Traditions of Epsilon

The Family Flowers: At the pledge initiation, every pledge is designated as a member of one of the six family flowers. Pledges take the same family flower as their big brother. When we have events, such as the T-Bird skit competition, the family flowers compete against each other for honor and glory. The Family Flowers were started in 1979. At the time the University was encouraging organizations on campus to start some new traditions, so the brothers at the time came up with the idea of the family flowers.
The people who are at the head of the Family Flowers are: Randall Cupp, Yellow Roses; Gary Pagliai, Pink Carnations; Steven Wolf, Red Carnations; Jennifer Gardiner, Red Roses; Dariush Eghbali, White Carnations; Denise Brandt, White Rose. The White Roses died out and became the flower for the advisors.

Big Brothers: Every pledge is assigned a big brother, who is chosen from the active membership. Each big brother is responsible for creating a pledge binder for their little brother, and then being their sponsor and guide throughout their pledge season. At the end of pledge season the big brother is supposed to make a letter sweatshirt for their little brother. In return the little brother is required to buy their big brother a paddle.

Pledge Class Paddle: The Pledges are entrusted a six-foot paddle, originally donated by the Spring Pledge Class of 1981. They are supposed to protect the paddle from abduction by actives, associates, and alumni. The paddle must be present at all active and pledge meetings, and major fellowship events and service projects like Camp Thunderbird. This is a friendly competition that encourages the pledges work together to protect the paddle. As a result of the name change of the University a new paddle was desired and the Spring Pledge Class of 1996 gave the Chapter this gift. Because there are now two paddles, the actives are supposed to protect the one that is marked NMSU.

Nickname Ceremony: Big Brothers give their Little Brothers a nickname at a ceremony during which the pledges are presented with pledge membership cards and their Family Flower. The meaning of their nickname is supposed to be revealed at activation the following semester, if it is not already apparent.

"Fieldtrip" to the AFW-E Headstone: During the last pledge meeting the pledges are led by their pledge class trainers to our chapter’s memorial, where our legend and its significance are explained. This continuing tradition was started with the Fall Pledge Class of 1977. In the Fall of 1996 the story of the founding of the Epsilon Chapter and the reading of the names of our Chapter’s Founding Fathers was added to this tradition.

The Chaplain Report: During the Chaplain report members of the Chapter can receive congratulations, praise for a good job, or a word of encouragement. This is done through the "Pat on the Back," the "Hug Buddy," and the "Warm Fuzzy." Other awards that are voted on weekly during the Chaplain Report are the Active of the Week, Pledge of the Week, Sweetheart of the Week, and the Dork of the Week. All awards are accompanied by a magnet that proclaims their achievement.

Distinguished Service Twinkie: A spoof on the Distinguished Service Key. Committee heads choose a committee member who has worked extra hard behind the scenes. Their award is a Twinkie. This tradition began with Chaplin Amy Metzger in Fall 1999

Camp Jo-Ota: The Epsilon Chapter’s largest service project and fellowship event every semester. The Epsilon Chapter travels about an hour southeast of Kirksville to perform any necessary work at a local church camp, Camp Jo-Ota. The chapter travels down on a Friday evening to have fellowship activities, a bonfire, and the nicknaming ceremony. The next morning the chapter wakes early to do a full day of service for the camp. Also, we have J-Bags in which brothers can leave messages of encouragement to other brothers. In the past the chapter has also traveled to Camp Thunderbird, a local Boy Scout camp. This project won the Best Region VIII Service Project Award in January 1998 at the Region VIII Conference at Washington University. The essay submitted is printed later on in the History. In the Spring of 2005 the Epsilon chapter traveled to camp T-Bird, but the traditions at the camp remained the same as in other years.
(The next two traditions are a part of the Camp Thunderbird/Jo-Ota Experience)

Polar Bear Club: The Polar Bear Club is one of our more risqué traditions. It involves willing members to jump into the lake at Camp Thunderbird. It is divided into several different categories.
PolarBear I: A member shall be naked when they jump into the lake during the day.
Polar Bear II: A member shall either be naked or go in during the night into the lake when the temperature is below fifty degrees.
Grizzly Bear Club: A member shall go into the water when the temperature has dipped below 70 degrees Fahrenheit (outside of course).

Ashes: The members of the Chapter are asked to bring along an empty film canister to use to hold the ashes of the camp fire at Camp Thunderbird or Jo-Ota. Epsilon brothers then hold onto these ashes until the next camp, where they are encouraged to throw them back into the fire. The ashes from camp have been to many different Boy Scout and Alpha Phi Omega events.

The Gold Sash: The Gold Sash is an honor that is given to members that have displayed the Three Cardinal Principles well beyond what a regular active member is required to do. All active and alumni members in good standing can be elected to receive this distinguished award by the current members who have a Gold Sash. This award is given to our members at Formal in the Spring.

Beads: These are awarded when specific events, achievements, or positions which are attended by, or attained by one of our members. This is based on the use of beads in the Boy Scouts. This was started in the Fall of 1996 under the Scouting Chair Stephanie Landess. A breakdown of the colors and their meanings appears later on in the history.

Pancake City: This is a tradition that usually follows most regular Chapter meetings and other Chapter functions where the members make the trek to Pancake City on Baltimore Street to enjoy fun, fellowship, and good food with each other. Often there is a grub fry eating contest to accompany the experience.

Thursday Night Dinners at Main street: Dinners at Main street is an event in which the members of Epsilon gather to have dinner with each other in the Main street Market Dining area in the Student Union Building. When this tradition was started is unknown, but it is one of the more popular events, where brothers can socialize in a very relaxed environment.

