Dr. David Maslanka passed away on August 6, 2017. One of the most prolific composers of wind band music, Dr. Maslanka’s works have been performed regularly in major countries around the world. He was the commissioned composer for Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma’s National Commissioning Program in 1995, and the National Intercollegiate Band performed his work A Tuning Piece: Songs of Fall and Winter.  Other works commissioned by chapters of Kappa Kappa Psi include In Memoriam and Traveler.

Dr. Maslanka is an honorary member of the Delta Sigma chapter at the University of Texas at Arlington and the Gamma Phi chapter at Stephen F. Austin State University. David Maslanka’s memory will live on through his significant contributions to the wind band repertoire and the countless number of students, conductors, and musicians who will continue to perform his works and share his music. Kappa Kappa Psi mourns Dr. Maslanka’s passing, and we send our thoughts and prayers to his family. We also send our gratitude for a life well-lived and his positive impact on college and university bands.

Brothers,

Below you will find an outline of what took place during the July Student Advisory Committee, pre-NatCon meeting on July 9, 2017. Lizzi Pineiro of the SWD took notes for the meeting. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask. You can reach me at zac@kkpsi.org or the whole committee at StudentAdvisory@kkpsi.org.

Keep Striving!
Zac

—July SAC – Minutes 7/9/2017—

• Introduction/Attendance

  • Midwest: Jesse Granados – President
  • North Central:  Viet Nguyen – VPM, Jacob Boesch – VPP, Jason Filer – Secretary/Treasurer
  • Northeast: Katie Kelly – President, Rebekah Franolich – Secretary/Treasurer
  • Southeast: Frank Marzen – President,
  • Southwest: Makenzie Darby – President, Lizzi Pineiro – VPM, Dino Cardenas – MAL
  • Western: Lyssa Fukuhara – MAL

• District Updates

  • Midwest:
    • We had a district wide T-Shirt fundraiser with Tau Beta Sigma, we have planned another district event which is our district days and we have nailed down a location and date, which will more than likely be announced to the district after national convention.
  • North Central
    • Summer Meeting happened discussing district goals; NatCon apparel fundraiser
  • Northeast
    • Discussed delegate fee reduction to less than $10 (maybe nothing!)
  • Southeast
    • Council is full now after extending deadlines
  • Southwest
    • Thinking of bringing a district fundraiser to NatCon
  • Western
    • No meeting held since last SAC Meeting

• National Council Updates

  • Parking will be free for KKPsi and TBS members at the hotel
  • 15% off food in the hotel
  • 7 AM breakfasts with Zac (SAC Meetings to follow)
  • Wi-fi will be available (no streaming) in the hotel for free in the business area
  • Parks will have free wifi!
  • Active and alumni membership cards are needed!
  • Directions to local grocery stores and restaurants (less than 2 miles away) posted as a kkpsi.org update
  • SAC: look at all info on Slack BEFORE attending convention (surveys will be on there too)
  • SAC: Set up Slack accounts and tell Zac when you will arrive and leave

Who else is gearing up for district convention? I know the Northeast District had an amazing convention a few weeks back, the Southeast District is gearing up for a great weekend to come, and the rest of the districts are following on soon after. Convention is a great experience because it is a jam-packed weekend filled with music, fellowship, and membership development. And make sure to make a new friend or twenty. Those personal interactions are one of the best things about being a brother of Kappa Kappa Psi and we always look forward to it. The National Council wants to wish everyone safe journeys as they make their way to convention in the coming days and weeks.

AEA,

Jack Lee, National President
Evan Thompson, National Vice President for Colonization and Membership
Marco Krcatovich, National Vice President for Programs
Zac Humphrey, National Vice President for Student Affairs
Doug Stotter, National Vice President for Professional Relations

—-

SPRING 2016 PODIUM

Our Publications Manager, Robert Bratcher, has shared with us a link to the Spring 2016 edition of The Podium and now we are sharing it with you! Be sure to check it out!

