Theta Xi Fraternity's Alpha Epsilon Chapter .::. University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Theta Xi Alumni are some of the most accomplished and respected alumni on the

University of Nebraska campus. In Theta Xi you are not only a member for your time in college but you are a member and a brother for life. The bonds formed while in school are everlasting with new brothers being initiatied each semester into the Alpha Epsilon family.

Are you looking for a complete list of all the Alpha Epsilon brothers? Are you looking for a way that you can donate money towards the betterment of the house? Or are you just looking for a place to keep up-to-date on the progress of your brothers and your house? All of these are avaliable at www.anewbeginning4ae.com which is a website dedicated towards the alumni of Alpha Epsilon.

The past seven months of the fraternity have been bittersweet. I have witnessed the chapter grow to nearly 35 members, rank third at the National Convention for the Memorial Trophy (while cleaning up with numerous other awards including the General Improvement Trophy), increase the GPA to exceed the all male average, involve themselves on campus and philanthropically, become financially solvent, and voted themselves to become just the sixth chapter nationwide to be All True Men. Unfortunately, the area that the chapter still struggles with is the same area I have witnessed it struggle with for the past 20 years alumni involvement.

It is no secret that the successful chapters of not only Theta Xi, but any fraternity, succeed due, in a large part, to alumni guidance. Most of you hate to have your brothers contact you when times are bad, leaving you shaking your heads, wondering if the chapter will survive its newest round of tribulations.

A Great Investment

Well, I appeal to you at a time of many successes at Alpha Epsilon. Have you ever missed an opportunity to invest in the next great dot-com, only to kick yourself months and years later wishing you had purchased Google at $40.00 a share? Well, this is one of those opportunities. If you look at what the chapter has done over the last three and a half years, it has severely outperformed market speculation, and it has taken steps to continue to grow.

Nearly 100 alums showed up in May of 2003 and decided that Alpha Epsilon was worth another chance. Since then, a new Association was formed with hope, promise, and a willingness to carry the torch for the next leg. We secured a loan with Pinnacle Bank and moved forward. We had a grassroots survey which indicated a willingness to start a Capital Campaign. The process took a year-and-a-half longer to kick off than anticipated. During this time, we were able to secure donations from a few handfuls of members in order to keep us afloat financially. However, the last remaining Association board members struggle to communicate, yet we have somehow made it this far, and the chapter has seen many successes. We owe it to these young men to let them be even better. Better than we were. Better than we could hope for.

Aiming for New Heights

The chapter has taken direct aim at the Memorial Trophy. They want to be named as the best Theta Xi Chapter in the country a title that none of us have ever seen. Print that out and put it on your fridge boys! They were third last year out of 54 chapters! In order for this to happen, they need you. We need you.

The Association appreciates the generosity of everyone that has answered the call of brotherhood since that May evening. The chapter would not have come this far without you. Everything from the Campaign donations to the bathroom tile and back door, to the input for the AEgis, to the visits to the Chapter House, to your updates on the website(s), to the time to read this article every bit of it brought us here today. Thank you to one and all.

Another Way to Help

Moving forward, we still need many things. We still need your donations (of course), but we also need your leadership. The National Fraternity will contact many of you to recruit your help as mentors for the Chapter Executives. Please consider the opportunity to give something other than your money, something more valuable, give yourself. If you do not get a call and are interested, please contact me.

Other items of need are your expertise and your passion. We continue to make improvements to the house. Next summer we would like to install a heat pump and remodel first and third floor heads (if they are not done by the chapter before then). We are still in need of an accountant to work with both the Chapter and the Association to make sure that we are doing everything by the book financially. And we are in need of others wishing to be on the Association Board, since those of us remaining would like to pass the torch on to others, as well.

Lastly, we would love to start a rotation of guest speakers at Monday night meetings. This is an opportunity for you to share a bit of your career, and lend an ear to our undergraduates that may have questions in your professional fields.

The Chapter has blazed a new path and has reached a significant plateau. As we push our ascent to the summit, please consider getting involved on some level. Now is the time to get behind the chapter as they move forward. Now is the time to be the alumni members that you may have wished were around while you were active undergraduates of Theta Xi.

YITB,
Brian Lichter
AE 1097
Association President

Monday 17th
Dinner & Ritual Meeting
5:00pm at Theta Xi

Friday 21st
Social with ΚΔ
6:00pm at the Ice Box

Saturday 22nd
Pass the Gavel
Brotherhood Event