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As a result of a recent "Parent's Day" activity
and with the guidance of John Newton, the active chapter has established
a Parent's Association. In its first "official function," the
Association built "Finals Survival Kits" and distributed them to 50
members of the active chapter! Future plans for the Association
include special event meetings and sponsorship of additional programs
designed to enhance the quality of life for the active chapter members.
The Alumni Chapter welcomes all parents to the association and would
like to thank them for their ongoing support to Zeta Omicron!
After the 2004-2005 academic year, the active
chapter was selected, along with 20 other
undergraduate chapters, to receive an Honorable Mention for this year's
True Merit Award from the national fraternity. This year's True
Merit Chapter honors were featured at the August 27th Awards Banquet
in Indianapolis.
The Zeta Omicron Active Chapter has been
awarded the Fraternity's True Merit Award four times, in 1971, 1981,
1982 and 1983.
ISU
sophomore and Terre Haute native A.J. Patton hasn’t wasted any time
getting involved with school, community
by Sue Loughlin
The Tribune-Star When John Newton
first met A.J. Patton at a conference on diversity, it didn’t take him
long to realize the Terre Haute North Vigo High School student had some
special qualities that set him apart. Patton — confident, assured
and direct — began asking Newton questions about Indiana State
University. “It didn’t take me long to realize this was an
outstanding, sharp, dynamic young man,” said Newton, who is ISU’s
director of alumni affairs. “You could just see he was going to go
someplace.” Eventually, he convinced Patton — who was
considering Butler University and other colleges — to attend ISU. Newton
told Patton he’d have an opportunity to lead and make a difference at
ISU, with its 10,000-plus student enrollment.
At age 20, the ISU sophomore hasn’t wasted any time. In late February,
Patton was elected president of ISU’s Student Government Association in
an election that had a record turnout. He won by a close 40 votes, with
892 to Drew Loftus’ 852 votes. There were two other
candidates for president.
Upon learning of his victory, the expression on his face was one of
disbelief, captured in a photo featured in the college newspaper. “I was
absolutely shocked. It was just like, wow. I was so excited,” he said
during a recent interview at ISU’s Hulman Memorial Student Union.
Serving as SGA president “means something different for me because I’m
from here … I understand what the university means to the city,” he
said. He wants to help both the university and his hometown prosper.
Many viewed him as an underdog, he said, and he had no running mate for
vice president. “I didn’t use any great marketing tools. I really went
old fashioned and just met people and let people know what I was about,”
he said. He will be inaugurated Wednesday, replacing Hobart
Scales.
III
It’s not the first time Patton has garnered attention with his
vote-getting abilities. In June 2003, at age 17, he became governor of
Hoosier Boys State, making him the first Terre Haute resident in the
program’s 66-year history to be elected to the top post. The event had
650 participants.
Those who know him well, including Julie McLaughlin, an assistant
principal at Terre Haute North, aren’t surprised by Patton’s success.
“A.J. is very strong in his beliefs and is genuine in his concern for
others,” she said. “These core values made him a leader who listened
well, who reacted with empathy, and who was able to build relationships
and consensus within the diverse community of his large high school. A.J.
left a lasting legacy at North and we’re very proud of him.”
At school, he often urged the younger students to work to the best of
their abilities, noting that as a freshman, he did not understand the
importance of this. As an upperclassman, Patton challenged himself by
scheduling Advanced Placement and College Challenge classes to build a
strong foundation for his post-secondary work, McLaughlin said.
“One of my lasting memories is of A.J., a three-sport athlete, spending
his game-day bus trips to locales such as Evansville and Indianapolis
poring over motivational and inspirational non-fiction, and occasionally
a novel for his English class,” she said.
Patton, who graduated from North in 2004, was the student council
president his senior year. One of his Alpha Tau Omega fraternity
brothers, ISU student Jason Williams, described Patton as caring,
extremely motivated and quick to volunteer for service projects.
“He’s a funny guy and has a presence about him. You know he’s in the
room,” WiIliams said.
III
Patton credits his mother, Oleta Jackson, for inspiring him to excel.
