The following members conducted the initiation ceremony:

• Secretary-Treasurer Robert H. Nagel

• Dr. Richard R. Gallagher

• Dr. Hugh S. Walker

• President George P. Palo

• Sigma Tau President George W. Forman

• Dr. Frank A. Tillman

• Dean Donald E. Rathbone

The following members were elected as Kansas Gamma's first officer class during the installation ceremony:

• President John R. Schlup

• Vice President John B. Whitley

• Recording Secretary Everett R. Ramer

• Corresponding Secretary Eric W. Schoeff

• Treasurer Edward F. Juno

• Cataloger Richard L. Kussman

• Chief Advisor Frank A. Tillman

• Advisor No. 2 Donald E. Rathbone

• Advisor No. 3 Floyd W. Harris

• Advisor No. 4 Hugh S. Walker

Dear Mr. Nagel, We would like to hold the installation of the Kansas Gamma chapter of Tau Beta Pi on January 27, 1974. If this date is unacceptable, please contact us as soon as possible so that we can quickly contact the alumni involved. We would also like to initiate the members of Sigma Tau at Kansas State on the same date shortly after the installation ceremony.

It was suggested in the various reference materials, that we establish a permanent mailing address. The following address will be used by our chapter:

Dr. Frank Tillman

Department of Industrial Engineering 

Kansas State University 

Manhattan, Kansas 66502

We do have one question about our initiation. Dr. Tillman explained that there was some question as to the status of the members of Tau Beta Gamma who are also members of Sigma Tau. Will they go through the Tau Beta Gamma ceremony or must they go through with the Sigma Tau initiates? I know that they personally would prefer to be initiated as members of Tau Beta Gamma; If you could quickly answer this question, we would greatly appreciate it.

Also, some of the material from your office has been sent to my home address. It often takes several days for it to be forwarded to me. My present address is:

John R. Schlup

1919 Hunting

Manhattan, Kansas 66502

We almost have the necessary information gathered to contact the eligible alumni. They will be notified shortly and the Report of Eligibility should be sent to you within about ten days. Things seem to be moving along well and everyone is looking forward to the installation and initiation. Sincerely yours, John Schlup

The New Chapter Officers

University of South Florida: Mr. Frederick E. Miller & Dr. M. R. Donaldson

Loyola Marymount University: Mr. Robert W. Prindle & Father R. J. Arenz, S.J

Northrop Institute: Mr. John D. Binder & Professor Henri Feiner

Kansas State University: Mr. John R. Schlup & Dr. Frank A. Tillman

Dear Friends: In Gainesville three weeks ago I gave you, among many other things, one copy of the Tau Beta Pi President's Book and four copies of the manual called "The Advisory Board in Tau Beta Pi." Throw those old materials away, please, and replace them with the enclosed new editions.

To the student presidents of your four new chapters there is enclosed a copy of the new President's Book. Put it in the zippered binder in place of the old material.

To the faculty advisors of each of your chapters there are enclosed four copies of the new edition of "The Advisory Board in Tau Beta Pi." Please distribute these to the four persons who will serve as advisors of your chapters, and discard the old ones.

We had wanted to get these two new instructional booklets finished in time for distribution at the Florida Convention, but the printer was slow and has just finished them now. Sincerely yours, Robert H. Nagel

Dear John: Many thanks for your November 14 letter. I have consulted with President Palo and we approve January 27, 1974, a Sunday, for the Installation of Kansas Gamma. We shall be there, with bells on!

The Sigma Tau merger question is not yet resolved by our chapter ratification balloting, so we cannot yet procede firmly with any plans to merge Sigma Tau and Tau Beta Pi anywhere. However, as we discussed in Florida, if the merger is ratified by both Tau Beta Pi and Sigma Tau, then we certainly want to ’'merge" the present Kansas State Sigma Tau chapter into the new Kansas Gamma Tau Beta Pi chapter on January 27. We shall do this, although I don't have the precise details worked out yet, in a single initiation ceremony, although of course a separate Tau Beta Pi installation ceremony. In other words, Kansas Gamma of Tau Beta Pi will get the full installation treatment on January 27; and almost incidentally, we shall merge Sigma Tau into your Tau Beta Pi chapter.

This brings me to your question about the way in which present Sigma Tau members of Tau Beta Gamma will come into Tau Beta Pi. They will have two routes of eligibility for Tau Beta Pi membership — their Sigma Tau membership and their Tau Beta Gamma membership. You clearly indicate that most of these people want to come into Tau Beta Pi by way of their Tau Beta Gamma eligibility, and I don't blame them. We shall do it this way, certainly.

