Lambda Chi Alpha - University of Illinois - Champaign, Illinois • Winter 2022
Chi Zetagram Chi Zetagram
T
he University of Illinois recently granted
initial approval for Lambda Chi Alpha
to return to campus in August 2022. The next
phase of our approval plan is a report that the
General Fraternity will submit in March to
the University for recruitment and advising
of the reactivated Chi Zeta Chapter. Trained
expansion and recruitment staff from the
fraternity will come to campus and stay during
the fall semester to recruit key student leaders
to join the chapter. They will also assist the new
members. The aim is to find student leaders
who will develop a strong foundation for the
chapter. Since we left campus, several new
educational and onboarding practices have
been implemented by the General Fraternity to
ensure that new members are well-educated on
policies and operations.
The recruitment staff will work closely with
the Illinois Fraternity and Sorority Affairs
Office and a newly formed advisory mentor
group for the new chapter. This group will
include University staff members, faculty, and
local alumni. Their role will be to informally
advise chapter members in areas of recruitment,
risk management, chapter operations, new
member education, and life skills. We are in the
process of forming this advisory team for the
new chapter. Advisory team members are not
required to be alumni of the fraternity; they can
be any local adult (man or woman) who would
be willing to invest in the new chapter and have
expertise in a needed area. For example, a staff
member of the University of Illinois Leadership
Center could advise the new chapter on risk
management or chapter operations. Advisors
will complete a background check and have
advising roles with the chapter on various areas.
The General Fraternity has a partnership with
Kaplan Inc., which facilitates a Leadership
Skills Certification Academy. This is a
comprehensive development program for
undergraduates that teaches technical and soft
skills in preparation for successful employment.
There is also a new virtual coaching model
in which the chapter will receive weekly
personalized support from their assigned
support coach. This includes health and
wellness education, recruitment programming,
goal setting, and accountability conversations.
In addition, Lambda Chi Alpha has created and
adopted a new support model for all chapters.
Each chapter president now has a weekly Zoom
call with a support coach, who is a full-time
staff person. This replaces the old Educational
Leadership Consultant (ELC) model. The
coach works with the officers to assist them in
achieving their weekly, monthly, and annual
goals. These goals are then fine-tuned by the
coach to ensure the chapter is moving in the
right direction. The coach uses these weekly
meetings to determine which other officers
in that chapter or associate chapter he should
follow up with to provide additional support.
The new support coaches work to assist
and train other officers, review plans, host
workshops, and provide constant support to the
groups they work with. They also work with the
Illinois Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Office.
We are excited for the future and can't wait to
see Lambda Chi Alpha return to campus. Just
as we will need new and strong leaders to form
the new chapter, we also need new and strong
alumni to form a new Board of Directors to take
us into the future!
Fraternally,
Steven Parsons, Eastern Kentucky ΦΒ 341
Board of Directors
sparsons@illinois.edu
President
Vacant
Vice President
Vacant
Secretary
Matthew Murphy '75 X1028
mmurphy@batescarey.com
Treasurer
Ryan Beckman '07 X1842
rbeckmann88@gmail.com
Directors
Kim Kardas '74 X997
kkardas1@sbcglobal.net
Joe Pawlak '83 X1181
ILLinijoe@yahoo.com
Eric Mennel '84 X1207
emennel@yahoo.com
Chris Gary '85 X1225
chrisgary55@gmail.com
David Dutton '87 X1288
davidcdutton@sbcglobal.net
Mike Nora '12 X2020
mknora2@gmail.com
Justin Zylberman '12 X2018
jzylberman317@gmail.com
Samuel M. Sagan '13 X2044
lxachizetapresident@gmail.com
Sean Chamberlin '14 X2076
schamberlin31@gmail.com
Nick Schwartzkopf '15 X2120
nickolas.schwartzkopf@gmail.com
Director Ex-Officio/Chapter Advisor
Steven Parsons, Eastern Kentucky ΦΒ 341
sparsons@illinois.edu
Lambda Chi Alpha Receives
Approval for Return to Campus is Fall
Fraternity Works to Set New Chapter Up for Success
Chi Zeta Board of Directors
