FROM THE CABINET

The current cabinet of The Lambda Iota Chapter at Purdue University is excited and proud to announce that despite the tribulations of COVID-19, we have continued to be an exemplary chapter and in good standing with Purdue University. The last year and a half has been a true struggle, constantly managing and complying with the ever changing rules and regulations of the Protect Purdue Pledge and Tippecanoe County guidelines. Additionally, Brothers have worked very hard the last year to adapt to online learning, numerous quarantines and weekly COVID-19 testing. The cabinet has been tested to learn how to manage the chapter in never seen circumstances, with great guidance from Purple Legionnaire Bill Miller. This said, the brothers of Lambda Iota are also extremely grateful for the continued support from our beloved graduate brothers and Housing Corporation, who have offered many donations to ensure that we are able to mitigate COVID-19 within the walls of the Fiji house. This last semester, we enjoyed one of the largest turnouts in recent memory for our virtual Pig Dinner, who featured former Indiana Governor and most importantly, Lambda Iota Brother and current Purdue University President Mitch Daniels. The brothers continue to strive for academic excellence, displaying our pillars, with our chapter semester GPA of 3.17. We had 38 brothers make the Dean's List, including 6 of our men who earned a 4.0 GPA this last spring. As campus and the state of Indiana continue to open up, we are eagerly awaiting a return to 640 N. Russell, looking ahead to prospects of in-person recruitment, pledge class reunions, and Mom and Dad’s Day. The Cabinet is truly thankful for all the wonderful support, and to all those near and far who care so deeply about our Lambda Iota brotherhood!

 

LAMBDA IOTA RECRUITMENT

Hello Graduate Fiji’s! My name is John Kay and I am the Lambda Iota chapter of Phi Gamma Delta’s recruitment chairman for this upcoming fall semester in 2021. I am going to be a senior next year at Purdue and had experience as the Associate Rush Chairman this past year. I have always had a passion for recruitment and love finding kids that can have their life changed by such a great organization, as this chapter did with my life. As most of you know, Lambda Iota does not rush in the spring semester, since we feel just taking one single pledge class of around 30-35 kids promotes unity amongst the future brothers in a stronger manner. This means that between now and the end of recruitment, we have to keep a sharp eye on Purdue students that we think could make a very strong addition to the new Pledge Class '25. If any of you have any recommendations of students you think would be a great addition here at Fiji, please feel free to shoot me an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or a text/call at 317-946-9167, telling me a little bit about them and how I can contact him in the future. We take recommendations from former brothers very seriously here, and would appreciate any opportunity to get to know any of your recommendations. We will be accepting recommendations up until August 20, 2021. I wanted to thank all of you for reading this quick message and can promise you all that PC ’25 will be one of the best pledge classes to date!

 

LAMBDA IOTA COVID-19 UPDATE

As you may have seen in The Russell Street Review Fall 2020 edition, chapter operations changed drastically in order to be in accordance with various Purdue University, Indiana State Department of health, and Interfraternity Council mandates. The brothers of the Lambda Iota chapter showed great perseverance in adhering to the guidelines and operating procedures set forth by governing entities and curtailing the proliferation of the virus.

Some of the changes made to the chapter house both physically and operationally related to dining in the house, rearrangement of cold air dorms, recruitment, and many other aspects of life within the chapter house. The chapter would like to sincerely thank the housing corporation and graduate brother population for both their monetary support and fraternal backing. Without the generous contributions made by them, the chapter would have been in question as to its functionality with so many changes made.

However, notwithstanding the impositions from Covid-19 are the great triumphs from adapting to such an unprecedented situation. Perhaps the biggest success from this last year was the 119th Lambda Iota Frank Norris Pig Dinner in Honor of William R. Miller. The undergraduate chapter was able to host a virtual Pig Dinner, all while keeping with tradition of bringing in the pig, the prayer, and new pledge class introductions. While the online format may have impeded our ability to gather and share esoteric memories and reminisce about our congenial brotherhood, it also gave flexibility in that anyone could join from anywhere. This yielded our largest attendance for Pig Dinner in recent history. The online format also allowed us to have Purdue President and Lambda Iota Fiji, Mitch Daniels, as our guest speaker.

I could talk of many more obstacles the brothers of the Lambda Iota chapter had overcome, but it is in the nature of Fiji’s to Press On! As the Fall 2021 semester approaches, things are looking up as Purdue loosens restrictions and a glimpse of normalcy begins to shine. Thank you to all that helped the chapter through this arduous period and the support you gave in many ways. We look forward to seeing you back on campus very soon.

 

BOILERMAKERS ARE BACK

Ross-Ade Stadium and the Boilermakers are back to playing football this fall with full capacity! We are eager to welcome graduates back to campus and to Lambda Iota. Below is the 2021 Purdue Football Home Schedule.