COUNCIL MEETINGS

Since our last in-person meeting, the national council has gotten together via the fraternity’s OmniJoin online meeting room. During our meetings, we have shared updates on the work being done on an individual basis. These have been a great way to touch base and get caught up on all of our individual projects. It also helped get us focused ahead of district conventions. We are also in regular communication via text and phone working through the day to day, month to month business of the fraternity.

COLONIZATION AND MEMBERSHIP

Evan kept busy over the past few months coordinating installations as well as debuting the new colonization process at the University of New Haven. In the middle of March, Marco installed the Nu Xi Chapter (#326) at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This is the third installation of the biennium. In addition, Evan has been working with many chapters and their advisors on addressing membership education related concerns. He has also been working closely with the Curriculum Development Committee in preparing their presentation on the work they have been doing for the upcoming district conventions.

Jack and Evan, along with members of the National Headquarters staff have been reviewing Chapter Field Representative applications to narrow down a list of finalists who will be brought to National Headquarters in Stillwater, Oklahoma for in-person interviews as part of the process to select the next brothers who will serve in this role. Thank you to all brothers who submitted applications for this position – your dedication and passion for the fraternity are greatly appreciated. Best of luck to all who applied!

PROGRAMS AND AWARDS

Marco has been continuing his work on updating the awards process for Kappa Kappa Psi. As part of this work, he is working on having sample applications for each award so that chapters can have better guidance on what they should be preparing for submission. He is also looking at ways to update the Guide to Membership, since a lot of the awards section of the guide will now be online. He also has been working with the Data Team to develop the convention feedback surveys that convention attendees will fill out (or have filled out in the case of the NED) following their district’s convention. These surveys are essential because they help the National Leadership Team as well as your district councils learn and grow from year to year and help provide better programming for next year’s conventions.

STUDENT AFFAIRS

Zac has been working diligently on laying the foundation for the Kappa Kappa Psi Presents podcast. He has been working with members of the National Leadership Team to get episodes recorded and ready for release and distribution. This has been a big undertaking and learning experience, but it has been a lot of fun as well. The aim is to debut this school year with a handful of episodes and then get on a regular schedule as we move into a new school year this fall.  More concrete information on the launch day will be forthcoming.

Zac has also begun planning out events for the incoming district officers. This year has been filled with lots of great conversations between Zac and your district leadership and he wants to capitalize on what he’s learned and expand that collaboration going into next year by hitting the ground running.

And this next announcement comes from our Executive Director, Steve Nelson. As Kappa Kappa Psi is a 501c3 non-profit organization, he wanted us to remind our membership and alumni that that designation means that we in no way can participate in election activities. What does this mean? Part of being a brother is being passionate in defense of our ideals, even with political campaigns and candidates. You can support a candidate or cause on your own, but chapters CANNOT participate in any partisan activity, this includes volunteering time or donating money in the name of the chapter or offering your chapter’s support in some capacity. This also includes wearing our letters to rallies or other volunteer related activities. Doing any of these activities could cause Kappa Kappa Psi to lose its non-profit status, be fined, or worse. Be passionate, make sure you vote, but always follow the law.

TRAVEL, DISTRICT CONVENTION, AND NATIONAL TOWN HALL

As we mentioned up top, we are in the midst of district convention season. The National Council is looking forward to getting face time with the active membership over the next couple of weeks. Please don’t be shy and be sure to say hi!

With the NED kicking off the district convention season, Zac and Marco for the national council, Adam Cantley, Danny George, and Eric Morson for the board of trustees, Mike Napolitano, Ali Beidler, and Daniel Miller for the Alumni Association Board of Directors, as well as the CFRs attended representing the National Leadership Team. They introduced the new format for the Kappa Kappa Psi Town hall session, which allows students to submit questions to the national leadership team via Twitter and Google forms. While many topics were discussed, many more were not due to time constraints. The national leadership team is looking at ways to tackle the unanswered questions and work to get that information to the brotherhood.

