Quick Favor to ask (short timeline, too)

[LXAAlum]

I have been asked to lead an alumni round table tomorrow (11/12) night as part of our I-Week.

The roundtable consists of alumni sharing their experiences and thoughts on LXA, how it affects them not only in college, but in life in general.

If any of you wouldn't mind sharing a story, please PM me so I can give you my email address so I can get more stories. It looks like I'm the only alumni that will be there, and I'm looking to give the AM's going through Ritual a "big picture" of the fraternity, not just what it means to be a LXA at their school.

Thanks!

[Eric_Berger]

I'd be glad to help...although this won't be a short message.

I joined Lambda Chi in 1982, just after the Alpha Chapter was recolonized. I had never even entertained the notion of joining a fraternity until someone on my dorm floor brought me to some Rush events. The single thing that influenced my decision to join was an Alumni Reception/Rush Event. There I met about 20 older men (remember that I was 18 and they were 40-80). It was pointed out to the perspective members that these guys had been meeting as the Board of Directors of the Alpha Zeta Alumni Association for the 13 years that there was no Active Chapter. In the course of that event, I found myself talking to a gentleman who was the president of a local bank. He pointed across the room to someone else and said "See that guy over there. He asked me for a million dollars today. I turned him down, but it was the fact that he could ask". I thought "Wow, this is something interesting".

In 1999, I had been the High Pi for the Alpha Chapter for 2 years when I was asked to help facilitate the first section of Impact Leadership. So, I found myself with 9 other Brothers who, in most cases, had never met before, yet alone worked together, but came together to put on great sessions for our undergraduates. The sense of purpose and coming together to accomplish something better than any of us could have done alone was awesome, but at the same time, humbling and inspiring.

What do these stories have to do with your question? Alumni. Not undergraduates, but Alumni. Alumni still believing strongly in Lambda Chi Alpha to work to achieve greatness.

Am I a rich man? No! Am I a proud man? Yes! Am I a better man because of the things that I have seen and done in Lambda Chi Alpha (both as an undergraduate and an Alumnus)? You bet your ass I am!

in ZAX,
Eric

[boz130]

What I'd like to highlight is a fact that I've heard repeated by more than one alum (and not necessarily those calling 8741 Founders Road their office): Lambda Chi alumni are noted for helping their local chapter out, even if it's not the school they attended.

This has come to pass for me in my work with Northwestern's chapter. Having attended a state school (Illinois State), I normally wouldn't have much in common w/guys at a well-known, well-funded private college.

However, when the NU chapter was being re-formed about 5 years ago after a self-imposed suspension, I got a call from Brandon Mayberry (at the time he was one of LCA's Expansion Directors). He indicated that Alpha-Iota was coming back and needed help from interested local alums.

I had a passing acquaintance with the chapter's High Pi, Frank Mann, because I'd drop off canned goods on his doorstep every November for NAFD. Even though I hadn't been active with my own chapter, I felt an urge to offer my assistance to Northwestern because of proximity (40 minutes vs. 3.5 hours).

After a couple of meetings, I became secretary of the Alpha-Iota Alumni Assn., and part of the job description included handling the chapter newsletter. This wasn't a stretch, since I also handled ISU's alumni letter a few years earlier.

Fast forward to today: my working as a volunteer on the Northwestern newsletter has evolved into a full-time job w/my own company doing newsletters, event promotion, address list management and other services for Greek organizations around the continent.

I'm not a rich guy in the financial sense, either. However, I wouldn't trade what I do w/anybody because I get to work w/LCA's, Sigma Chis and other organizations. My involvement has also gotten me more involved w/my home chapter, and I'm serving as an alumni advisor for Betas at ISU & NU.

Growing up as a first-born son w/a sister, I never had the "big brother" role in my life until I joined LCA. It's made me a giver, not a taker. As they say, you get out of it what you put into it.

ZAX,
Bill Foltz
BO 130
Illinois State '77