There is one technicality we shall have to work out however: If your active Sigma Tau members come into Kansas Gamma on the basis of their Sigma Tau eligibility, then the Sigma Tau national office will pay their Tau Beta Pi initiation fee and Convention assessment totaling $26. But anybody who comes into Kansas Gamma without any Sigma Tau active member eligibility will have to pay the $26 himself. I repeat, this is a technicality which we shall work out in the records. I am not going to collect another 26 bucks from a Tau Beta Gamma member who happens also to be a Sigma Tau active member. I am going to get that Tau Beta Gamma member's national initiation fee from Sigma Tau, not from him. But I will have to know who these people are so that I can bill the Sigma Tau central office for ther initiation fees rather than your new chapter. Understand? Or have I made it clear as mud?

Thanks for instructing me to use Dr. Tillman's office as permanent mailing address for your chapter.

I'll be looking for your Report of Eligibility soon, as you say, and off we go! Let me know how many Tau Beta Pi brochures, etc., you want to send out in your initial mailing to all your people. Then tell me later how many sets of Constitution booklets, information booklets, etc. you will probably need to send to those who accept your invitation to Tau Beta Pi membership.

A little later I'll tell you who the official installing officer for Kansas Gamma will be (a member of the Executive Council) although I shall be there myself as well. And we ought to get the word to Sigma Tau so that they can have an opportunity to send an official representative, preferably their national president, Professor George Forman at the University of Kansas, who is also a Tau Bate. Sincerely yours, Robert H. Nagel

Dear George: On the recommendation of our new Kansas State University successful petitioner, we have just approved the date of January 27, 1974 for the installation of that new chapter. Mark your calendar and plan to be with us, please. Further details later.

Now, if the Tau Beta Pi-Sigma Tau merger is accomplished by then, we shall also be merging the Kansas State Sigma Tau chapter into the new Tau Beta Pi chapter at the same time. If that happens, and I hope it does, I very definitely insist on your presence!

Kansas State is likely to be the first Sigma Tau-Tau Beta Pi chapter merger. My guess is that other such mergers, including the University of Kansas chapters, will occur at the time of the Tau Beta Pi spring initiation ceremonies in 1974. Do you have other thoughts on this matter? May I suggest your consulting with the Kansas Alpha Tau Beta Pi officers and other advisors about their preferences? Very best regards. Sincerely yours, Robert H. Nagel

Dear Mr. Nagel, We are in the process of contacting approximately 120 alumni about their eligibility for Tau Beta Pi membership. Since we have such a large number of people to contact, we need more catalog cards. Could you please send between 50 or 100 of these cards to our permanent address in Manhattan, Kansas (please send about 100 so that we will have no shortage for our membership, if this is possible). We will also need more of these materials, if the Sigma Tau merger is approved.

I think we have enough of the eligibility report forms. These should be completed and in the mail by Monday or Tuesday.

Thank you for your help with this problem. Sincerely yours, John R. Schlup

Dear John: At Its meeting yesterday, our Executive Council made a decision which changes one Instruction I gave you earlier. It Is as follows:

On January 27 we shall officially install your Kansas Gamma chapter of Tau Beta Pi, but we shall not "merge" the Kansas State Sigma Tau chapter into your new Tau Beta Pi chapter then. Such "merger" of the two chapters will occur later in the season, probably at the time of your spring initiation or some special date of your choice.

The reason for this decision is in part Sigma Tau's request that their founding chapter at the University of Nebraska be the first to be converted or merged into Tau Beta Pi. And we cannot get the Nebraska conversion done before your installation date. All of this is dependent, of course, on ratification of the Sigma Tau-Tau Beta Pi merger by the chapters of both organizations, which ratification voting is not yet completed nor resolved.

I am told by the president of Sigma Tau that the Kansas State chapter of his organization has voted not to merge with Tau Beta Pi. This puts you and the Tau Beta Pi idea in even a worse diplomatic position on your own campus. It is far better that we not talk about merging the Kansas State chapters until later in the season.

All of this still leaves you with certain problems about Tau Beta Gamma members who are also Sigma Tau members — how do they want to come into Tau Beta Pi, if they want to come in at all? They will still have two routes open to them, as I said in my November 20 letter, their Sigma Tau membership and their Tau Beta Gamma membership. I believe that each of them should have the choice.