"Don’t forget, Tuesday dress up and Thursday wear your letters": A common call that is heard by the members of the Epsilon Chapter at our Tuesday night meetings. This began as a Public Relations push, but has evolved into one of the major traditions of Epsilon.

Semi-formal: The first semi-formal of the Epsilon Chapter was held 5 December 1997 at the Catholic Newman Center in Kirksville. The concept was brought out when Fellowship Chair Shannon McCarty and Fundraising Chair Amanda Bowles were brainstorming for Fellowship ideas while sober driving for our sister sorority, Alpha Sigma Gamma. The idea of a semi-formal was created and the Newman Center was picked because they offered us free rental in exchange for helping out with the Mary Immaculate School Carnival. The theme for the first semi-formal was "Baby, It’s Cold Outside!" The semi-formal became tradition when the Chapter was rewarded for making its Service hour goal in the Spring 1998 semester with another semi-formal.

The Presidential Gavel: This tradition has become almost as annoying as it is fun. When a new President of the Epsilon Chapter is sworn in he receives the Presidential Gavel from his predecessor to use to help run the meetings. All of the members of the Epsilon Chapter are responsible to try to steal the gavel when the meeting is not in session. Most of the time the President will spend two weeks whining about how the gavel is missing or trying to get it back. Usually the members return the gavel after a couple of weeks so that the President will at least have a chance at keeping it. However there have been problems in the past with members choosing not to return the gavel, resulting in a replacement donated by the Fall 1996 Pledge Class, which is, of course, missing.

Stomping Feet: During the singing of the Toast Song it has become tradition that everyone must stomp their feet after the stanza of each verse. This tradition has made several members of the Epsilon Chapter look like fools at National, Regional, and Sectional events. It is uncertain when this unique tradition was started.

Senior Wills: At the last meeting of each semester each graduating senior is allowed to go up in front of the Chapter and are supposed to "leave" things for other members of the Chapter. Usually it is a reflection of their time in Alpha Phi Omega and at Truman State University. Some use this tradition to make statements on the direction the Chapter is going and what Alpha Phi Omega, and the brothers of the Epsilon Chapter mean to them.

The Blood Drive: This is one of the biggest projects that Epsilon hosts. The Epsilon Chapter does this twice a year in November and in April. In November of 1997 the campus of Truman State University, under the guidance of the Epsilon Chapter, set the record for the most units of blood in a drive in Missouri north of Interstate 70 (that is a big chunk of territory). We broke the record again in Spring of 1998.

Notes: During the meetings well positioned members are likely to pass in excess of thirty notes a meeting. Sometimes these notes have direct bearing on what is going on in the meetings or other messages that have to do with Chapter functions. However most notes are about what went on over the weekend, what everyone is doing later, the latest gossip, and sometimes the occasional love note (oh yes!!!). Starting with Nathan Byrnes in the Fall of 1997 some notes are written as jokes that are aimed at the whole chapter.

Transfer Ceremony: This was an event that was started when Epsilon had three transfer students in the Fall of 1998. The membership-VP, Shannon McCarty, along with Brad Peuster, wanted a ritual to welcome the brothers who had transferred into our Chapter. The first ceremony was performed on 26 September 1998 at Camp Thunderbird, with Mary Beth McCorkle (Zeta Delta-Miami University), and Kimberly Deems (Zeta Tau-Central Methodist) being the first two brothers to be welcomed with this ceremony. This event was performed once again three days later at a regular Chapter meeting to welcome Michelle Peppers (Kappa Chi-Creighton University). It was written by Historian Timothy Charles Deveney and President Bradley Niebling.

The Active Retreat: In the fall of 1998, Fellowship Chair, Lauren Stoppelmann, began working on an Active Retreat to help the brotherhood inside of the Chapter. On 10 October 1998 the retreat started out with a presentation by Motivational Media, sponsored by Alpha Phi Omega, and was open to the campus. Following the Motivational Media presentation, the morning group traveled out to Thousand Hills State Park, where they were treated to brotherhood building activities. During lunchtime both the morning and afternoon groups shared lunch together and were treated to a highly inspirational speech given by Dr. Jeffrey Gall. After Dr. Gall finished his words, the afternoon group met and was treated to the same activities as the morning group. Retreats now occur every semester in order to build brotherhood ties with in the chapter.

The Pledge Retreat: A trip taken by the Pledge Class in order to build unity, brotherhood, and make memories together. This begun in Fall of 1998 with Pledge Master Carrie Plocher and Pledge Trainer Shannon Saitta in charge of the retreat. The theme of the first retreat was “That Warm Fuzzy Feeling.” Subsequent retreats have resulted in road trips to Columbia, Missouri for scavenger hunts around the Columbia Mall and the University of Missouri-Columbia Campus. The pledge retreat has now evolved into a trip planned by the pledging committee with the “Destination Unknown” to the pledge class.

“I move to Inflate the Pledges with Helium”: A motion that is made at the Active Meeting prior to Camp Thunderbird or Jo-Ota trip. Started in Fall 1999, the actives moved and seconded this motion. It was amended with “I move to inflate the pledges with helium, tie them together and make a raft” and other such pranks. The motion always passes because, as our by-laws state, pledges cannot vote.

Theme Nights at the Meetings: Instead of dressing up for our meetings, the chapter is advised to wear a certain article of clothing or type of dress. This tradition began in Spring 2000 with President Charles Rudolph. In order to boost moral, he made one Tuesday meeting “Pajama Pants Day.” In Fall of 2000, the Executive Board declared it “Clash Day.”

Progressive Dinner at Thanksgiving: The Chapter has dinner together in three separate courses, which are served at different brothers’ homes. This began in Fall of 1999 with Fellowship Chair Robin McNaught. The Progressive Dinner, itself, began earlier but the dinners were not necessarily around Thanksgiving.