Hello again y’all! Sorry for the delay, I had a few things come up! But here’s my take on University of Montevallo!

The Campus

The campus was super nice and had a lot of rich history to it! It used to be an all girls school and named Alabama College before receiving the name, University of Montevallo and going co-ed. Before all of this though, it was a civil war base! The president of the chapter showed me around and gave me the history tour. Where their theatre school is at currently, it used to be the old hospital for the wounded soldiers. At the time, the union came in and completely cleaned house on the hospital (which was illegal). Once the attacks started there was a secret tunnel that the confederates tried hiding in, but they were all killed in the tunnel as well. Another interesting fact was where the plantation house was, an entire family was massacred inside of it in the 1860s and their cemetery is still on campus! But all and all the original brick roads lined the campus and it was pretty to walk around.

The Chapter

The men at Montevallo were super cool! They were willing to learn and take whatever crazy ideas I had and ran with them. I was about to go out to chain restaurants with them and hang out as a group which is always relaxing as an ELC. It ended with a big game of Quiplash on Friday night with a bunch of laughs. From listening on campus, these men make a huge difference to the culture and that’s always a beautiful thing to hear for me!

Next up I will be at Illinois State helping start up a brand new Lambda Chi Alpha organization! Stay tuned!

University of Alabama

 

Hello again y’all! These last five days have been a great experience for me. Just like Auburn, I was a little dude on a huge campus. On Saturday, I attended my first ever SEC football game and it was completely different than Big Ten football. Although Alabama played a very beatable team, the atmosphere was very great to sit back and enjoy. I arrived to the stadium about four hours early to check out the surroundings and how Alabama does their tailgate. The only downfall is I had to pay $20 to park about a mile and a half away and walk all the way to the stadium. Once I arrived to the stadium I stumbled across the “Walk of Champions”. This is where the team arrives in buses and walks down a main walkway to the entrance of the stadium. I happened to get there early enough, where I was able to stand in the front row as the team walked by. Although I am not the biggest Nick Saban fan, I was still within an arms reach of him which is always enjoyable to any football fan to be that close to important football people. After the Walk of Champions, I entered the stadium and took in the environment to see what the people of Bama had to offer. At the beginning I was able to watch the Million Dollar Band (which practiced at Faught Stadium last Spring) which was super cool. The Tide steam rolled over Arkansas State which I figured would happen. Overall, my first SEC experience was super fun.

On Sunday, I was about to golf (yet again) with an alumnus of their housing corp, a graduate student of the chapter, and an officer for the chapter. They took me to Ol’ Colony which is the home of the boys and girls Alabama golf team! The course was super challenging and I had a ROUGH day due to having a case of the slices…but I enjoyed my time with the fellas and getting to see a new course!

The Chapter Visit

This chapter is the second largest chapter that I had to present to and work with. The men were phenomenal! I was able to sit around and watch football with them and crack jokes and enjoy my time with many of the members. They really made me feel like I was one of them which I always appreciate. They are currently trying to find ways to improve some operations but I feel like they have the ability to become an elite chapter in their area!

The house was a very nice one in my opinion. The chapter has very rich history due to being started in 1917 as a Lambda Chi Alpha chapter. They had the original composites of the founding fathers and other composites from the 1920’s,30’s, and so on.

Food

Much of the food I ate was at their house, which their cooking staff was excellent! One place I was able to try out was as the brothers would say was “An Authentic Alabama Italian Restaurant.” The restaurant was called Depalma’s and was super good. My favorite part of the meal was the super cheesy bread sticks and they were jaw-dropping delicious! I had a filet for dinner with zucchini and garlic mashed potatoes. Overall I would give the meal a 9/10. It was very delicious, if you are ever in Tuscaloosa!

 

Next stop is a small liberal arts school called Montevallo!

 

Until Saturday, see ya!

 

Jimmy

Labor Day Weekend

Hello again everyone! I figured I would combine these two blogs into one. Over Labor Day weekend I was fortunate to have a three day weekend so I figured this would be my time to visit SunTrust Park. On Sunday morning, I was able to watch my first Braves game in the second year of the new ballpark. Growing up a huge Braves fan, I have seen many games whether it was at Turner Field, Great American, or their spring training park, but SunTrust was absolutely amazing! The Battery which is full of restaurants, stores, and bars around the ballpark was an absolute blast. It gives fans a lot to do while still being right next to the action. When the gates first opened, I went down to where some players were signing autographs (just like a kid). Although I did not have anything to get signed, I figured I would get a selfie if I could. The first and only player I saw was one no one knew, and I screamed “That’s Kyle Wright!”. He started laughing, because he knew I was a true fan. I was able to talk to him and he agreed to a selfie. What is super cool about this, is that it was his first day in the majors. He was called up Saturday night and I appreciated him taking the time to speak with me on his big day.

