Truman State University - Echo Yearbook (Kirksville, MO)

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LEADERS Or THE PACK The graduation procession, begin- ning with Barbara Heard, grand marshal, andJunior marshals Jill Benton. Jr., and Bonnie Tlcuncr makes its way to Pershing Arena. Photo by Ray Jagger LOO KIM GOOD Mary Zukows- kl. sr.. adds a pair of shades while Bay Umali. sr.. adjusts his hat. due to the windy weather. Photo by Jody Schultz SCHEDULE OF EVEMTS Denise Westhues and fellow graduate re- fer to the program as the gradua- tion activities get started. Photo by Jody Schultz MASS APPEAL Pershing Arena receives the honor of hosting the graduates and their guests. Incli- mate weather forced the change of place. Photo by Jody Schultz Student Life Graduation

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thought and the impor- tance and dignity of indi- viduals.” Tom Taylor, graduating business administration major, said: “I thought her message was good, but I was so excited about grad- uating that I had a hard time listening. When they named my division I yelled like I've never yelled be- fore. It was a great feeling. ” Bachelor's degrees were presented to 917 students, 73 students earned mast- er's degrees and 11 stu- dents received education specialist degrees. Four seniors earned a perfect 4.0 grade point av- erage during their college careers and were named valedictorians. The four were Susan Plassmeyer, Sherry Jack- son, Karla Ponder and Rick McVeigh. Once all of the degrees and awards were pre- sented the graduates and audience joined together under the direction of Clay Dawson, associate pro- fessor of music, to sing “Old Missou.” The song summed up the ceremony in the words of Basil Brew- er, a 1901 graduate. Junior Lori Merman said she was surprised at how casual many seniors seemed to be about the ceremony. “Because I know almost everyone considers col- lege graduation to be one of the major milestones in their lives it was different to see them being so casual — cups in their hands, waving to the crowd, mes- sages on their mortar- boards. There are always a lot of mixed emotions at graduation time,” Herman said. “I was sad to see a lot of really good friends leave, yet I was glad for them be- cause I knew they were ready to move on.” When the ceremony was over, students were seen celebrating all over Kirks- ville, ready to begin a new phase of life in the quick and ever-changing world. ----Callen Fairchild----- Feelings of excitement and anticipation filled the atmosphere as more than 1,000 students filed into Pershing Arena on May 9 for spring commencement FINALLY MAY exercises, realizing they would soon be touching tomorrow today. Families and friends cre- ated a wave of pastels as they squeezed into the crowded gymnasium. Uni- versity officials decided to hold the ceremony in- doors because of the wet field at Stokes Stadium and the possibility of more rain. Clad in the traditional black cap and gown, the graduates filed in to the ac- companiment of Elgar s “Fanfare and Procession- al” by the MMSU symphon- ic band. Whistles, cheers, and shouts were heard ev- ery time friends or family were spotted in the crowd. Shaila Aery, commis- sioner of the Missouri Co- ordinating Board for High- er Education, delivered the commencement speech. Aery said rapid changes would occur in the next 10 years, making the world even better than it was for the previous generations, and that each graduate had the capabilities to make a difference in this world. “These changes will not take place mechanically,” Aery said. “It takes human participation and vision. Each of us has the capacity to change the world.” Aery concluded: “Com- mencement is always a time of celebration. It is a time to express certain val- ues, such as freedom of Other rimes May has arrived, bur never with rhe same significance GRAPHIC GRADS Seniors Pam Wyant. Cindy Bishop, and Tom Louth promenade to Pershing to receive their degrees In the arts. Photo by Jody Schultz

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While the number of rush cards given out in- creased from 240 in fall '85 to 269 in fall '86, the num- ber of men who pledged dropped from 180 to 137. Mo reason for the drop in numbers was established. Some fraternity members BYE BYE BEER Fraternities have mixed opinions on the effects of the new dry rush policy however, attributed the decrease to specific fac- tors which affect their own groups. The biggest controver- sial issue that faced all fra- ternities was the dry rush policy that went into effect last fall. The policy stated that no alcohol would be served during rush activi- ties. Dry rush received both positive and negative re- views from fraternities. Most fraternities agreed that dry rush benefited their rush efforts because it eliminated the so-called professional rushees. Everyone who signs up is really interested in join- ing a fraternity and not just interested in going to all the parties, senior Roger Walgren, Sigma Tau Gam- ma rush chairman said. I think dry rush was beneficial for our organiza- tion, junior Jeff Rayfield, Alpha Kappa Lambda president said. Several organizations held barbecues along with athletic activities. Phi Kappa Theta altered their annual band party by serv- ing non-alcoholic beer, while Pi Kappa Phi held a Student Life 22 pinball and a video night. It wasn't hard planning activities. It just took a lit- tle more thought than sim- ply going out and buying a keg,” sophomore Chris Jordan, Phi Sigma Kappa rush co-chairman said. I think the hardest part of organizing it is over, Rayfield said, nowall the members know what to ex- pect and we've already done the brainstorming to create activities. The activ- ities will stay basically the same from now on. Although the activities were planned according to the dry rush policy, some fraternities were reported- ly investigated for alleged alcohol violations. Dean of Students Terry Smith said. Mo fraternities were penal- ized. The policy was not uni- versally adhered to, but there were no flagrant violations that warranted penalties, Smith said. Penalizing an organiza- tion for holding a party away from the fraternity house was complicated because it was difficult to prove the purpose was for rushing members. Smith said. Rush chairmen and the Interfratemity Council members attributed any disorganization or lack of communication to the fact that this was the first com- pletely dry rush. “It was rough as far as getting it organized. Down on paper it looked fine, but there were problems in communication such as getting date notices to the fraternities, sophomore John Witte, second vice- president in charge of rush for the I PC said. Junior Mollice Clark, member of Lambda Chi Al- pha, felt that scheduling and organizational prob- SPIRIT WITHOUT SPIRITS Members of Pi Kappa Phi fraterni- ty and little sisses attend a foot- ball game to promote themselves to potential rushees. Photo by Valerie Hoeppncr lems existed. The night we had rota- tion there was a dance on the mall, and a lot of guys went to it to see the girls rather than participate in the rotation, Clark said. Rotations involve divid- ing the rushees into groups and rotating them to different fraternities for an allotted amount of time. Another problem Clark cited was a communica- tion gap with freshmen rushees. They were not informed well enough about where to get their IPC cards and did not fully understand the rotation system, he said. A communication gap was not the only problem that Sigma Tau Gamma had concerning freshmen. Because the fraternity's grade point average for spring '86 dropped below the average GPA of their last five semesters. Sigma Tau Gamma was not al- lowed to rush members without 15 hours of estab- lished credit. Fraternities found that there was a strong move toward a nationwide prac- tice of dry rushes on col- lege campuses. We found at our na- tional Conference that the number of our chapters who participate in dry rushes had more than doubled in the past year, sophomore Todd Pruett, Phi Kappa Theta rush chairman said. Our na- tional gave us several ideas for activities, but we did not get them in time to organize them. It will take a few years to work out all of the bugs, but it is a productive rush method, Jordan said. I believe it was orga- nized pretty well for the first time, Rayfield said. -----Barb Dietrich-------- Dry Rush