Kappa from Cornell featured in Online Hermes article
Hermes - Cover Stories
Issue: 10/07/03
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Anthony Bass, KAY
By Jamie Bellavance
Homecoming helped KAY's Anthony Bass land his first job.
The 1983 Cornell graduate and football player met his first employer, another alumnus, while still a student participating in Homecoming events.
Bass kept in touch after the weekend, and sure enough, after graduation, Bass began working at Proctor and Gamble.
And his boss wasn't a KAY brother. So, it's no wonder, Bass said, the amazing connections that can be made between two Cornellians who also have a fraternal bond.
"A couple alumni I met during Homecoming weekends ended up being great mentors for me as I began pursuing my career in marketing," he said. "They became references and resources for me."
The fraternity alumni network is often stronger after graduation than during the college days, Bass said. KAY boasts an alumni chapter in every major U.S. city. Most brothers join after graduation to continue the chapter's ideals on an alumni level.
"We are still active as alumni. We contribute more to to the fraternity and benefit more from it post-graduation," Bass said. "We are very much an organization about achievement, networking, social and community responsibility, and economic empowerment. All of those principles are put into place for the purpose of continuing traditions and to help out society and our community at large."
The camaraderie among brothers during Homecoming is Bass' most fond memory. As a refounding KAY brother, Bass helped created the 20-year history present members now enjoy.
"We brought the fraternity back to campus," he said. "Now I'm one of the dinosaurs."
When Bass, then a fresh employee at Procter and Gamble, returned to Cornell after graduation for Homecoming, he reunited with fellow KAY brothers who also played football. He laughed as he remembered ribbing one of them for being "flattened" during a particular Homecoming game.
The chapter always had a strong athletic background, he said, recalling several brothers who played on the football and basketball team.
During that Homecoming, Bass took time to walk up Buffalo Hill, an enormous mound brothers had to run up and down during pledging activities, he said. He grew nostalgic remembering himself panting and heaving, exhausted but proud when the running was completed.
While on campus, he also reacquainted with several professors who remained at Cornell.
"It was as if time had stood still," Bass said. "They looked the same. I probably put on a few pounds, but they didn't change. The chemistry between us was still there."
Homecoming is a special time, he said, especially when he makes the journey back to Ithaca to see his former classmates.
"It was always a beautiful time of year when the leaves were changing color over the rolling hills," he said. "Football's in the air, a new semester just started and there was an atmosphere of excitement."
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