Greetings Brothers and Friends:
This edition of The Journal pays tribute to our spiritual founder, Robert E. Lee, and his life and service as a young man prior to the Civil War. Many of us have read Brother Charles Bracelen Flood’s book, Lee: The Last Years, and know so much about Lee’s influence with young men at what is now Washington and Lee University. Unfortunately, we do not know as much about Lee in his early life, but the lead article written by Matt Bonner will provide great insight. I write this article shortly after Convivium, the celebration of Lee’s birth. I was fortunate to accomplish the “Convivium Trifecta” in Savannah by attending the celebrations hosted by Delta Theta at Georgia Southern University, Gamma at the University of Georgia and the famous Oyster Roast hosted by the Savannah Alumni Chapter, all within a 24-hour period! Convivium is a perfect way to bring our active and alumni members together to remember our beginning and our lifetime membership in the Order.
The national administrative staff and the senior volunteers of the Order have been busy since my last message to you in this forum. The most notable of the work is the inaugural Number I’s Leadership Summit that was held in a secluded Baptist retreat in the North Carolina piedmont. I encourage you to read the article on this monumental pilot program that will be just as successful as The Crusade.
I extend sincere thanks to Councilor J. Michael Duncan who had the vision for the Summit and the National Administrative Office staff, especially Assistant Executive Director for Chapter Services Ashley Worboys, Director of Educational Programming Brent Fellows, and Director of Fraternity Services Ethan Bush, for the Summit’s implementation. As you may recall, one of my goals during my term was to improve the governance structure of Kappa Alpha Order and its affiliate, the Kappa Alpha Order Educational Foundation. KAOEF President Frank Maresh and I are pleased to announce that the roles of executive director for the Order and the Foundation have been combined, and Larry S. Wiese has assumed the additional position of KAOEF executive director. This change in the corporate management structure has already paid great dividends in terms of communication and efficiency. We are very fortunate to have Brother Wiese doing this job.
Kappa Alpha is blessed with many wonderful volunteers but the KA professional staff is unmatched in the industry. Unfortunately, we have to say goodbye to two of our dedicated employees. David Carico leaves the Foundation after 15 years of service as its executive director to assume a development job with Georgia Tech. More about Brother Carico’s service is detailed in this edition. The other person who has been such an asset to the Order is former Director of Communications Matt Bonner. Matt has been a great resource for KA and has served its members with outstanding dedication. Brother Bonner leaves to pursue his true passion of professional photography, and we wish him well. We are fortunate to have a new director of communications, Todd Shelton. Brother Shelton brings a new dimension to the communications area, especially in technology and graphic arts. He has redesigned The Journal and is redesigning the website, and I cannot wait to see the results!
Finally, I want to recognize our volunteer leaders, especially the alumnus advisors, province commanders and the Executive Council. I also want to recognize and thank former Knight Commander Jim Estes who was elected in December as the vice president of the North-American Interfraternity Conference. There are countless hours spent for the good of Kappa Alpha and for the development of young men as structured by our ritual. Through this work and the influence of our spiritual founder, as you will read in this edition of The Journal, we continue to make good men better and to make leaders for tomorrow.