Our national president, Mr. George P. Palo, will be your official installing officer, and I'll be there on January 27 with him. More details about this later. Sincerely yours, Robert H. Nagel

Dear Mr. Nagel: Enclosed are the Reports of Eligibility for the new Tau Beta Pi Chapter at Kansas State University, In the report we have included eligible seniors who graduated in 1971, 1972, and 1973, as well as the eligible juniors and seniors for the fall term, 1973. Since we have listed several different classes over a period of several years, the data concerning the determination of the eligible members is given here, rather than at the bottom of each report.

Eligible members from the graduating classes of 1971, 1972, and 1973, were selected as the upper one-fifth of the total graduates. This included 121 out of a total of 605 graduates. In the remaining cases the upper one-eighth of the junior class and the upper one-fifth of the senior class were eligible. For the fall term of 1973 this included 21 eligible juniors out of a total of 168 and 58 eligible seniors out of a total of 290.

We estimate that 70 new members will be initiated during the January 27, 1974, ceremony and we, therefore, request 70 sets of electees' materials. It should also be noted on the report that in the column designated "Present Members", a "CM" was used to denote the members of the petitioning chapter, Tau Beta Gamma, as Charter Members. Thank you for your assistance. Sincerely, Eric W. Schoeff, Corresponding Secretary

Dear Mr. Nagel, I am sorry that I have not written sooner; but, time was a scarce commodity during finals week, and I needed to make some arrangements before I could write this letter.

In regards to the 27th, we have reserved a place for the installation beginning at about 3 o'clock. The second report should be ready and mailed by the 12th of the year. Arrangements are currently being made for the banquet. President McCain (President of Kansas State University) will be present and will be the speaker at the banquet. Will you, President Palo, or both of you like to address the group at the banquet? Notify us of your decision so that we can print-up a correct program as soon as possible.

I think you need an explanation of the Sigma Tau vote. At the meeting (one of the larger Sigma Tau meetings I had seen), the vote was overwhelmingly in favor of the merger. There were very few votes against the merger. However, there were sufficient absentees so that a 2/3 majority was not obtained. I have discussed this with John Wilson, President of Sigma Tau and also a member of Tau Beta Gamma, and he explained the above to me. He also explained that he notified the Sigma Tau officials of the attitudes of the members present at the meeting. Although the vote shows them not approving the merger, the members of Sigma Tau who are active in the organization do favor the merger.

I feel at this time that there is only one problem to resolve, and it is one which we have discussed earlier. The question is open again about members common to both Tau Beta Gamma and Sigma Tau.

The members want to go through the Tau Beta Pi installation. However, they desire to use their Sigma Tau membership with respect to their initiation fees, if possible. Of course, if the merger fails, the question is (or was) purely academic. However, if the merger is approved, they do have a valid point. Dr. Tillman and I have discussed this and would like to see the situation handled in the following way:

By January 27th the outcome of the merger will have been known for some time. If it was approved, we would like for all members of Tau Beta Gamma to be initiated into Tau Beta Pi at that date. During the first part of January we will mail to you a list of all Tau Beta Gamma members who are members of Sigma Tau. We ask that their initiation fees be paid from the Sigma Tau funds.

We feel this request is reasonable since the vote will have been completed. The only difference between doing it as stated above and waiting for the merger of the Tau Beta Pi and Sigma Tau would be in their date of initiation. I also feel that if their initiation were delayed, it will take a great deal of meaning from the Tau Beta Pi ceremony. 

We hope you will agree with us. Sincerely yours, John Schlup

Dear John: Many thanks for your letter of December 24 which came yesterday. I was unprepared then to answer your questions and suggestions concerning Sigma Tau; but today I am prepared. The Executive Council of Tau Beta Pi has just declared the merger of Sigma Tau and Tau Beta Pi ratified by our chapters, so now we can go ahead on January 27 and "merge'' your new Tau Beta Pi chapter with the existing Sigma Tau chapter at Kansas State University.

Now, we know what to do with those students of Tau Beta Gamma who are also members of Sigma Tau. Their Tau Beta Pi initiation fees will be paid by the Sigma Tau national headquarters and you should not collect any national fee from them, although you may want to collect your own local fee to cover your costs of their banquet, etc. I will bill the national headquarters of Sigma Tau for their national Tau Beta Pi fees. But you must identify Sigma Tau members for me, please, on your Report of Election, simply by putting a little "ST" opposite their names.

