News

New Kappa Kappa Psi Colonies Announced

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Brothers:

The National Council is pleased to announce three new colonies for the spring semester. Jarvis Christian College (Mr. Brent Cannon, Colony Advisor), Cal Poly Pomona (Dr. Travis Cross, Colony Advisor), and Old Dominion University (Ms. Yvonne Daye, Colony Advisor).

Please send messages of welcome and congratulations to the Colony Presidents:

Jarvis Christian – Michael Cowan – cowanhaywoodmd@gmail.com

Cal Poly Pomona – Elizabeth Zita – ezita1996@gmail.com

Old Dominion – Jacob Himmelman – jhimm001@odu.edu

We wish our colonies success on their journey!

AEA,

Evan L. Thompson
National Vice President for Colonization & Membership
Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity
evan@kkpsi.org

Installation of Iota Nu at Alabama A&M University

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Brothers:

I am pleased to announce the installation of the Iota Nu Chapter (#229) at Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University in Huntsville, Alabama. This is the sixth installation of the biennium.

Pi Chapter at Auburn University served as the Ritual Chapter, and brothers from Nu Nu at the University of Alabama were in attendance. Also in attendance were National Chapter Field Representative Justin Chesak, and Southeast District Honorary and Former SED TBS Counselor Crystal Hunter. Southeast District Governor Latrondrick Hunter served as the Colony Advisor and Installing Officer.

The elected officers of the chapter are:

President: Patrick Alsobrook
Vice President: Jason Holt
Secretary: Caleb Norton
Treasurer: Jacolbi Bascomb
Historian: Elijah Bennett
Parliamentarian: Jermaine McCord
Sponsor and Director of Bands: Mr. Carlton J. Wright

Please send notes of congratulations to the Chapter President Patrick Alsobrook at pda2012@gmail.com.

Congratulations to Iota Nu! Welcome to the brotherhood!

AEA,

Evan L. Thompson
National Vice President for Colonization & Membership
Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity
evan@kkpsi.org

Student Advisory Committee December 2016 Report

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Brothers,

Below you will find an outline of what took place during the December Student Advisory Committee meeting on December 17, 2016. Michael Bradford-Calhoun of the SED 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

—December SAC – Minutes 12/17/2016—

  • Introduction/Attendance
    • Midwest: no representative
    • North Central: Justin Jensen – VP for Programs
    • Northeast: Shanon Rubin – VP
    • Southeast: Michael Bradford-Calhoun – President
    • Southwest: George Ishii – President
    • Western: Mitch Mikuchonis – President & Alyssa Maher – VP
  • District Updates
    • Midwest: n/a
    • North Central
      • Finalizing Convention plan
      • Winter meeting here soon
    • North East
      • Still looking for location for convention
      • Winter Council MLK weekend in Lancaster, PA
      • Focusing on precinct meetings
      • Future discussion on how to get students more involved
    • Southeast
      • Convention Plan turned in
      • Winter Council MLK Weekend
      • DLC February 11th @ Vanderbilt
      • Moving to Convention Center system after this year for District Convention
      • Honda Battle of the Bands – Atlanta, GA Jan 28th
      • Big event for bands and KKPSI will have a table present
    • Southwest
      • Convention Plan in
      • MLK weekend for Winter Council
      • Spring chapter leadership workshops
      • Application for students to present at workshops
    • Western
      • Moving forward with DLC – 13-15th
      • District Officers getting to speak with prospective candidates
      • Marching Band setting for their music workshop block
      • NIB recording possibilities at district events
      • WDC planning
      • Western District Ensemble Clinic – inviting high schools to come sit with the reading band
      • Jazz Band – up and running
      • Seeking host chapter for 2018
  • SAC Topic #1: How can both the district and national levels better prepare and encourage students to get to national convention?
    • Getting people to NatCon
      • Bussing for NatCon
        • ZK Chapter – Texas A&M Commerce, hired chartered buses that would pick up other chapters to go to NatCon.
      • Start a savings plan
    • Evaluating the difference of District or NatCon for chapters to understand what they should go to and why
    • Make sure Districts are getting information about District and NatCon out now
    • RITUAL MORATORIUM is up
    • Circulation of ideas to get people to District Conventions and explain how it is different from a national convention
    • Rotating Facts about National Business to help Chapters know what will be discussed and have this regularly communicated in the lead up
  • National Council Updates
    • Alabama A&M Colony will be installed after the new year.
    • Submit any questions, comments, or concerns to be discussed at the National Council’s Winter Council Meeting by January 10th!
    • A lot of chapters missed the December 1st deadline! Redouble efforts to ensure deadlines are being met by your consitutent chapters!
  • District Feedback/Concerns
    • George asked about OMRS and how it is updated from one year to the next
      • This is largely on the chapters as there is not standard officer corps make up or way they can be reached.
      • George mentioned it would be nice having chapters with unified messaging accounts across their officers
        • Zac gave examples of how some chapters do this with officer email accounts and such. This comes down to effectively doing chapter transitions.
        • This is where district councils can focus on building and maintaining databases that can be leveraged.
  • Announcements and Wrap up
    • Applications for national office are due January 15th!