This has already been publicized, but posting it again will not hurt anything. The National Town Hall has been a staple of district conventions for the past handful of years and this year we were looking for ways to make it easier for brothers to participate and ask questions, as there has been some issues in the past with incorporating questions into the overall event. To that end, we have created individual online question submission forms for each district convention. Please feel free to leave the Kappa Kappa Psi National Leadership Team a question, comment, or concern by following the link for your respective convention. We will try to address as many as possible during the Town Hall segment of convention. Your name, email, and chapter are optional, but feel free to leave it for follow-up purposes. In addition to the district-centric Google form, we are also promoting a hashtag for each district convention so that questions can be submitted via Twitter as well. Either of these options can be done now, in the lead up to convention, or while you are at convention.

DISTRICT-CENTRIC TOWN HALL GOOGLE FORMS AND HASHTAGS

MWD: MWD Town Hall Google Form and #MWDTownHall
NCD: NCD Town Hall Google Form and #NCDTownHall
NED: NED Town Hall Google Form and #NEDTownHall (NED already happened and it was awesome)
SED: SED Town Hall Google Form and #SEDTownHall
SWD: SWD Town Hall Google Form and #SWDTownHall
WD: WD Town Hall Google Form and #WDTownHall

Brothers:

We are proud to announce the establishment of our newest Kappa Kappa Psi Colony at the University of New Haven, in West Haven, CT. The Colony Members invite you to join them as they go through The Ritual of the First Degree on Sunday, February 28, 2016 at 1:00 PM.

Brothers  from the Delta Omicron (UConn), Epsilon Nu (UMass), and Lambda Nu (Sacred Heart) Chapters will participate in a multi-chapter show of support.

The Ritual will be held at:

The University of New Haven

German Club

300 Boston Post Road

West Haven, CT. 06516

Please arrive by 12:30 PM and use the German Club entrance facing Boston Post Road.

Thank you for your support of this incredible group of band members as they advance the mission and vision of Kappa Kappa Psi!

AEA,

Evan L. Thompson

National Vice President for Colonization & Membership

Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity

evan@kkpsi.org

Good evening brothers!

The next Kappa Kappa Psi Presents session is happening on Thursday, November 19th at 8:30pm EST. During the session, I will be joined by a member of the national headquarters staff, National Chapter and Colony Education Coordinator, Yvonne Daye to lead a conversation on active continuing membership education.

As always I am including information on how to access the online meeting room service that we are using for these sessions. To access the room, click here. I am also providing links for OmniJoin’s FAQs and system requirements.

To prepare for this session, we are asking that anyone interested in participating please sign up in advance. We are asking this so that we have a way to track people who are planning to attend. You can find a link to the sign up sheet here. We are asking that you sign up by 5pm EST on Friday, November 13th. Please note that we are aiming to have a minimum of 25 people participate. If we do not meet this minimum number, the session will be cancelled in favor of an alternative way of addressing the topic.

For a bit background, the past few sessions have been sparsely attended. I and others have been working to transform this program based on feedback received to allow for greater participation and takeaway. Because of low attendance, we are looking for ways to engage more brothers and that is why we are posting a sign up sheet. If this program continues to have minimal participation, alternatives will be evaluated and a replacement considered.

AEA,
Zac

—
Zachary T. Humphrey
National Vice President for Student Affairs
Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity
zac@kkpsi.org

Kappa Kappa Psi joins The University Missouri – Rolla college band community in mourning the loss of Dr. David Oakley, who passed away on September 10, 2015. Dr. Oakley served as a professor of music at UMR for 33 years before his retirement.  Dr. Oakley’s involvement in Kappa Kappa Psi began in 1960 with an honorary membership in the Delta Gamma chapter.