Later, just as soon as the Sigma Tau national officers approve the procedure, I will send a letter of information and instructions to John Wilson, your Sigma Tau chapter president, telling him that all of his additional Sigma Tau members who are not Tau Beta Gamma members may also be initiated on January 27. A copy of that letter to Mr. Wilson will go to you, along with special membership election report forms now being printed. Active Sigma Tau members at Kansas State who are not members of Tau Beta Gamma can be initiated into Tau Beta Pi and have their national initiation fees paid by Sigma Tau headquarters.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote to you and Dr. Tillman indicating that the "merger" of your new Tau Beta Pi chapter and the Sigma Tau chapter should be delayed until later in the spring. I have changed my mind, after talking with Professor Forman of Sigma Tau. He told me over the phone late yesterday, when I reported the Tau Beta Pi approval of the merger to him, that he would telephone Dr. Tillman and urge that the "merger" of the two Kansas State chapters be accomplished on January 27.

I just wish that we had a little more time now to get those non-Tau Beta Gamma Sigma Tau people at Kansas State reported to me so that could have engraved keys, etc. ready for them on January 27. But time is going to run short before I can send "merger" instructions to John Wilson and get his report of Sigma Tau members who want to become Tau Beta Pi members at your installation. We’ll all do the best we can under these scheduling difficulties.

So, finally, I agree completely with all the points you make in your letter about dual-membership people, and I go even further by stating that those who are members of Sigma Tau only can also be initiated on January 27.

President George P. Palo and I will both want to say a few words on your installation program, please. Since Professor George W. Forman, president of Sigma Tau, also plans to be present at your function, it might be nice to have him speak briefly on your banquet program.

I will give you information about our travel plans, etc. later. Keep plugging away — you are doing extremely well! Sincerely yours, Robert H. Nagel

Dear Mr. Nagel: Enclosed are the Reports of Election from the Kansas Gamma Chapter. We would like to note again that "CM” was used in the "Present Member" column to recognize the members of the petitioning chapter as charter members of the Kansas Gamma Chapter.

Catalog Cards have also been enclosed. There were many former members of the petitioning chapter who did not reply to our letter informing them of our acceptance as a national chapter. These people were marked as refusing election. Several present charter members and two former members accepted election, but failed to return the Catalog Cards. It is our hope that we may initiate these people and send their catalog cards to you when they return after the semester break. The following people failed to turn in cards:

Janet E. Hull - CM

James Leach - CM

Bruce A. Napier - CM

Assadigh El-Magboub - CM

Dana M. Smerchek - CM

Wayne J. Mikols - CM

John D. Wilson - CM

Hassan Pirasteh Far - CM

Stephen N. Vaughn - CM

Thank you for your assistance. Sincerely, Eric W, Schoeff, Corresponding Secretary

Dear John: I have received Eric Schoeff's January 3 letter and your Reports of Election and Catalog Cards. I believe I understand everything.

Our Official Approval for your January 27 Initiation Is enclosed. It states that all 50 of your electees are approved, Including those for whom Catalog Cards have not yet been received. Yes, all of these people are to be Initiated on January 27, whether or not I have their Catalog Cards — so long as you vouch for their eligibility for membership in Tau Beta Pi.

Engraved keys have been ordered for all 50 of these people. They will be delivered directly to you by the Balfour Company, on special rush order. When you get them, you have some more work! Each key must have a brown and white ribbon bow tied to it, with a straight pin through the knot of the bow, per the enclosed Instructions and sample. The bolts of ribbon are enclosed.

I still need from you, please, a Report of your chapter officers and advisors. Jot them down on the enclosed report sheet and send it to me pronto.

You have the copy of my letter of yesterday to John Wilson concerning the Initiation on January 27 of all his Sigma Tau active members. If you run into any problems or questions on this Sigma Tau matter, or anything else, please telephone me here at the office, to save time. You don’t have a hard enough job getting your own Tau Beta Pi chapter started, but it Is complicated now by the Sigma Tau merger! I certainly appreciate all the extra work you are doing to make the whole shebang successful.

Official installing deputy for your Kansas Gamma chapter will be our national president, Mr. George P. Palo. He and I will get to Manhattan from Lincoln, Nebraska, where we shall be converting the Sigma Tau chapter into the first new Tau Beta Pi chapter on January 26. All I know is that we are driving from Lincoln to Manhattan late on January 26, with Professor George W. Forman, national president of Sigma Tau. Professor Forman will also participate in your installation and Sigma Tau chapter merger. We’ll make our own overnight room reservations in Manhattan, when our travel schedule is firmed up.

Dear Mr. Nagel, I'm sorry about not getting some of the information to you a little sooner, but a lot of it was not available until recently.

We will mail the Sigma Tau membership list in Tau Beta Gamma to you as soon as possible. I asked Sigma Tau for a membership list before vacation, but they were unable to get it to me in time. I will mail this information to you within one week or ten days, as soon as I can after the Sigma Tau representatives return to campus.