Feedback for the National Council

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Happy New Year Brothers!

I am excited to announce that you can now submit feedback to the National Council in a fast and easy way. Currently it is via a google form found here. Going forward we will be working to integrate it into the national website. As our annual Winter Council Meeting is happening in a week, now would be a great time to submit any questions, comments, or concerns you have for the Council’s review.

Are you curious about the status of the Membership Education Curriculum Pilot program? Maybe you want more information on the upcoming National Convention? Is there a recurring question regarding the National Constitution that is vexing your chapter? These are all examples of items that could be submitted.

While the form asks for identifying information like name, chapter, and email, the only required field is your question, comment, or concern. This is another way the Council is looking forward to hearing back from you, our Brothers!

AEA,

Zac Humphrey
Vice President for Student Affairs

Call For Nominations 2017

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The National Committee on Nominations invites interested and qualified individuals to submit their name and qualifications for the following positions for the 2017-2019 Biennium: National Vice President for Colonization and Membership, National Vice President for Programs, National Vice President for Student Affairs, and the Board of Trustees (3 at-large seats).

(This process is detailed in the Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity National Constitution.)

INTERESTED INDIVIDUALS SHOULD MEET THE FOLLOWING BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Be at least twenty-five (25) years of age. (for every office except Vice President for Student Affairs)

• Completed at least four (4) years of college work.

• Possess outstanding business or professional ability.

• Capable of representing the Fraternity under all ordinary conditions.

• Willing and able to devote the necessary time to the execution of the duties imposed by the office.

• Attendance at National Convention.

Specific officer or trustee responsibilities may be obtained by contacting the National Headquarters of Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity at (405) 372-2333.

INTERESTED INDIVIDUALS MUST SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION NO LATER THAN JANUARY 15, 2017:

• Letter of intent which identifies the position being sought, why it is being sought, what contributions you can make in that office, and information detailing how you meet the above basic qualifications. Highlight band and fraternity experience.

• Resume/Vita.

• Candidates should make it clear in their letter of intent whether they would be available to be nominated into a position other than the primary one indicated by their letter of intent.

• Three letters of recommendation, one of which should be within the applicant’s profession.

• A campaign statement and biographical profile for publication on the web site as the Election Newsletter to be available at the 2017 District Conventions and to individual chapters. A sample statement and biographical profile from a prior Election Newsletter can be obtained from the National Headquarters.

• One photograph, suitable for publication.

QUESTIONS MAY BE ADDRESSED TO THE NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS AT:

(405) 372-2333 or kkytbs@kkytbs.org.

SUBMIT MATERIALS (NOT LATER THAN JANUARY 15, 2017) TO:

Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity
Committee on Nominations
Post Office Box 849
Stillwater, OK 74076-0849

or electronically to kkytbs@kkytbs.org

Installation of Alpha Chi at the University of Texas at El Paso

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Brothers:

I am pleased to announce the installation of the Alpha Chi Chapter (#46) at the University of Texas at El Paso. This is the fifth installation of the biennium.

Gamma Eta at New Mexico State University served as the ritual chapter, and brothers from Gamma Iota at the University of New Mexico were in attendance. Also in attendance was Alpha Chi Alumnus and Professor of Horn Mr. Richard Lambrecht. New honorary members include Sponsor Joshua Lott, Director of Bands Dr. Brad Genevro, Associate Director of Bands Mr. Kenneth Capshaw, and Music Department Chair Dr. Steve Wilson.