The game was about 90% sold out and the atmosphere was phenomenal. The Braves started their offense off with an Acuna lead off homer. The whole crowd went nuts and we started the chop (which i missed deeply)! The Braves played a tight game until the bottom of the 8th when they pulled out four runs and took the lead. Something that was really cool to see in person was the excitement within the team. Seeing Acuna jumping out of the dugout every time someone got a hit will show fans what the game really is about. Finally the fireworks went flying and the Braves kept the lead in the division!

On that Monday, I was able to meet up with some close family friends that I haven’t seen in a super long time! I was able to eat lunch with one of them and their youngest daughter. It was great being able to see them and catch up which was a great finish to my Labor Day weekend!

Samford University

This trip to Samford is not my official chapter visit. This week, I conducted a special recruitment visit to assist the chapter in recruiting and coaching them on certain areas. On Tuesday night, I was able to conduct a two hour workshop where the chapter went through different workshops and practiced different areas of recruitment such as: how to keep a names list, cold-calling, one-on-one meetings, tabling, how to close on a potential new member (PNM) to possibly give them a bid to join your organization, and how to market your chapter. By the end of the workshop, the men started killing it!

This week we were able to table and start getting PNMs names before they started formal recruitment next week and have two small activities to get PNMs involved and meet the brothers. I was able to play a handful of basketball games and watch the Thursday Night Football game with all of them and a good amount of PNMs. We ended the week debriefing the experience of my visit and set forth a plan for this semester, so the chapter can crush their recruitment goal they set for the semester. I will be back to visit the brothers in December and I look forward to it!

Food

There is a handful of local and unique places I ate over the last week. The first is at the Battery in Atlanta where it was Fox Brothers BBQ (surprise…right?). It was attached to the stadium and I got the usual pulled pork and brisket with mac and cheese. With it being a small bar, the food was great! I would rate it a 9/10 overall. The second place I ate was Saw’s BBQ in Birmingham. All over their walls was rich history of the small restaurant along with articles of them being featured in Southern Living and other magazines. I just tried out the pull pork with their BBQ and it was super delicious. I would rate it in the top 3 BBQ places I have eaten at so far. Overall experience was a 10/10. The last place noteworthy was the Fish Market that the chapter’s alumni advisor took me to. It was a cool atmosphere and I got a shrimp po’boy which was very good. Overall I would say it deserves a 9/10.

As for now, I will have to lay off the heavy food because my bosses were right…you will put on weight quick on the road!

That is all for now, but the next blog will be full of Roll Tide! Next stop…Alabama!

Huntingdon College

Hello again! This time, I will just be talking about the school, chapter and some food I ate along the way. Sadly, I did not explore on Wednesday (actually had to do some work!). Huntingdon is a small division 3 private school located in Montgomery, Alabama. The campus was very small and they value their football team…almost sounds like Franklin, right??? It had all the same similarities as Franklin except of having a Dame Mall, where student walk right down the middle of campus, Huntingdon was built around a circle of sidewalks. So instead of it  being a giant square like Franklin, it was a giant circle where the buildings were located. Along with all this, their main image for promotion is the top of their oldest building…just like Franklin’s Old Main! The campus was founded in 1854 so it has a lot of character to it.

The chapter was super similar to what I was use to as an undergraduate. The chapter were 15 men strong before recruitment and they were super pumped to start the semester. They were full of crazy ideas and they knew how to make them work! A handful of great things they did was start something called “Break N in a Bag”. The chapter gets together and puts snacks, waters, and thank you cards into a gallon plastic bag and delivers them to emergency services within the area to show their appreciation. Another amazing activity is they brought in a well known speaker named, Sean Dietrich, and sold tickets that raised over $5,000 to put an underprivileged child through a local private school. As a chapter, the men performed over 1,100 community service hours from January-August! That is around 90 hours a man which is unbelievable. I enjoyed my time with the chapter, I was able to hang around and play Madden and Fortnite which is always fun to me. I know the men at Huntingdon College are going to have a great year!

