Undergraduate Activities

• Scholarships and Academic Incentive Program

As we continue to expand these services and opportunities, we feel that we need to address an area that is of utmost importance, and until this point, has been largely ignored by our Alumni Association...academics. We are in the process of raising funds and developing an Academic Incentive program for our undergraduate members. Of course, there is no substitute for the personal responsibility and determination required to make the grade. An incentive program would compliment these efforts as well as reward our undergraduate fraters for their success. We also are determined to create two scholarships of $500.00 each. These scholarships would be the most enticing incentive of all, as well as one of the greatest honors an undergraduate could achieve in Mu-Alpha. They would be presented to the frater with the highest GPA of the year (calendar) and the frater with the most improved GPA of the year. Please see our Finances page for information on how to contribute to our 2004 Apollo Charge.

• Leadership Development

Thanks to the generosity of a few fraters, our Alumni Association has been able to disperse approximately $1250.00 in each of the past two years to support the attendance of undergraduates at leadership conferences such as the Undergraduate Interfraternity Institute (UIFI, the premier Greek leadership conference in the nation), the TKE Leadership Academy, as well as the TKE Regional Leadership Conferences. We are clearly seeing the results of these investments in the growth of the Undergraduate Chapter (+11 men last year), the largest increase in membership in the past four years, not to mention the valuable personal leadership skills that our undergraduates gain. Please see our Finances page for information on how to contribute to our 2004 Apollo Charge.

• Alumni Big Brother Program

We are currently asking for alumni volunteers for our Alumni Big Brother Program. It is our hope that this program could serve as an important step in narrowing the gap between the different "generations" in the history of TKE Mu-Alpha. The alumni who are currently participating have mentioned the following as expectations of the program: instill pride, increase participation, educate on past mistakes, motivate fraters, improve relations, raise maturity and responsibility, help where I can, help undergraduate chapter, keep continuity in chapter, pass on history of TKE-MA to undergraduate members, be a mentor for undergraduates in chapter business and professionally (if possible), encourage transition of undergraduates into active alumni members after graduation.

Current Alumni Big Brother Pairings are:

• Roy Reinard, MA 164 – Rob Pomponio, MA 491
• John "Duffy" Campbell, MA 171 – Charlie Orfe, MA 481
• Kevin Collins, MA 173 – Dan Lomerson, MA 476
• Mark Rote, MA 192 – Jeremy Anderson, MA 480
• Pat Lott, MA 200 – Norm Ashton, MA 486
• Greg Barber, MA 203 – Justin Baker, MA 475
• Jamie Goncharoff, MA 233 – Jason Leeper, MA 479
• Mark Pennypacker, MA 241 – Jason Farner, MA 483
• J.D. Guckert, MA 248 – Josh Rohan, MA
• Monty Clemons, MA 301 – Joe Zaleta, MA 482
• Jason Karian, MA 320 – Mike McShane, MA 484
• Jim Kennedy, GE 913 – Dan Hill, MA 477
• Ryan Lovell, MA 392 – Justin Smith, MA 485
• Jody Yozviak, MA 398 – Greg Mauer, MA
• Justin Zigner, MA 416 – Jeff Gordon, MA
• Tom Gill, MA 297 – Paul Rodella, MA 487
• Tom Omlor, MA 423 – Ed Wheland, MA 474
• Kevin McNamee, MA 455 – Pat Coleman, MA 473

We have created a database that contains information about each of the current undergraduate members, including hometown, major, career goals, and TKE leadership positions, among others. Hopefully, this will afford you a better chance of finding a little brother with whom you have much in common. We would like to ask each of you to contact Jody Yozviak MA 398 (and especially those of you from the earlier generations of MA), so he may forward you the database. Then take a minute to look through the undergraduate information. If you find someone from your hometown, someone with similar hobbies/interests, or someone whose career goals are relevant to your field, we urge you to strongly consider getting involved. If you can't find an undergrad with whom you would like to be paired, we would invite you to reply to Erik with the information below, and he’ll match you up. We thank you all in advance for your support and for helping to make this program a success.

• Name
• Scroll #
• Year of Graduation
• Age
• Birthday
• Positions held in TKE
• Activities/Awards while at WCU
• Current occupation
• Future goals
• Interests/Hobbies
• Expectations of Alumni Big Brother Program
• Specific undergrad preferences for little brother (if any)
• e-mail Address
• Phone Number

• Officer Mentor Program

This program matches up alumni who have held an office as an undergrad with the current jeweled officer, in order to exchange ideas and/or provide guidance. This is similar to the Alumni Big Brother Program, but different in that you need to have held, as an undergrad, the office for which you are going to mentor. By not "re-inventing the wheel" each year, transitions should be smoother and alternate ideas will be proposed to undergraduate officers by the alumni mentors. The Alumni Officer Mentors will also assist the undergraduate officers in achieving the goals set by the Chapter each year. It is acceptable, and encouraged, to have more than one mentor of various ages for each officer. If you are interested, please contact Mark Pennypacker at penny@visuallink.com.

Current Officer Mentors are:

• Prytanis - Greg Barber, MA 203 / Matt "Shooter" Dziunycz, MA 441
• Epiprytanis - Rob Roberts, MA 396
• Crysophylos - Al Pearce, MA 394/ Ian Rosman, MA 439
• Histor - Jody Yozviak, MA 398
• Hypophetes - Mark Morgenthal, MA 429
• Hegemon - Ryan Lovell, MA 392
• Recruitment Chair - Vacant

• TKE Career Network

In a fraternity world where competition occurs for the best new members on campus, an alumni association and its activities can work to enhance what a chapter can offer. Many of the men who join Greek organizations are looking for a competitive edge upon graduation. They want to develop the skills necessary to be successful in the "real world." An Alumni Career Network can do this by allowing young men to see, first hand what goes on in any profession. They will also get the chance to work with successful persons in their field of interest (that would be us!).

We are looking for alumni who have the ability to provide a knowledge or a shadowing experience for an undergraduate. When I say a shadowing experience, I am looking for a minimum of a one day chance for one of our undergraduates to basically "go to work" with you.

They would get the chance to see your work day first hand: attend meetings, see proposals, do some hands on things, etc. Just something to get their feet wet. Obviously, we would like for you to take them to lunch or dinner, if applicable and talk about your job, its challenges and benefits. Such an opportunity is rare to have as a college student and would do wonders in developing the young men of TKE into the leaders of tomorrow. It may also give you, as an employer, a chance to see possible employees if this is something you are interested in. If you can provide more than a one day experience, that is great as well (a week, an internship, etc.). If you cannot offer a shadowing experience, but are willing to talk to an undergraduate about your chosen field of employment, we would be happy to have you. Anything and everything is welcomed.

If the TKE Alumni Career Network is something you are interested in, please contact me at tke365392@yahoo.com or Mike Arles at arles@sakima.ivy.net. I would need your job title and what you do (sometimes, titles are not helpful), what you can offer (1 day experience, a week, internship, etc.), and contact information for you (either phone or email address). So often it is thought that just money can assist and undergraduate chapter. More than anything, however, your time is valued. Please give consideration to joining the Alumni Career network and continuing to make Tau Kappa Epsilon Mu Alpha Chapter a successful institution at West Chester University.

YITB,
Ryan W. Lovell, MA 392
MA Chapter Advisor
Coordinator for Greek Life, Lehigh University