Mr. Clinton Wieden, Southwest District Governor, served as the Colony Advising Person. Mr. Jack D. Lee, National President, served as the Installing Officer.

The elected officers of the chapter are:

President: Caitlyn Collette

Vice President: Michelle Shaheen

Secretary: Ayleen Sanchez

Treasurer: Mario Guerra

Historian: Antonio Lugo

Parliamentarian: Caleb Tullius

Sponsor: Joshua Lott

Director of Bands: Dr. Brad Genevro

Please send notes of congratulations to the Chapter President Caitlyn Collette at cccollette@miners.utep.edu.

Congratulations to Alpha Chi! Welcome to the brotherhood!

AEA,

Evan L. Thompson

National Vice President for Colonization & Membership

Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity

evan@kkpsi.org

Statement on Situation at The Ohio State University

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Brothers,

Like many of you, the National Leadership Team of Kappa Kappa Psi has been monitoring the situation at The Ohio State University.  We want to extend our deepest thoughts and well wishes to the Eta Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi, the Chi chapter of Tau Beta Sigma, and The Ohio State University community.

We have been in contact with the chapter sponsor, and through him, some of the university band staff.  Thankfully, we have been informed that all chapter members are safe and well.

This will be a time of healing for Buckeyes around the world.  As a National Leadership Team, we offer support for our chapter, individual brothers, and The Ohio State University Bands as they finish this fall term.

AEA,

KKΨ National Leadership Team

Founder’s Day Message 2016

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KKPsi-Logo

Brothers and Friends of Kappa Kappa Psi,

Today marks 97 years since the founding of Kappa Kappa Psi. A Fraternity that started with 10 men, has expanded to where we are today: over 6000 active members from all walks of life, chapters and colonies on 217 college and university campuses, and thousands of alumni that to this day, honor their commitment to walk ever in the ways of Kappa Kappa Psi.

There is no doubt that today is a day that our Brothers and Friends should celebrate. However, it is also a day that we should remind ourselves of our ritualistic obligations and charge. As a chapter, I encourage you to review the ritual together. Make time during your chapter meetings to do so. As an individual member, I challenge you to hold true to our ritual and its lessons. Study it. Learn it. Live it.

In 1923, our then publication, The Baton, summarized the purpose of our founding:

“Kappa Kappa Psi was founded for a great and definite purpose. Believing that better music and better bands would be the result of such an organization, the Fraternity was organized to foster a close relationship and co-operation within the band, to co-operate with the direction in making a better band for the institution, to raise the standard of music in our American universities, to own an organization that bandmembers may stand together in a time of need and to organize university bandmembers from which professional band leaders may select musicians for their bands at any time in a systematic way.”

Since then, we have worked to fulfill that purpose through the initiation of men and women that have a desire to see the success of their college and university band programs. We have sought to fulfill the purposes of this great Fraternity for the betterment of our band programs, our universities, and our chapters. We have worked to support our Brothers of Kappa Kappa Psi and our Sisters of Tau Beta Sigma in ways that have created life-long friendships. We have stood together in times of difficulty as well as times of celebration.

Brothers, we have much to be thankful for!

Today, I challenge our Brothers and Friends to celebrate our founding by sharing with your Brothers, Sisters, friends, family, and colleagues why you are thankful for them and for Kappa Kappa Psi. Celebrate by sharing a message of gratitude and love. I am thankful that our Founders pushed their friendships to commitment and started this 97 year journey. I am thankful for where Kappa Kappa Psi stands today. I am thankful for each and every one of you. I am #ThankfulForKKPsi.

