To be selected as a Sigma Tau pledge was an honor which I shall long remember. Since engineering is my chosen profession, it will add prestige to my record to belong to the honorary engineering fraternity.

As a pledge of Sigma Tau, I was expected to fulfill certain obligations. During my period of pledgeship, I was required to obtain the signatures of active and alumni members of Sigma Tau. This gave me a chance to meet and talk with other Sigma Tau members and to exchange opinions and ideas with them. Many of the members are in different majors and talking to them gave me an appreciation of the problems in their field.

The final stage of the pledge training was a pledge project which consisted of whitewashing the huge K.S. letters on a nearby hill. These letters were built in 1930 by the K.S. engineers. This activity was a combination of horseplay and hard work. It taught me the value of cooperation in accomplishing a group task.

The value of membership in Sigma Tau depends on the individual effort which is put forth by each member. Much self-satisfaction and accomplishment may be achieved if a person works hard for the organization.

The 1962-63 school year is an anniversary year for Epsilon Chapter of Sigma Tau at Kansas State University. This marks the 50th year for the chapter and the 100th anniversary of the university. 

The membership of Epsilon Chapter includes 60 alumni, and 35 active members. There are 48 pledges.

Pledges are selected each fall and spring from juniors with a grade average above 2.9 and seniors with a 2.8 average or above. (A 4.0 average is perfect.) About two-thirds of these men are selected by the active members to be invited to a smoker where they meet the members and are told about the requirements for membership, selection of members, and activities of the chapter. Immediately after the smoker, the members vote on the rushees by secret ballot. Rushees are notified of acceptance or rejection by telephone.

Pledge duties during "Hell Week” include carrying a paddle and a box of treats for active and alumni members who sign the signature notebooks. Pledges must wear a hat with a band of blue and white ribbon. They carry a rail section around their necks using blue and white ribbon. Pledges are required to procure signatures of 75% of the active and alumni members. This percentage proved to be too high to be practical this fall, so a change is expected for the spring pledges. Also, some alumni on campus have questioned this practice of obtaining signatures.

The final official pledge duty is the whitewashing of the 80' by 50' concrete KS letters on K-Hill south of Manhattan.

The erection of a U beside the present KS is the chapter project this year. This is a fitting centennial project since the school changed its named from Kansas State College to Kansas State University only five years ago. The chapter should receive much recognition and publicity throughout the state from this project, A cost estimate is being prepared at this time.

Epsilon Chapter traditionally selects two outstanding faculty members for alumni membership each year.

Sigma Tau has charge of the ceremony which officially opens the annual Engineer’s Open House in the spring. The chapter sponsors the St Pat's Prom the same weekend and selects the finalists for St. Pat and St. Patricia who serve as royalty for Open House festivities and the St. Pat’s Prom. St. Pat and St. Patricia are elected by the engineering students.

Epsilon Chapter meets once a month, and additional meetings concerning special activities are also held. Attendance is a problem at times, due to the many other activities on campus in which Sigma Tau members participate.

Vincent E. Sweat,

President.

Epsilon Chapter has always been active in campus affairs at Kansas State University. It was instrumental in the erection, on a hillside near Manhattan, of the letters “KS”, which can be seen for miles around the campus. Epsilon Chapter has assumed the responsibility of maintaining the decor of these University symbols, and it is through this semi-annual event that the Chapter has received the most publicity. The job of maintenance consists of clearing brush from around the letters and then whitewashing the "K” and “S”. This perhaps sounds like a relatively simple task, but there are two complicating factors to be dealt with. First of all, the letters are approximately 100 feet in height; and, secondly, they are precariously perched on a hill approaching a seventy-degree slope. This latter factor necessitates that those attempting to whitewash the letters must literally dangle from ropes which are littered over the top of the hill (and hopefully securely anchored). With all due consideration to the nature of this task, it was decided early in the Chapter’s history that this semi-annual event constituted a marvelous task for the pledge class. Therefore, twice a year, dangling before awe-struck students and newspaper photographers, the Sigma Tau pledge class takes buckets of whitewash and tosses them in the general direction of the "K” or “S” (but usually more specifically on some pledges immediately below them). Then, with the aid of brooms, they spread the whitewash over the area of the letters; and again, the University’s symbols shine with immaculate whiteness.

Being a Chapter of broad scope, Epsilon Chapter participates in other events which are open to the University as a whole. Every year Epsilon Chapter hosts an exhibit in the "Engineer’s Open House” and, in conjunction with the Open House, sponsors a University-wide Saint Pat and Saint Patricia dance.

In addition to the aforementioned functional activities, Sigma Tau at Kansas State University serves a very real, but intangible role. This role, which cannot be measured in engineering terms, consists of the improvement of student-faculty relationships specifically and, in general, a better presentation of the School of Engineering to the Campus as a whole.

Through Sigma Tau members, the Campus can glimpse and perhaps appreciate some of the characteristics the Fraternity hopes to cultivate in Engineering students. Through the Engineering Open House, University students can take a measure of the practicality and ingenuity exhibited by many of the Engineering students. By sponsoring activities such as the Saint Pat and Saint Patricia Dance, by closer relationships and friendships within the Fraternity itself, Sigma Tau attempts to develop in its members an attitude of sociability. By having high standards scholastically, and by making Sigma Tau the type of honorary Fraternity to which Engineering students want to belong, the Fraternity develops among its members, and among hopeful aspirants, a feeling of academic responsibility. Along these lines, Epsilon Chapter offers an annual award to both a Freshman and Sophomore student, each of whom has demonstrated outstanding practicality, sociability, and scholarship.

