way to commemorate the 85th Anniversary of the Tejas Club is to have your name inscribed in the Trails of Tejas, a walkway to the Tepee from both 26th Street and Rio Grande. Your brick will join others engraved with the names of Tejas Founders, Distinguished Life Members and other Braves who went before us.

All alumni Braves are encouraged to buy a brick paver and forever leave your mark on the Trails of Tejas. Profits from the pavers will go to the Tejas Endowment.

Brick pavers come in two sizes 4” X 8”, which will have 2 lines with a maximum of 14 characters per line, and 8” X 8”, which will have 5 lines with a maximum of 14 characters per line. A character is defined as a letter, number, space, or punctuation mark.

Your inscription must fit into the box below. Braves are encouraged to include your name as you would have it inscribed and your years in the Club.

8” X 8” PaVer

J.O. GARRETT1925

FOUNDER

Name: _____________________________________________ Tejas years:_________________

Home address: _________________________________________________________________

City: __________________________ State:___________________ Zip: __________________

Home phone: (_____) ________________________ Email:_____________________________

Work phone: (_____) ________________________

the teJaS Foundation

2014 alumni dueS

2014 Foundation SuPPort:

teJaS Foundation endowment Contribution: $____________

total: $____________

SCholarShiP Contribution:C. Thomas Behrman Scholarship $____________Judge Harley Clark Scholarship $____________Jim Fenner/Bob Dedman Scholarship $____________George M. Fleming Scholarship $____________Dean Byron Fullerton Scholarship $____________Judge Royce Lamberth Scholarship $____________Gregory E. Lucia Scholarship $____________David L. Shull Memorial Scholarship $____________

dueS CategorieS: Council Circle $1000 Totem Circle $500 Xinesi Circle $250 (10+ years since graduation) $100 (Between 5-10 years since graduation) $50 (Less than 5 years since graduation) $25

ViSa/mC inFormation:Card Type: _________________________________

Card Number: _______________________________ CVV Code: ________________________________

Expiration Date:______________________________

Amount Due: _______________________________

Billing Address (if different from address above):

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Please return application and payment to: The Tejas Foundation - P.O. Box 1448 - Cedar Park, TX 78630

www.tejasalumni.org - Fax: (800) 784-9034

*Scholarship Contributions are made payable to the Tejas Educational Foundation and are Tax-Deductible.Foundation Dues are NOT Tax-Deductible.

Payment inFormation:

Renew Online:www.tejasalumni.org


www.tejasalumni.org - Fax: (800) 784-9034

Tejas FoundationP.O. Box 1448Cedar Park, TX 78630

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