AEA,
Jack D. Lee
National President
Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity
www.kkpsi.org

Student Advisory Committee November 2016 Report

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Brothers,

Below you will find an outline of what took place during the November Student Advisory Committee meeting on November 6, 2016. Kylie Wolfe and Shanon Rubin of the NED 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

—November SAC – Minutes 11/6/2016—

  • Introduction/Attendance
    • Midwest: no representative
    • North Central: Jeric Tumang – President & Abigail Johnson – VPM
    • Northeast: Kylie Wolfe – President & Shanon Rubin – VP
    • Southeast: no representative
    • Southwest: George Ishii – President
    • Western: Si Si Ni – Secretary/Treasurer
  • District Updates
    • Midwest: n/a
    • North Central: Jeric reported that their next district event takes place January 21st. The district council is currently working on the district publication, the Arpeggio. The council will be conducting a survey about what keeps brothers from attending district functions as well as what gets them to come to events. Abigail also shared that she is starting a VPM blog.
    • North East: Kylie reported that they had their first District Day-EA (get it? AEA, lol) and the theme was leadership. The goal of this program is to encourage chapters to post their activites on social media that will ultimately help form the district scrapbook. Each day will center around a different pillar of the fraternity and will help play a thematic role in district convention. Currently, the council is working on their district convention schedule. Shanon has been working with the district VPMs, setting up one-on-one video chat sessions.
    • Southeast: n/a
    • Southwest: George reported that there wasn’t really anything new to report since our previous month’s meeting had been moved so close to this one.
    • Western: Si Si reported that the joint councils had selected a location for the Western District Leadership Conference in January and that announcement is forthcoming. The officers are finishing up their presentations for that and have begun planning for district convention in Boise, ID.
  • SAC Topic #1: What are the district officers looking for from the national council in planning their conventions?
    • Who’s coming to them?
      • Zac: Jack is waiting on the finalization of the dates as at the time of the meeting, the NED was still figuring their location out due to leaving convention without a host.
    • How can we use national council members?
      • Zac: they can be used as workshop presenters, committee advisors, general meet and greet type folks, reading band conductors. The national council members can be as involved or uninvolved as you want them to be. Once the assignments go outreach out to the members who are assigned and get specific with them.
    • Si Si asked about corporate donations to help cut costs for events in general. Zac shared that when he was district president, he worked out a deal with Sam Pilafian where since Sam was affiliated with Jupiter Music, they were able to cover some of the cost for him to come and do a breathing gym workshop and help out with reading band. But with donations of any kind, it is always good to check with national headquarters to make sure no one violates the fraternity’s 501c3 standing.
    • Zac shared that the only explicit requests from the national council at this time was to schedule time for the town hall and also some time for the curriculum development committee.
    • George asked about whether the national level had any plans to encourage brothers to go to national convention. Zac explained that other than the publicity materials that headquarters creates, there isn’t any actual program that does this. Zac shared so ways for the district councils to encourage their brothers to start saving for national convention in Florida and also shared some ideas, such as chartering buses like Texas A & M – Commerce did for the Lexington convention.
  • National Council Updates
    • The colonies at University of Texas – El Paso and Alabama A&M are going to be installed in the coming weeks.
    • The Month of Musicianship is in full swing and people are sharing their activities on social media. The fraternity is also sharing multiple times a day a variety of posts relating to musicianship and the fraternity. Make sure to take a listen to the kickoff podcast!
    • Upcoming podcast features student award winners!
  • District Feedback/Concerns
    • The Western District feels a bit stagnant in the way the host their DLC and asked for some advice on how to spice it up as it is largely an event that is predominantly attended by new members.
      • Some of the suggestions from the members in attendance:
        • Utilize social media and promote it in new ways
        • promote new ideas, come up with new formats and structures, make it fun, don’t be afraid of using gimmicks to hype it up
      • They did ask about national council participation, but due to it being the same weekend as the national council winter meeting, this was unfortunately unlikely.
  • Announcements and Wrap up
    • Keep encouraging participation in the Month of Musicianship
    • The Pennsylvania higher education strike didn’t have a huge impact of chapter activities.
    • Deadlines are quickly approaching for the Fall Activity Report! (hint: it’s December 1st!)
    • Encourage your chapters to get their candidate forms and dues in within 30 days of initiation to avoid a late fees!