September 4th - Oregon State @ Purdue

September 25th - Illinois @ Purdue

October 2nd - Minnesota @ Purdue (Homecoming)

October 23rd - Wisconsin @ Purdue (Undergraduates Dads Day)

November 6th - Michigan State @ Purdue

November 27th - Indiana @ Purdue

 

LAMBDA IOTA & HISTORY OF IRON KEY MEMBERSHIP

The Order of the Iron Key, originally founded in 1910, is an honorary society unique to Purdue made up of 12 student leaders from the senior class of ability, prominence, interest, and influence in student affairs on Purdue’s campus. Students selected meet throughout the year to discuss areas of campus which can be improved and give perspective to university leadership on the student experience. Membership in Iron Key is to remain secret until the close of the college year, as the focus of the organization is meant to be entirely on achieving a specific goal, not on receiving recognition.

This year, Brother Liam Bettez (’21) was selected as a member of Iron Key’s class, which got us thinking, how many Phi Gams have also received this honor? After some work of cross-referencing alumni lists between the two organizations, and scouring old copies of the Debris, we have counted nearly 50 past members from our chapter! In addition, past Purdue FIJIs who served as President of the University (Art Hansen and Mitch Daniels) also worked closely with Iron Key during their terms. Other notable highlights include five brothers from the class of 1959 as well as a member from the second ever class in 1911! The sheer number of brothers recognized by this honor goes to show the strength of the Lambda Iota Chapter, and the continued pursuit of excellence from our members! Listed below is the entirety of our findings for past graduates from our chapter recognized with this honor:

• 1911: Homer William Philip Binder
• 1912: Hugh Lycurgus Wollverton “Jake”
• 1914: Francis Clark Gaddis
• 1924: John Edward Bixler, Jr.
• 1927: Paul W. Jones
• 1939: Gordon W. Mathews
• 1940: David L. Brubeck
• 1948: Paul A. Blakely, Henry C. Ryder
• 1950: Lawrence C. Lane, Jr. “Larry”
• 1951: Mitchell J. Vogel
• 1952: William L. Dudley, Robert G. Schmidt
• 1953: Dale A. Samuels, Douglass R. Shortridge
• 1954: Robert M. Benning
• 1955: Donald E. Albert, Roger G. Gay, Loren R. Graham, Douglas M. Stuart
• 1957: Phillip Richard Wolf
• 1959: John O. Coffin “Jack”, William Richard Davis, Jerry Walter Kimball, H. Parker Wayland, Jr., Jerry Lee Weisenauer
• 1963: Brian Miles Duwe, John Anton Zaloudek
• 1964: Charles Gilbert Armstrong
• 1966: John C. DeWenter, Jr.
• 1967: Charles Converse Carson, Robert Frank Manifold
• 1969: Neill Stacy Lankford, MD “Stacy”
• 1972: George S. King Honorary
• 1973: Robert Armean Wright “Armean”
• 1974: Ramond J. Rudolph “Joe” Honorary
• 1976: Dr. Richard Edward Grace Honorary, Faculty Advisor for approximately 25 years!
• 1977: Jeffrey Brown Morford
• 1979: John Taylor Hopkins
• 1980: Todd Benton Keleher
• 1984: Ben Calixto Huston
• 1988: Scott William Givens
• 1989: Peter Worley Kingma
• 1990: Daniel Joseph Folta
• 1994: Thomas J. Templin, Zeta Chapter, Honorary
• 1996: Morgan Joseph Burke, Honorary
• 2018: R. Neale Moore
• 2021: Liam Patrick Bettez 

Note: While we tried our best to find all past FIJI-Iron Key members, we are sure that we have missed some! So, if you know of any additional brothers who were members of Iron Key please contact us!

 

GRADUATE RELATIONS

Are you or your class planning an upcoming trip to campus? The chapter loves hosting graduate brothers, touring them around the updated chapter facility, and sharing stories of their time at Purdue! The Graduate Relations committee will accept any input regarding graduate focused communication or events including next year’s Pig Dinner or any other trips to campus. Below are some upcoming plans!

• August 22-23rd: Class of 1962 59th reunion
• August 25th: Class of 1981 40th reunion

 

RECRUITMENT TIMELINE

• Friday, August 20th: Recommendations deadline (Please send via email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or a text/call at 317-946-916)
• Sunday, August 22nd: Meet the Greeks hosted by Interfraternity Council
• Sunday, August 22nd: First Rush Event at Fiji House
• Monday, August 23rd: First day of Purdue Fall Semester

It is important that we receive recommendations as soon as possible, recruitment starts the Sunday before class, and happens very quickly!  We are grateful for your assistance and anticipate another strong rush!

 

Questions about the chapter or the our upcoming recruitment? Please contact Alex Paskill with any questions or comments at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 503-568-6124

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