She said she always encouraged her son to set high goals for himself and
told him, “The sky’s the limit. You can succeed at anything you want to
do, whatever it takes, as long as you get the education and keep your
nose clean.” It’s a matter of how badly you want something,
she told him. While she was his biggest fan at his sporting
events, which included football, basketball and track, she made it clear
academics came before athletics. Her position was: “If your grades are
not good, I will bench you.” Anyone can have an average job and an
average life. “If he wants to succeed, he needs to put extra effort into
it,” she said.
While many of his peers wanted to leave Terre Haute, Jackson believes
“there wasn’t anything wrong with him staying here. Everyone’s dream is
to leave home to make it. He can do it right here,” she said.
A.J. has mentors in town, including Newton, who are guiding him and
helping him realize his goals, she said. One of Patton’s
challenges is accepting that he can’t save everybody, even though he may
want to, she said. “He gets crushed if he sees one of his friends down”
and can’t help that person get back up.
Patton already has become a role model to those who may come from
challenging, low-income backgrounds and need to make the right choices.
During the last school year, he returned to his former middle school,
Chauncey Rose, to talk to students. He told them to stay focused
and be consistent in character. “I live by the saying, good things
happen to good people — If you stay focused and work hard, good things
are going to happen.”
Newton, who Patton describes as “nothing short of a father figure to
me,” said the North graduate comes from a humble background and he could
have made the wrong choices that would have taken him down an entirely
different path. “He made up his mind at an early age that he was
going to be successful” and set an example for others, Newton said. “A
lot of people come from hard times and stay in hard times.” Not Patton.
III
The SGA election didn’t come easily for the marketing major, who had
much assistance from his ATO fraternity brothers as well as high school
friends. The election and campaign left him stressed out. After he
won, “I felt liberated, partly because I worked so hard on that
campaign,” Patton said. “I could not sleep. That’s all I was worried
about.” Williams said that “all of the fraternity brothers tried
to pull together and help campaign for him. Ben Gradle, ISU
student and the election commission chairman, believes Patton won
“because of his massive marketing campaign — posters, flyers, facebook
ads, banners, campaign team (fraternity) — and because he reached out to
all areas of the diverse campus community.”
Patton is looking forward to the new role and a major priority for him
is working with the Terre Haute Transit Utility to provide
transportation for ISU students, both on campus and to other locations
in the community. “This is something ISU has needed for a long time,”
Patton said.
The initiative would involve extended evening and weekend hours.
Destinations might include the mall, off-campus housing and
entertainment establishments.
Other goals include addressing campus parking issues and concerns
related to textbooks; staging more diverse concerts at ISU and working
with Greek life. “ISU is in a time of transition right now.
Enrollment has dipped and there are questions about its direction,”
Patton said. He believes there are certain things that “need to be done
to help spark the university.”
III
Just days after his election, Patton met with Mayor Kevin Burke to talk
about how the city bus service could be expanded to benefit students,
both on campus and off. They met at City Hall in the third floor
conference room. Also attending were Newton, who was there as Patton’s
friend and adviser, and Brad Miller, city transportation director.
Burke, who has known Patton for several years, told the 20-year-old he
represented the third SGA administration the city has met with to try
and expand bus service for ISU students. “Tell us what you need,” he
told Patton.
Both ISU and the city would gain — ISU students and staff would gain
transportation services, while the city buses would gain riders. Patton
asked several questions and said he would need to meet with student
groups to be sure he had student support before he pursued the matter
with ISU’s administration.
Since the service likely would involve a new student fee, Patton
suggested a student referendum might be a good idea. “I think this is
something that could change the landscape of the university,” Patton
said. If students had bus transportation to and from shopping areas,
restaurants and night spots, it might cause more students to spend
weekends on campus — which would change both the campus and community.
Patton said he hopes to forge a relationship with the city, and Burke
sees much potential in the “tremendous amount of talent, creativity and
energy” that ISU students can bring to the community. ISU’s
10,000-plus students can have a tremendous impact on Terre Haute —
especially if they vote. Then, Burke quipped, “I’m trying to
figure out how long I’ve got to be mayor before A.J. wants to be mayor.”
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