FarmHouse - Washington State University

W ayne Steffen '73 was first introduced to the men of FarmHouse by his sisters. As a high school senior, he visited WSU in the spring and stayed at FarmHouse. at summer, Wayne was invited to a re- cruitment function and accepted an invitation to pledge. is decision sparked a lifetime of loyalty to FarmHouse. As an undergraduate, Wayne took on the roles of song lead- er, corresponding secretary, pledge trainer, and president. He took pride in singing in the FarmHouse barbershop cho- rus and continuing a string of victories at Mom's Weekend Songfest. One of Wayne's favorite memories is converting the house into a speakeasy for a Roaring '20s-themed dance. He lived in the house all four years, cherishing the once-in-a- lifetime opportunity to live in a fraternity. He was honored to receive the Doane Award as a senior. Wayne's undergraduate experience provided him with skills and values that have been crucial in his career and personal success. "I learned the impor- tance of working as a team to achieve large goals. e house showed me the value of service to others. I learned how to be less selfish and how to adapt to new living arrangements, new ideas, and new opportunities." Aer graduating from WSU, Wayne accepted a management trainee posi- tion at Safeway's Salt Lake City milk plant. Promotions and transfers took Wayne to milk plants in Omaha, Nebraska, and Moses Lake, Washington. Wayne moved to Safeway's manufacturing head office in Walnut Creek, California where he led teams implementing business systems and created a warehouse management system. Aer 36 years with the company, Wayne retired and now owns a home-based travel agency. For brothers who are just beginning their careers, Wayne suggests getting involved in as much as you can. He urges young professionals to actively seek the new lessons that await them in the workplace. "Don't fear the unknown but plan your actions, implore others to join you, and put in the hard work it takes to be a success." His talent for renewing alumni friendships led to Wayne's two terms as Washington State Alumni Association district director for northern California, which was selected as the best alumni district two times. He was selected to serve on the newly formed FarmHouse Alumni Association relations committee in 2010 and served one term as chairman. is has afforded him the pleasure of meeting many more of the outstanding men of FarmHouse from the Washington State chapter and across our international fraternity. Wayne has treasured the opportunity of swapping life stories with the men before his time and aer at FarmHouse. "During rough times, alumni re- mind each other of our fraternity principles, helping us all to remember where our foundation came from." In addition to running Steffen Travel agency, Wayne enjoys being a private pilot and acting in community theater, commercials, and some small movie and television roles. He and his wife, Brenda, have two daughters, Jacque- line MacKusick and Michele Steffen. Wayne and Brenda provide childcare to their two grandsons two days a week. Wayne proudly shares that both his grandsons' first sentence was, "Go, Cougs!" E-mail: stefwd@aol.com A LIFETIME OF LOYALTY Wayne Steffen '73 Shares His History of Dedication to FarmHouse FarmHouse Almanac p . 3 T his semester we experienced a great deal of chapter growth. e physical structure of the house was improved as we had our main floor remodeled by Kevin Johnston '84. As a brotherhood, we have made progress on our chapter in Homecoming, academics, and philan- thropy. is year we were proud to be partnered with the outstanding members of Alpha Gamma Delta. Working as a brotherhood and participat- ing in this WSU tradition was a wonderful expe- rience for our chapter. Academics presented us with a challenge last school year, as we declined in chapter GPA throughout the year. I am happy to report that we made drastic improvements as our GPA increased to 3.18. We are proud of one of our newest initi- ates, Nick Camarata '15, who received a 4.0 GPA, which qualified him for Super Pledge Status. One of the most challenging issues we faced in the last year was restructuring our philanthro- py. We struggled on how to evolve it into a more profitable and community-involved event for Leukemia Lymphoma Society. e chapter was able to rally behind the idea of a FarmHouse country cookout. e event turned out to be a major success as it brought more money to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. In addition to philanthropy, we have exceeded the require- ments for community service hours. Our members have worked very hard to be a bet- ter chapter, but this semester we are focused on being the best fraternity at WSU. We encourage alumni to assist in any way they can to help us attain this goal. Fraternally, Ben McEnderfer '13 Chapter President (509) 385-9178 wazzu.president@gmail.com UNDERGRADUATES BOOST ACADEMIC PERFORMANCES AND REVAMP PHILANTHROPIC EFFORTS Andrew Kourtis '14, Nick Camarata '15, Peter Lao '15, and Kyler Jacobs '15 visit with Butch at the Homecoming game.

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