The seeds of PTKAW were planted in October 2013, when PTK members visited Washburn for Transfer Day. For many of them it was the culmination of the Washburn experience. They had a chance to see the campus and interact with the administration which provided a visual representation of what had to that point only been expressed in numbers: the generous scholarships Washburn offers to PTK alumni. One of these students had already made the decision to transfer to Washburn and had seen the work of a student organization at Kansas State University, the Transfer Ambassador Program, which, while not exclusive for PTK alumni, largely catered to them. TAP served the dual functions of recruiting PTK members and promoting PTK to the next generation of students. By the time Transfer Day had arrived, the student was infatuated with the idea: if other universities could have such groups in their corner, why not Washburn, whose scholarship opportunities for PTK members are among the best in the region? Why not in Kansas, whose two-year college system is among the nation's best, and especially in northeast Kansas, home to many of those high-quality two-year colleges?

 

The idea had already been mentioned to Washburn's admissions staff by Transfer Day, but it was on Transfer Day that the administrators got the chance to discuss it in person. Forward-thinking, they could see how an alumni chapter at Washburn could benefit the university in diverse ways. So on October 24, 2013, they threw their support behind the project and challenged the student to make it happen; PTKAW was born.

 

The hill to climb was steep indeed. To become a registered student organization at Washburn, a group needs 7 students and a faculty/staff member committed as an advisor. In the beginning the project had just 2 adherents: accounting classmates Paul Flumen (Highland CC-Wamego) and Bryna Parson (Kansas City Kansas CC). They had a lot of networking to do, not knowing any other PTK members who were transferring to Washburn in 2014 and knowing only a few PTK advisors, not to mention precious few Washburn administrators. The process was painstakingly deliberate from the start and had gone faster from Fall 2013 to Summer 2014 than from Fall 2014 to Summer 2015. By the time the Fall 2015 semester began, the proposed alumni chapter was still just an idea with those 2 adherents.

 

Things finally picked up in the fall of 2015, when the project received its second and biggest break: the PTK Kansas/Nebraska Region held its semi-annual convention in Topeka in November. This was the major networking opportunity which the collaborators desperately needed: two days to make the pitch to a vast, diverse audience. Advisor after advisor endorsed the plan and promised to spread the word not only to current students considering Washburn but alumni already at Washburn. Momentum began to build: a third commitment was picked up by chance at the induction ceremony for the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, where Flumen recruited fellow inductee Amy Reinhardt from Johnson County CC. Two more commitments came Thanksgiving week from Labette CC alumni Sierra and Taylor Kemp, two WU softball players referred to Flumen by a teammate. By finals week 2 alumni from Highland CC, Thaina Jensen and Ashley Smith, had signed on after being referred by their PTK advisor, Harry Moeller, bringing the proposed alumni chapter to the crucial 7 members it needed to register as an official Washburn student organization.

 

In the meantime, the students, through Dr. Alan Bearman, Washburn's Dean of Libraries, had found an advisor in James Barraclough, Director of Undergraduate Initiatives and Student Success, Lecturer. Both of them saw the value a PTK alumni chapter could bring to both Washburn and students, and envisioned an alumni chapter assisting new transfer students in the same way Washburn's First Year Experience (FYE) program assists freshmen. In February, the first official recruiting pitch was sent out to 8 PTK scholarship recipients, resulting in two more commitments, Lucas Haefner and Patrick Monaghan from Highland CC-Perry. With 9 student members, Phi Theta Kappa Alumni of Washburn University officially registered as a Washburn student organization on March 21, 2016. In April Kristen Kogl from Allen CC-Burlingame joined after a chance meeting with Flumen in the School of Business computer lab to bring the membership to 10.

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Sierra Kemp and Amy Reinhardt graduated in May 2016, making the Fall 2016 recruiting period critical for PTKAW's success. For the first time, recruiting materials were sent to all incoming PTK alumni at Washburn, and in September the process delivered: 9 new members joined to more than double membership to 17. Our registration at Washburn has been safe and secure ever since.

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