However, his involvement was not limited strictly to the UMR campus, Dr. Oakley also served as District V Governor (1975-77), National Secretary/Treasurer (1977-79), National Vice President (1979-1981) and as the installing officer for a number of chapters including Eta Upsilon, Theta Rho, and Eta Pi.  As a cap to his service, Dr. Oakley was elected to the position of National President of Kappa Kappa Psi in August 1981. During the 1981-83 biennium, a formal chapter visitation program was instituted. At Dr. Oakley’s request, the position of Second Vice President (currently known as the Vice President for Professional Relations) was restored to provide visibility with the band profession. Dr. Oakley addressed the idea of ‘long life’ in a prospective member’s thinking, emphasizing full participation in college band and the fraternity until graduation.

Dr. Oakley presided over the 32nd Biennial Convention in 1983 at Texas Tech University. Robert Jager’s Stars and Stripes Variations received its premiere performance by the National Intercollegiate Band in the University Center. Dr. Donald Hunsberger served as guest conductor and James Sudduth provided support as the host conductor.

Full obituary available here

DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL FALL 2015 MAILER

The Chapter Personnel Report for your chapter for the 2015-2016 school year is now available for submission in the Online Membership & Reporting System.  The names that are pre-populated on this form are members who were active during the 2014-2015 academic year and persons reported as initiates during 2014-2015. Use the “Members to Add” section for any additional names that were missing from the list.  (If a member is transferring in to your chapter, please contact Aaron Moore at hqacc@kkytbs.org prior to submitting your Chapter Personnel Report to verify their status and have their name added to your report.)  If you have Initiate Registration Forms that are still pending in the OMRS, those will need to be completed before your new members are available to be added to the Chapter Personnel Report. Be sure to fill out the membership status of each person listed, even if it is “inactive” or “alumni”.

2.      Prior to beginning the Chapter Personnel Report, please ask each of your members to log in to the OMRS to check their name, address, and graduation date for any needed corrections.

3.      The Online Membership & Reporting System will automatically determine whether your submitted forms are to be considered Early, On-time, or Late based on the date that the form is submitted to National Headquarters for processing.  For Chapter Personnel Reports, Chapter Personnel Updates, Initiate Registration Forms and Honorary Initiation Forms, signed summary pages and fees must also be postmarked by the following deadlines or the status of the submission will be changed to Late regardless of when the online form was stepped to a status of “Form & Payment Sent to National Headquarters.”

4.      Summary Page: After the approval of the Director of Bands your reports and forms will show a status of either “Submitted to Headquarters” or “DOB Approved, Pending Collection of Fees”.  If the form shows the “DOB Approved, Pending Collection of Fees” status, you will need to update the status to “Form & Payment Sent to National Headquarters” in the OMRS. At this point, you will need to print the Summary Page and gather signatures from the listed Active, Conditional, Associate or Initiate Members to verifying that each has read, understands, and agrees to abide by the policies of their organization. The signed Summary Page, along with any required payment, is then mailed to National Headquarters before the forms postmark deadlines to not be considered late

5.      Deadlines for all forms:

6.      CHAPTER FEE & MEMBER DUES:  It is encouraged that fees and dues, along with correctly completed forms, should be submitted on or before SEPTEMBER 15th* of each year. Chapters that do not complete their online submission and postmark their signed summary page and fees by September 30th will immediately be placed on probation, their Chapter Personnel Report will be considered late, and the Chapter will be assessed a late fee of twenty-five percent (25%) of the total member dues and chapter fee; see the table below for amounts.   Chapters that do not pay by January 1 will be suspended and may be removed from the roster of active chapters.

.

The fee schedule for Kappa Kappa Psi is as follows:

*  Chapters at schools that start after September 15 should  report their dues by October 1 (late fees wills be due if the report is submitted after October 15)

and will need to include proof from their university of their late starting date. 

7.      INITIATE FEES (an important reminder): An Initiate Registration Form must be submitted through the OMRS, and the signed summary page and fees must be postmarked within thirty (30) days of initiation.  Failure to submit the fees within the thirty (30) day period will result in a twenty-five percent (25%) late fee being assessed on the total number of initiates. If the late fee is not included, there will be a delay in processing the initiates; see the above table for amounts.

