The Accent - The Western District » Kappa Kappa Psi | Tau Beta ...

By :Meghan Cohen
Iota Gamma
As a newly initiated brother of Kappa Kappa Psi or
sister of Tau Beta Sigma, you never know what to
expect of your first interaction with members
of chapters outside your own...
You spend much time
asking yourself how your
chapters may differ and
whether or not you’ll get
along. Perhaps you’re even a
bit nervous about meeting new
brothers and sisters.
This was the case with
myself, as I and seven other
brothers from Iota Gamma
made our way to Iota Kappa
at Boise State University for
States Day 2009 between
Washington, Idaho, and Utah.
That weekend was easily one
of the best experiences of my
life. It turned out to be a monumental
bonding opportunity
both within my own chapter
and between chapters. I left
Boise, Idaho on Sunday not
knowing I had just met people
who would grow to be some of
my best friends. Several members
of Iota Gamma started
particularly good relationships
with the brothers of Iota
Kappa. So good, in fact, that
we discussed on many occasions
paying our brothers from
Boise State University a visit.
In September 2009, Jessica
Treich, Secretary for Iota
Gamma, contacted Amy Flynn,
President of Iota Kappa. After
several corresponding emails,
the trip was official. Iota Kappa
had invited Iota Gamma to
their annual District III event,
Iota Kappa’s largest service,
fundraising, and brotherhood
project of the year. On October
23, 2009, Iota Gamma loaded
up two cars consisting of six
active and two potential brothers,
three of whom were not
in attendance at States Day,
and made the six-hour drive to
Boise, Idaho. Enthusiasm was
not in short supply, merely for
being excited to get out of Pullman,
Washington and visit our
fellow brothers for a weekend.
Little did we know how much
this weekend would change
the eight of us.
Iota Gamma woke up
at 6:00 AM, the equivalent of
5:00 AM in Washington, on
Saturday morning in order
to be at Bronco Stadium an
hour later. While some of us
were clearly morning people
(me) and others were not (the
remaining seven members of
Iota Gamma), we all showed
up on Boise State University’s
campus in good spirits for District
III.
District III is a high
school marching band festival,
run in its entirety by the
brothers of Iota Kappa. As Iota
Gamma was there to assist
them, our first task was to
help setup for the day’s activities.
Mostly this consisted of
putting up signs that would
direct bands where to go later
that afternoon. Once setup
was complete, chapter-bonding