THE HISTORY OF FARMHOUSE FRATERNITY

1995-2004 Foundation Support Paves Way for Top Programs

Never has one single donation impacted our organization more than the major gift from magazine publisher Roy Reiman (IA '55) and his wife Bobbi. The Reiman family's generous gift to the FarmHouse Foundation in 1998 enabled the Fraternity to expand the former Presidents' Leadership Conference (which started in 1993) by adding tracks for chapter recruitment chairs and an additional officer. The three- track format began in 2000, when the conference was renamed the FarmHouse Leadership Academy.

“From the moment I left home to the moment I returned, I was ready to soak up information; to beg, borrow and steal ideas; and to pick anybody's brain that I could,” past Illinois State president Ryan Zimmerman (ILS ‘95) said.

“What I did not know was that (the Academy) would give me more than I ever could have expected. I was awestruck at the brotherhood that existed among the chapters—even though separated by hundreds of miles. I came home from (the Academy) that year inspired and motivated beyond my own expectations.”

Without the gift from the Reimans, the Academy would still be the Presidents' Leadership Conference, with 60 fewer young men being impacted each year.

Foundation/Fraternity Staff Restructuring

An important decision in fall 1996 by the FarmHouse International Board and the Foundation Board of Trustees paved the way for Bob Off (CO '64) to become the first full-time executive director of the FarmHouse Foundation. The move enabled Bob to devote 100 percent of his time to building the Foundation's endowment and annual fund. Bob had split his time between both entities as executive director of the Fraternity and Foundation for nearly 24 years.

The move has paid huge dividends for FarmHouse—with the net assets of the Foundation increasing from $687,047 in 1996-97 to $3,503,045 in 2003-04.

Jim Griffith (MO '91) was hired to serve as the Fraternity's executive director in 1997 and continues to serve in this position (he served the previous two years as director of chapter services for FarmHouse).

FarmHouse men joining Bob and Jim on staff full-time at different points throughout this decade included: Neil Wheeler (PU '85), who served as director of expansion; Jason Rohr (ND '95) and Adam Edwards (TN '94) as expansion consultants; Alex Eckert
(MO '90) as director of expansion; and Joe Stephens (MO '93) as director of expansion and recruitment.

Currently on staff with Bob and Jim are: Lorie Widdice, who is the office manager and has served on staff since 1993; Jonathan Hawley (PU '98), who is director of chapter services; Allison Rickels, who is senior director of the annual fund and communications with the Foundation; Trent Niemeier, who is the Fraternity's first full-time educational leadership consultant; Jo Berryman, who is secretary; and Brian McCann, who has served as our Webmaster since 1996.

Charterings

The decade began with a bang as new chapters at Troy State (now Troy University), Clemson, and Western Kentucky chartered in 1995. Thanks to Wheeler's tutelage, it was the first time in the Fraternity's history that three chapters chartered in the same year.

Additional charterings occurred during the decade with Arkansas re-chartering in 1999, after two years as an inactive chapter, and the Texas A&M Chapter chartering in 2004.

Programming

In addition to the continued expansion and
improvement of the FarmHouse Leadership Academy, the Fraternity made huge strides in its other programming during the decade—by reformatting and building up the Regional Leadership Conferences and placing more
emphasis on career development.

The Fraternity incorporated a leadership book series into the RLCs, taking top leadership books and building FarmHouse-based programs around them. The added funding from the Foundation enabled participants to take home top leadership books and learn how to incorporate the principles in their chapters.

To help students make career connections with alumni, the Fraternity developed a Career Days program for students to get a chance to learn about companies where they might work. The program enables students to interact with and learn from top alumni employers. The Fraternity also began hosting a career section on its Website and sponsored programs at conferences on resume preparation, interviewing, dress for success, and business etiquette.

One of the highlights of the decade was the creation and implementation of the Chapter Award of Excellence, a minimum standards-based re-certification program that measures each chapter's performance and helps the Board and staff gauge the health of each chapter. The Award of Excellence program has helped increase the expectations and level and caliber of programming in our chapters.

Coupled with the Award of Excellence was the creation of the Ruby Cup Award in 1995. The traveling trophy is presented to the overall outstanding chapter of the Fraternity annually. Chapters are also now divided into green and gold divisions, based on their size and total lifetime initiates. These improvements have helped boost participation in the chapter awards program from less than 25 percent of chapters participating to more than 80 percent.

Improvements in Communications

In 1997, the Fraternity took a big step in its communication with alumni by publishing Pearls & Rubies as a magazine again, rather than a tabloid newspaper. The move to the tabloid format was made in the 1970s for cost reasons. The Fraternity was able to make the switch back to a magazine format due to lower prices for printing and improvements in printing technology.

The magazine took another leap forward when Lance Ziesch (KS '96) took over the design of the magazine. Ziesch served as design editor of the magazine from 1999-2002, helping make Pearls & Rubies a four-color magazine and taking the design to another level. Allison Rickels took over as design editor of the magazine in 2002 and continues to improve
the award-winning publication.

The first FarmHouse International Website was developed in 1995. Fortunately, alumnus Brian McCann (MS '95) took over our Website in 1996 and has served as volunteer Webmaster since then. McCann has provided the Fraternity with invaluable service developing and administering the site that would cost the Fraternity thousands per year otherwise. The site—http://www.FarmHouse.org—includes great amounts of resources, news, and information at an alumnus, undergrad, or visitor's fingertips.

NIC Recognition

Unlike other decades, FarmHouse Conclaves during this decade included only mild discussion and debate regarding the FarmHouse alcohol and drug policy. In fact, this decade was marked by a changing culture towards alcohol around FarmHouse. As many as a dozen other men's fraternities announced and have embarked on various forms of alcohol-free housing.

FarmHouse was seen as a leader that other fraternities pointed to and wanted to model themselves after—an organization with high academic standards, an alcohol-free living environment, and strong values-based leadership. FarmHouse was presented with the Laurel Wreath Award at the 1998 North-American Interfraternity Conference annual meeting for its leadership by example in the alcohol-free housing movement.

Campaign 2005

The decade ended with the Foundation well on its way to meeting and exceeding the $4-million goal established for its “Campaign 2005” capital campaign. The primary focus of the campaign has been to establish endowments to perpetually fund specific programming as well as to provide income to be used at the trustees' discretion to meet the changing needs of the Fraternity.

Said retired member of the Foundation Board of Trustees Bob Dahlberg (IA '47), “Campaign 2005 will guarantee the future of FarmHouse Fraternity.”