8.      A detailed guide to using the OMRS can be found online at http://www.kkytbs.org/forms/OMRS Guidebook v2.0.pdf.  If you have any additional questions concerning the OMRS, please feel free to contact National Headquarters.

9.   Finally, I encourage you all to take care of your administrative and financial responsibilities on-time, or better yet, early!  By doing so, you enable your Headquarters Staff to focus on providing better service to you, rather than tracking down chapters who have procrastinated on their administrative and financial obligations.  You will also be better able to devote your time and energy to serving your band program and to enjoying the experience of being a brother of Kappa Kappa Psi.

Remember, Kappa Kappa Psi Matters!

Have a terrific year!

Jack D. Lee, III

National President

Earlier today an article in the Orlando Sun Times connected Kappa Kappa Psi Honorary Band Fraternity to the 2011 death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion. 

The National Council of Kappa Kappa Psi would like to reinforce that to the best of our knowledge from investigations at the time the event in question was not related to Kappa Kappa Psi.

Kappa Kappa Psi never condones this heinous act of hazing, or any other act of hazing. We will evaluate the statements made and move forward in manner consistent with our policies and procedures. Kappa Kappa Psi remains deeply saddened at the loss of Robert Champion, and our thoughts continue to be with his family, friends, and the Florida A&M community.

The National Council of Kappa Kappa Psi was made aware of possible violations of our policies by the Omega chapter at the University of Arizona. A thorough investigation revealed multiple instances of hazing. The National Council has revoked the charter of the Omega Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi at the University of Arizona.

Chartered in 1919, the Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity promotes the advancement of college and university bands through dedicated service and support to bands; comprehensive education; leadership opportunities; and recognition; for the benefit of its members and society.

We remain committed to the advancement of college bands, and our thousands of members at more than 200 colleges and universities will continue to strive for the highest and work for greater bands on their own campuses and nationwide.

I am excited to announce the seventh installation of the 2013-2015 biennium. The Alpha Alpha chapter at The University of Nevada-Reno was installed on Saturday, October 25, 2014 at The University of Nevada campus in Reno. This was a reactivation of the 25th chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi.
National Board of Trustees Member, Eric Morson, served as the installing officer for the 10 colony members. A special thanks to Past WD President, Charlene Ronne, for serving as the advising person, and the Iota Kappa chapter at Boise State University for serving as the advising chapter.

The Installation was well attended and included brothers from the Psi, Gamma Kappa, Delta Omicron, Iota Alpha, Iota Kappa, Lambda Alpha, and Theta Nu chapters.

Please welcome these 10 members of one of the newest chapters of Kappa Kappa Psi. You may send congratulations to the chapter president,Sean Van Beveren [vanbeverage14@gmail.com].

President: Sean Edward Van Beveren
Vice President of Membership: Joseph Michael Joyner, IV
Vice President of Service: Cayla Rebideaux
Secretary: Kendall Welling
Treasurer: Jaclyn Fisher
Historian: Kaymin Sambrano
Sergeant-at-Arms: Anthony Alexander Landers
Corey Carr
Ashley Kastler
Evan Michael Szoke

Honoraries: Dr. William J. Plenk (Sponsor), Trevor Bailey (Sponsor), Tyeisha Watters, Jackie Barrera, Charlene Ronne

AEA,
Jack

—
Jack Lee
National Vice President for Colonization and Membership
Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity
www.kkpsi.org

Founded in 1919 at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Kappa Kappa Psi is the leading fraternity solely dedicated to supporting and developing college and university band programs. Kappa Kappa Psi has affiliation with over 210 college and university campuses across the United States of America. Guided by our values, mission and ritual, Kappa Kappa Psi is purposefully working towards our vision; With a dedicated spirit of unity and cooperation, we are unequivocally committed to become the world standard of excellence for band fraternal organizations. Collectively, Kappa Kappa Psi members are inspiring one another and all college band members to Strive for the Highest.