Having once developed among the Freshman and Sophomore Engineering students a desire to belong to Sigma Tau, the selection of new members follows a rather prescribed course. First of all, invitations are sent to all scholastically eligible Engineering students (who have attained a classification of at least Junior standing) to attend a Smoker. At the Smoker, the active Chapter members attempt to ascertain whether or not the invitees meet requirements as to practicality and sociability. Immediately following the Smoker, the active members vote on the acceptance of each prospective member. It was at this point last year that Epsilon Chapter evidenced considerable difficulty in that nearly forty percent of the prospective members were "black-balled” by one vote. Following this harrowing experience, Sigma Tau National Vice-President George W. Forman was consulted, and it was suggested that requiring two "black-balls” would perhaps be a more feasible requirement. Since that time, however, no similar difficulty has been experienced. Once a prospective member has been accepted, he is so informed personally by an active member of Epsilon Chapter.

The Historian of the Chapter keeps a file of the current addresses of the alumni members. An alumnus member who is currently Dean of Engineering at Kansas State University—was recently initiated. Sixty-three members of the faculty are members of Sigma Tau, but only one of these, the Chapter Advisor, works actively with the Epsilon Chapter.

At the present time, the Chapter files are in excellent shape. Last year, records were converted so as to be accommodated by the computer and the records are now stored via IBM cards. Thus, changes can easily be made, and the complete Chapter file can be reprinted at will. These records are kept in the office of the Chapter Advisor. 

Financially, Epsilon Chapter is in excellent condition. Each pledge pays his initiation fee before he is initiated at a general pledge class meeting. All authorized bills are presented to the Treasurer who then pays them. Currently there is approximately $400.00 in the treasury.

At the beginning of the school year there were 49 active members of Chapter. Recently, 40 students were pledged. When they are initiated, the Chapter will have 89 active members.

Chapter meetings are held in a lecture room in the Engineering Building discussions cover business applicable to the Chapter, such as the "Engineering Open House”, painting the "KS”, etcetera. All meeting times and places are posted on a special Sigma Tau bulletin board in the Engineering building, and as many members as possible are personally contacted.

Lyle D. Krehbiel, 

Vice-President.

Epsilon Chapter of Sigma Tau at Kansas State University is recognized as a leading honorary fraternity by most of the student body. It is brought to the attention of the students in many ways. First is the pyramid and rail section monument constructed on a triangular street island which is positioned between Seaton Hall, the engineering building, and the Student Union. Epsilon Chapter also is responsible for the opening ceremonies of the annual Engineer’s Open House. This includes the selection of a Saint Pat and Saint Patricia to reign over the Open House activities. Through these two chosen people and the Open House, students are kept fully aware of Sigma Tau.

The students — and the engineering students in particular — see and hear about Sigma Tau as an honorary engineering fraternity which puts stress on scholarship, sociability, and practicality. Knowing that these are desirable qualities for an engineer, the students try to achieve them, and as a result to be accepted as members of the organization. Awards are given annually to selected engineering freshmen for scholarship. This adds incentive to freshmen to work at becoming better scholastically, much as possible membership in Sigma Tau adds incentive to other students.

Students are chosen as potential candidates for membership on the basis of overall scholarship. The active members have an opportunity to determine the sociability of the prospective members during the annual Smoker. Those prospective members, who appear capable of succeeding as engineers, are notified of their selection and informed of what they are expected to do during “pledge week.” These duties consist of carrying a decorated paddle, wearing a hat decorated with blue and white ribbon, and wearing a rail section around their neck. They must also get the signatures of a specified number of pledges, alumni members, and active members, and whitewash the letters KS on K-Hill. The pledges are given a copy of the Constitution and By-Laws booklet, and they are expected to pass an examination on the material contained therein. If the pledges successfully complete all of these duties, the active members then vote on their elevation to active membership. If elected, and approved by the faculty, the pledges are initiated. After initiation, they receive their keys and shingles at the annual Sigma Tau Banquet.

Epsilon Chapter holds its meetings in the Student Union, usually on a school day late in the afternoon. The meetings are generally ordinary business meetings. If any problem has been brought to the attention of the officers which the entire membership should know about, it is discussed at the meetings. Sometimes the meetings are called for a special purpose such as the selection of Saint Pat and Saint Patricia candidates. Members are notified of approaching meetings by an announcement posted at various places in Seaton Hall, and also personally by the officers if possible.

Heretofore no special record has been kept of the Epsilon Chapter alumni. The only current address lists would be found in the administrative offices of the College of Engineering. The faculty members support the Chapter fairly actively the year around. During "pledge week," active support is shown strongly by all.

The Chapter records, except those concerning finances, are kept by the Recording Secretary. During the Summer, the Recording Secretary for the Spring semester keeps the records, but the Chapter Advisor always has knowledge of the whereabouts of the records. The financial records are kept by the Treasurer at all times. He collects the funds and initiation fees, and he is responsible for verifying bills and paying them. At present, Epsilon Chapter is working "in the black" and a new project is also being considered to raise money. The project is to get the engineering juniors and seniors registered in a soon-to-be-published listing. This project will also help to acquaint more engineers with Sigma Tau.

The present active membership in Epsilon Chapter was increased recently by the Fall initiates. Membership now stands at 86 active members, as compared with 63 at the beginning of the Fall semester — a substantial increase in active member­ship. The Chapter hopes to be able to continue adding worthwhile members.

Richard D. Gresham,

Corresponding Secretary