 

Food

I was able to try out a few food places around the campus! The first one was Moe’s BBQ which of course I am always a fan of. I stuck to the classic pulled pork along with the fixin’s. The little restaurant across from campus was a classic. The environment was warming, almost like the Willard for all my Franklin folk. I would give Moe’s a 8/10. The second place was Jubilee that was a higher-end seafood restaurant in the area. The shrimp and coleslaw was phenomenal. Many older couples filled the room and were wearing dress clothes…I was in my polo (I was not informed about the dress code…). Overall I would give Jubilee’s a 8.5/10. The last place was Joe’s Again, a hole in the wall place in Montgomery. It was a lineup and carry out place with hardly any room to dine-in. The burger I got was the Joe Burger. This burger was giant and symbolized a Big Mac from McDonalds. It was extremely good and filling to me, I was ready for a nap. In my opinion, Joe’s would get a 7.5/10.

 

Thank you for checking in! I will have a special one Monday morning about my first trip to SunTrust Park and watch my Bravos play!

 

Jimmy

Sunday Morning/Afternoon

My Sunday morning started off with leaving Mobile, AL at 5:30 am CDT to head up to Auburn, AL (which was 3 1/2 hours away) because the president of the Auburn chapter offered to take me golfing, so of course I would get up that early! He was super kind enough to take me to a Robert Trent Jones Trail Course, which is super nice. The course just outside of Auburn was called Grand National. There are two big courses at Grand National and we played on the Links Course. The other course, the Lake Course, was the host to the Barbasol Championship for the PGA Tour over the last couple of years. The Links Course was pretty challenging on a few holes but was in beautiful shape with a beautiful view of Lake Saugahatchee throughout the different holes. It was a real treat getting to play there and the president at Auburn was a great host throughout the entire round!

Auburn University

When I first arrived on campus, I was in a culture shock times 10! Coming from small town Tell City to small campus of Franklin College to a big college town like Auburn with 30,000 students was shocking. I drove around the campus and looked at the massive academic buildings and of course their massive football stadium. I had the opportunity to walk around campus when I went to meet with the Interfraternity Council advisor and it was the longest walk I have ever done on a college campus. Being in a suit while it was 95 degrees was not the best situation for me! When I was walking back to the Lambda Chi house, I was bombarded by a bunch of students trying to get new students to join their organization…yay for orientation (I didn’t get any free stuff…), so I finally I put in my ear phones and kept my head down and trucked on back to the house.

The chapter itself was another experience for me, in a good way! The men were currently at 130 active members (way more than the 20 that were in my chapter). Trying to present my opening presentation and our case study (made by our awesome AD of Education and Harm Reduction) was interesting. I was given a microphone to speak in and used that to facilitate among the room of 130 men. The guys were phenomenal and were always asking me to play cornhole, pool, and go hang out with them. Their house was extremely beautiful as well. In the front room where someone enters the front door is a giant sculpture given to the chapter to celebrate their centennial. There was a plaque with Lambda Chi’s coat of arms on the front and our values on one side and what their chapter values on the other. On the backside of the sculpture was a “brotherhood” section where they had the name of every member who had been initiated at Auburn University (they have initiated 2,919 members to date). On top of all this was an eagle that was created in the state Washington and sent down to the chapter for this. Throughout the house there was touches that were made for the fraternity as a whole. Letters could be seen in the ceiling of the house and on top of the house as well.

One of the things I was able to experience was a big university formal rush…holy crap! It was crazy, 45 potential new members came through the door and had a hour and a half to impress as many of those 130 active members as possible. I was able to talk to a few guys and give my opinion and them to the brothers when asked if I got a chance to talk to them (all 3 of those guys got a bid!) Watching the bid discussion was just as crazy. I heard the normal “oh his handshake sucked” but they would not vote on the potential until they heard well-detailed reasons about their values or what they could do right for the fraternity, which was awesome to hear. I was actually sad to leave this chapter and the members last night but a majority came up to me and said “hope to see ya soon!”. Hearing this and building those relationships is one of the most important reasons why I took this job.

Food

I would say unfortunately I didn’t get to go out to eat because I ate at the house…but I am glad I did! Their cook, Chef Rob, was the man! All of his meals that his staff and he made were some of the best homemade food, I have ever had (aside from my mom’s meals)! I was able to talk to him and asked him why he was a cook for a fraternity. He went on to explain to me that the chapter members made him feel like he was family. They always do their best for him and his staff and that’s why he always enjoys coming to work.

Thank you for checking in! I will have another one posted about my next visit on Saturday! Now onto Huntingdon College in Montgomery, AL!

