Delta Upsilon - University of Kansas

Fall 2019 Newsletter

Kansas Chapter of Delta Upsilon at the University of Kansas

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THE SUNFLOWER Kansas Du alumni P.o. box 1611 lawrence, Kansas 66044 Address service requested A Family away from Home Distinguished Alumnus Tom Hamill '64 Reflects on the Impact of Delta Upsilon Provide your email address to receive our digital updates. Send a message from your preferred email account to alehr@penningtonco. com. Updates can also be submitted at http://kansasdu.com/update/. Volunteer as a board member. Contact Rod Barleen '97 at rodbarleen@gmail.com to express interest and ask questions. Attend alumni events. Our next one is April 18, 2020, to celebrate our centennial anniversary and annual banquet. Congratulations to the 2020 Distinguished Alumnus, Tom Hamill '64! Host your own events and reunions, big or small. Submitting a photo to alehr@penningtonco.com could have it featured in a future newsletter. Connect with others using the alumni directory stored at kansasdu.com. Share your copy of The Sunflower with brothers, family, and friends. Alumni Engagement Comes in Many Forms How Can You Help Delta Upsilon? A ttending a university with an enrollment larger than the population of your entire town can be a little overwhelming. And it was at times for Tom Hamill '64. But his home- away-from-home at the Kansas Chapter of Delta Upsilon made the transition pretty smooth. Being one of six children, the "big family" that DU offered made Tom feel right at home. "It was a nice transition. Joining a fraternity of 55 to 65 guys, rather than living in a dorm with hundreds, allowed me to get acquainted with the other men on a more personal basis, and to quickly form some relationships which would last for a lifetime," Tom said. While he found great comfort in his DU family, it also challenged him to be a better man. "I was suddenly surrounded by other young men of high quality, who would serve as excellent role models," Tom said. He was constantly inspired by the talented men in the Kansas Chapter, ranging from leaders and scholars to athletes. Being surrounded by some of the best provided a springboard for him to gain the confidence he needed to be successful in college and after. "The men in our house were unbelievably talented," he said. "You felt that if you could make it there, you could be successful at almost anything. It was a big confidence boost." With this newfound confidence, Tom went on to earn a law school degree at the University of Kansas, and hopefully to make a meaningful difference in people's lives. He moved from working for a small law firm to one of the biggest banks in Kansas City, and then to the U.S. attorney's office, where he tried over 50 jury trials, and on to starting his own firm. Today, after practicing law for over 50 years, Tom is Of Counsel with the Martin Pringle law firm, where he primarily represents small- business and their owners in transactional and litigation matters. His inspiration was his father, who owned a small business in Colby, Kansas where Tom grew up. For his success and dedication, the Kansas Chapter has named Tom the 2020 Distinguished Alumnus. He feels extremely honored to be recognized, stating, "This is very humbling. There are many outstanding men in this fraternity, men more talented than I." Of all of the successes in his life, Tom is most proud of his family. "I have been blessed with a wonderful wife, three children, and five grandchildren. Family is the most important thing in my life," he said. "My career is just a reflection of a lot of hard work, opportunity, and luck. And a lot of that opportunity can be attributed to the experience I had as a member of the Kansas Chapter of Delta Upsilon" You can reach Tom at tahamill@ martinpringle.com.

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