Student Advisory Committee October 2016 Report

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Brothers,

Below you will find an outline of what took place during the October Student Advisory Committee meeting on October 28, 2016. Abigail Johnson, from the NCD, 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

—October SAC – Minutes 10/28/2016—

  • Introduction/Attendance
    • Midwest: no representative
    • North Central: Abigail Johnson – VPM
    • Northeast: Shanon Rubin – VP
    • Southeast: no representative
    • Southwest: George Ishii – President
    • Western: Si Si Ni – Secretary/Treasurer
  • District Updates
    • Midwest: n/a
    • North Central: The NCD successfully hosted Membership Education Retreat, which is the first district event of the academic year. They flew in Jessica Lee to present. They are about to release new Arpeggio publication. Abigail is in the process of meeting with VPM’s and convention plan is coming along. They are now starting to get into planning spring district events.
    • North East: Shanon is Skyping 1-on-1 with VPM’s in the district and setting up times to Skype with MC classes post-2nd degree. He reported that they are not sure about Convention (in the hands of governors and counselors), and that there is a Pennsylvania University system-wide faculty strike. Member at Large is starting theme days next week (first one is leadership) for chapters to organize events pertaining to certain pillars
    • Southeast: n/a
    • Southwest: George reported that convention plan’s are coming together. Now they are taking up submissions for New Alto (publication). They are also working on plans for district service project and fundraiser.
    • Western: Si Si reported that DLC is quickly coming up. They are meeting regularly as a joint council. The joint vision is focusing on leadership stories when they are planning for convention. The District Presidents are meeting to finalize State Days dates, the VPM is meeting VP’s. Working on Southwest Airlines proposal: For every dollar spent by brothers on SW Air, they get 50 points instead of 1 or 2.
  • SAC Topic #1: Month of Musicianship (MoM), pros and cons, what would you like to see out of this national push?
    • Marco joined the conversation for the discussion re: Month of Musicianship.
    • Still have work to do as a fraternity to make Month of Musicianship part of peoples’ minds and lives for November.
    • Goal is for November to be part of the chapter’s culture, something you’re thinking about and excited about.
    • Program started under Derrick Mills as VPP (2005-2007), last year’s participation was really good.
    • Suggestions:
      • Examples of things chapters have sent in before, not just suggestions but actual past submissions.
      • Not quite sure what they’re looking for (community vs. university, what types of things to send in, etc.).
      • What would be the difference between normal chapter musical activities and MoM participation?
      • Highlights reel or feed or something as a daily update/reminder to keep it in people’s minds. Part of making it part of the culture.
      • What does the wrap-up look like, where do we go, what did we learn? Is a bigger questions than can be answered at the end of one month. Want to make it a little more year-round and cultural than an event with an end date.
      • A hashtag would be cool
    • Marco
      • It’s not like turning in an MEP or giving a grade, it’s not mandatory. “What makes this special” is a really good point. MoM started as recognition that for the majority of chapters, musicianship focus was not the norm.
      • Hashtag: #MonthofMusicianship or #NationalMonthofMusicianship
      • The difference between music and musicianship is something nationals talks about a lot – focusing not only on individual musicality but also awareness and appreciation and how you spread that love of music to others.
      • Want to raise awareness of different possibilities for musicianship (chapters utilizing recitals, etc.) and development outside of band class.
    • Zac
      • MoM also evolved as a way to share before social media made that so much more possible. Opportunity to share the great things they’re already doing. Participating in a conversation. “Like an extended twitter chat but in real life”
  • National Council Updates
    • Zac wants DO’s to have an opportunity to take some ownership over, responsibility for, and contribute to the organization through this Committee
      • Want to do things to make our voices heard and give opportunities to share experiences and knowledge and enthusiasm
      • Excited about Podcasts, 1300 downloads, wants them to continue evolving.
    • Marco working on website and MoM
    • Evan has been working with chapters who are piloting the new MEP’s, colony investigation stuff
    • Jack has been planning for NatCon, working with hq on a bunch of things
    • HQ is being rented out by the city of Stillwater to be part of their holiday train tour
  • District Feedback/Concerns
    • Would it be possible to promote the website more? A lot of people don’t know what’s on there or how to find it.
    • Marco has been working with Robert at HQ on the updating the website and ways to promote it.
    • Si Si had a question for the rest of the officers as well as the national council. Professors have office hours. She is thinking about posting a link to a Google hangout during the hour before meetings so she can have open communication with brothers, it would be good for accountability and making officers seem less intimidating.
  • Announcements and Wrap up
    • Month of musicianship is coming
    • Try to share MoM conversation with other officers and with your chapters
    • Sending out Doodle Poll for next month’s meeting
    • Encourage everyone to fill it out!

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