Opportunity Knocks -- Now More Than Ever
Submitted by Mike Fleiner (EI 1017),
President, Kappa Lambda Educational Foundation
The bond of Brotherhood for many of our members extend well beyond our college years, and your Alumni Council and the Kappa Lambda Educational Foundation have worked very hard during the last seven years to provide our Alumni brothers with current and timely information that is designed to strengthen these ties.
As Homecoming approaches we are are hopeful that our efforts will pay off with strong attendance at both our Homecoming Tailgater and Reception. We are also going to use this opportunity to try and pursuade some of you to step out of the shadows to give some of your experience and time back to Lambda Chi Alpha. I want to be as honest and as blunt with regard to our need for significantly more Alumni involvement. And given that the number of Alumni who have stepped forward now find themselves working double-time to meet the minimum obligations to keep the Foundation, Alumni Council or House Board alive, I can honestly promise you that without some new blood and active paricipation and involvement, our efforts will wither on the vine in the near future.
Our recent NewsCard -- sent to all Alumni who are unable to receive our monthly e-mail digests -- listed several areas that we are in desperate need of Alumni involvement. To reiterate, let me take a moment to expand on these areas in more detail.
Kappa Lambda Educational Foundation
We currently have seven Alumni serving and participating on the board. Several of these members have been serving for the last seven years and one in particular has been on the board since it was created. The primary goal of the Foundation is to raise money from our Alumni that is used to fund scholarships for our undergraduate brothers. We are in constant need of candidates that would be willing to give us a small amount of their time to serve on this very important board.
Epsilon-Iota Alumni Council
The Alumni Council is a critical group of Alumni that help to coordinate and promote our Alumni events (Founders Day, Homecoming, Alumni Picnic, Alumni Golf). Although we have had some success in recruiting some of our younger Alumni to serve on the Council, we have had some losses due to re-location and are seeking interested brothers (young and old) to serve.
Kappa Lambda, Inc.
You all remember the "House Board", the group of Alumni that manage the physical property. We currently have three Alumni that are serving and have held this positions for over ten years. We are seeking Alumni that can help us with taking on the role of property manager/landlord. We ask that you would commit to serving a two-year term, and are looking for at least three brothers to come in and work with the current officers to learn what is needed and required to be successful.
High Pi (Alumni Adviser)
Probably one of the most critical and influencial positions that an Alumni can really give back to the fraterinity. We are looking for candidates that would be willing to serve a two-year term, which includes attending Monday night meetings during the school year. Our current High Pi (John Blauth, EI 1057) has done an exemplary job in helping stabilize chapter operations and serving as a liaison between the National Fraternity, the University and the Active Chapter, and will provide all the training necessary to ensure that your experience is both successful and rewarding.
As you can see, the need is very great and I can guarantee that if we are unable to garner the interest from our Alumni brothers in the not to distant future that our ability to sustain what has been achieved will be significantly diminished if not completely undone. Please understand that this is not intended to be anything other than a plea for help. With the number of Epsilon-Iota Alumni that live in or around Reno, one would think that this should provide an ample pool of interested candidates. However, this has not been the case. It is not fair that a small few must carry the torch of Alumni responsibility into perpetuity. We will work with any interested Alumni, no matter where you live. ALL WE NEED IS TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE INTERESTED. We will work with you in any way to ensure that you can be an active and contributing Alumni supporter.