The schedule for the 27th is as follows:

1. 3 o'clock: members meet at all-faith chapel on campus for Tau Beta Pi installation

2. After this installation (~4 o'clock) we will have the Sigma Tau initiation.

3. 6 o'clock: social hour at Cavalier Club before dinner.

4. 7 o'clock: dinner.

We have you and Dr. Forman addressing the group with President McCain of Kansas State as the guest speaker. We would appreciate a "head count" of those members of your group who will be attending. If President Palo would care to say a few words, let me know and I will see that he has the opportunity.

We happen to be low in catalogue cards; if you could send about 200 to our permanent address, it will be greatly appreciated.

I am glad to see that the merger was approved. Thank you for the copies of the letters sent to our Sigma Tau chapter; it will help make the transition much easier. I'm sure this is a healthy move for both organizations and the members at K-State are looking forward to working together as one organization. Sincerely yours, John Schlup

Dear Dr. Forman, I'm sorry about not writing sooner, but with semester break everything just seemed to sneak up upon us. I thought I'd drop you a short letter to fill you in on any details about Jan. 27th you possibly are not aware of.

The ceremony will be held at the All-Faiths Chapel on campus. We have asked people to be there at 3 pm. The Tau Beta Pi installation will be conducted, followed by the initiation of Sigma Tau members after a short break. The banquet will be held at the Cavalier Club in Aggieville. There will be a social hour at 6 pm, followed by the dinner at 7 pm. We hope you will be able to say a few words to the group during the program. President McCain will be the main speaker. Needless to say, your wife is more than welcome to attend the banquet. We only ask that you make reservations with us immediately so that we can notify the club as to how many to expect. There will also be a short meeting with the necessary people Sunday morning to make final arrangements. We will give this information to you (as to the time and place) when you, Mr. Nagel, and President Palo arrive.

If we can be of any assistance to you, please don't hesitate to contact us. Sincerely, John Schlup

Dear John: Your January 10 letter has been waiting for my return from a Tau Beta PI trip, but the extra Catalog Cards you requested were air mailed to you immediately.

I telephoned Dr. Tillman this morning to correct what I think is a wrong understanding on your parts about the formal Initiation ceremony on January 27. I now repeat what I said to him: There will be only one Tau Beta Pi initiation ceremony conducted on your campus on January 27. In that single hour-long ceremony we shall initiate all Tau Beta Gamma and all Sigma Tau people who are qualified for Tau Beta Pi membership. So, we want your Sigma Tau people to show up at 3 o'clock for initiation, along with your Tau Beta Gamma people.

After the formal initiation ceremony of everybody, we shall conduct a brief Tau Beta Pi chapter installation ceremony and a Sigma Tau-Tau Beta Pi merger ceremony. This second set of ceremonies will take no more than 15 minutes and will follow immediately and in the same room at the conclusion of the one initiation ceremony.

I think I may well have been responsible for some of the misunderstanding on these details. Yours is the first installation and Sigma Tau merger function we have ever tried, and I was not sure in my mind until recently how the ceremonies should be arranged. But I am sure now. And I couldn’t give you specific instructions until very recently because we did not know whether the Sigma Tau merger would be ratified by our chapters. When it finally was, everybody was gone for their holidays, and I sat here making mechanical decisions like mad, in my beautiful isolation!

On your banquet program, please add president George P. Palo of Tau Beta Pi who will want to say a few words — and I mean a very few words — along with Professor George W. Forman and myself. The main speech of the evening will be given by President McCain.

I do not anticipate any other international officers of Tau Beta Pi or Sigma Tau at your initiation-installation-merger-banquet, besides Palo, Forman, and me. And we all insist on speaking! Sincerely yours, Robert H. Nagel

To my favorite Johns: The Tau Beta PI events last Sunday went off extremely well, thanks to the good preparations both of you made, and on very short notice. It Is a great pleasure to have Kansas Gamma In our family of chapters and to have It augmented by all those fine Sigma Tau people. Many thanks to both of you for your hard work.

It occurred to me coming home on the airplane that Professor Lindly ought to have some official place in Kansas Gamma. His help could be not only very valuable but necessary in bringing about the complete transfer of Sigma Tau records, finances, land (!), etc. Why not add him to your chapter's Advisory Board when you hold that new election in February? Several chapters have five or more advisors. I have always read the rules as stating that A chapter may have no less than four. Or elect him faculty treasurer. Keep him active and interested at all costs.

I have the happiest memories of Kansas Gamma! Sincerely yours, Robert H. Nagel