At Butler, our chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi national band fraternity has been successful as long as I've been around.  In 2006, when I started school at BU, the chapter had just won the Governor's Cup award for being the best chapter in our district.  I was initiated in December of 2006 and have been immersed in chapter activities ever since.  My fraternity brothers and I have made so many changes and improvements and worked SO hard over the last three years to do an even better job of promoting and helping the Butler bands, and building a strong fellowship for band members. 

At our National Convention in Phoenix, Arizona on Saturday, we were named the best chapter in the nation as winners of the Founder's Trophy! It was SUCH an exciting and great honor for us.  As our band director said, "To go up against some of the biggest schools in the country, many of them flagship state universities, is somewhat analogous to Butler winning the NCAA basketball championship." This was a big deal!

I personally feel especially proud of this award because I put so much work into the bidding process.  As one of 12 finalist schools, we submitted a 60 page book with extensive info about our chapter and projects, and two of our brothers went to Phoenix to give a presentation about our chapter and answer questions.  I wrote the presentation for the Founder's Trophy bid and did LOTS of writing and editing for the book! So many hours went into this, making it very rewarding to win this time.  I loved hearing people using my words for the presentation! It made me feel like a speech writer! Maybe that's my future career.

Here's me with the massive trophy, and below, the whole team that worked on the presentation:

So what do we do that makes us the best in the nation?

In general: We do large scale fundraising and provide countless volunteer hours to provide financial support and helping hands that keep the Butler bands running smoothly.

To be specific:

We raised over $12,000 to make DVDs of deteriorating 8 mm films of marching band performances dating back to the 1940s! (It's called the Video Archives Project, which was a project I helped to start with two other brothers my freshman year! I am so excited that "my baby" has been a success!)

We hosted a convention for almost 700 other college band students here in Indianapolis.

We host all-campus events, such as Swing Night, a night of music and dance featuring the Butler Jazz Bands

We commissioned original music for our concert bands.

We developed a comprehensive membership education program that develops leaders and continues long after we are initiated.

We use a strategic planning model, including values, a vision statement, goal-setting and critical evaluation to use our time and resources efficiently and continue striving to accomplish our very best. 

On top of these big things, we do so many smaller service projects and bonding activities for the bands!

I encourage you to read the press release about us on Butler's website.  I am SO proud to be part of the Alpha Beta chapter.  My Kappa Kappa Psi experience has been so incredibly rewarding, and I know it is largely the reason I am the person and the leader I am today.  I can't imagine my college experience without my brothers and all of the crazy goals that we make a reality!

Cheers to Alpha Beta, Kappa Kappa Psi's top chapter! To all my brothers: I love you! AEA. You make me a better person.