Jimmy Phillips

Spring Hill Visit

My second visit came from this small school down in southern Mobile called Spring Hill College. Just like Franklin, it is very small with about 1,400 students on campus. There were many characteristics that were similar to Franklin. While standing in line at a food truck with one of the chapter brothers, I noticed everyone was saying hello to each other and it brought back memories of me walking down Dame Mall and always getting to say hi to people. The campus is big for the 1,400 students in mind but very beautiful. Along with the campus there is a golf course that is attached (yes, I did go to hit golf balls!) which makes the campus seem bigger than it actually is. There are a couple of things to the campus that make it unique. One of them is their baseball field on campus. It is known to be one of the oldest college baseball stadiums that is still in use in the country. Some of the fun facts about it is there are a picture in their field house where Babe Ruth was playing there along with teams like the Chicago Cubs and other major league teams!  Another awesome thing about the campus is their Avenue of the Oaks. It is your classic long stretch of drive way where the oak trees make a canopy over the road where the branches are covered with moss that leads to an old white plantation house. This short drive was extremely beautiful and felt like a true southern gem to witness.

The chapter on the other hand was a great experience! These men were just awarded with our International Fraternity’s award, the “Phoenix Award” which is given to a chapter that has made huge improvements to their chapter operations over a period of time and have kept that high level of work up. They were extremely excited about this and on Thursday night, I was given the opportunity to formally present the award to the chapter on behalf of our International Headquarters. The chapter at Spring Hill are unbelievable guys. I was always included in everything they did which was awesome. I felt like I was a member of their chapter and was able to get along with all of them. We all shared the common interests of the Atlanta Braves, golf, and Luke Combs. The fellas were definitely a delight and I look forward to keeping in contact with them!

Gulf Shores

On Saturday morning, I woke up and decided to explore some more. I have never been down to the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area so I though I would mix things up and give it a try. The first thing I decided to do was play golf (of course). I found a golf course within 5 miles of the beach called Craft Farms Golf Resort. There are two courses there and I decided to play the more challenging one, Cotton Creek. The main person that was behind this resort was Mr. Arnold Palmer himself. There was a lot of rich history in there of the King and it was awesome to see. The course itself was very beautiful and laid out well to make it challenging. While on the golf course I ran into a PGA golfer’s dad, which is pretty sweet to me! Being able to play on an Arnold Palmer course was a great experience and I was happy I was able to experience a course by the man who made the game of golf into what it is today.

After I was able to go golf, I decided to head down to the Gulf Shores beach. While walking around the strip, I headed down to the beach to walk around. I was able to walk around in the water for about a solid five minutes and then I notice it was starting to get dark so I decided it was better to get out before it hit. So sadly the beach was short lived but it was absolutely a great experience being back on the beach since the last in was at one was Daytona in 2006.

Food

With the chapter visit, I never got to visit any local places which kinda stinks but it’s okay. For the whole visit I just had their cafeteria food which wasn’t as bad as Sagas…thank the Lord. When I went down to Gulf Shores I did stop by a local place someone at the golf course told me about. Of course it was BBQ, but it was called Hog Wild Beach & BBQ. It was absolutely incredible! I went with the classic pulled pork and brisket with the side of potato salad and mac and cheese. The meat itself was super delicious and might top the BBQ from Hooks in Troy, AL. After my meal I treated myself to some good ole banana pudding and it was BY FAR the best banana pudding I have ever had. I dang near fell out of my seat after taking a bite. The restaurant itself was just a small shack off of the main road leading to the beach. It was the ideal place you would think great BBQ is at. I would rate this a 10/10 if you are ever in the Gulf Shores area.

Thank you for checking in on this stop, my next post will be on Wednesday.

Next visit is Auburn University!

Departure

On Saturday I left bright and early (with Starbucks of course) to start on my journey as an Educational Leadership Consultant to my first visit. My first of a few stops that day was to see my parents in New Albany, Indiana to tell them goodbye and to get my license plate for my car (that is important to have). After I left there I drove down to Bowling Green, Kentucky to meet up with one of my best friends and was able to eat lunch with him and spend some time there. The best part was that he has a dog, so I got to get some puppy lovin’ in before I hit the road. The night concluded with me staying in Chattanooga, Tennessee. (More about food below!)

Chickamauga Battlefield

One thing a far amount of people may not know about me is that I am super into the history about the Civil War. It blows my mind all that occurred during this War. On Sunday morning, I woke up and visited Chickamauga (because it was free to explore). This was just a two day battle before the Confederacy tried pushing into Chattanooga where there was a big fleet of Union soldiers. The Battle of Chickamauga is known as one of the bloodiest battles in the Western Theater.  Other than the reason that this was free, our family has an ancestor that was a Union soldier by the name of Fielding Catt that fought here. In the past, we found his headstone at the Chattanooga cemetery on a previous trip back from Atlanta. Before I found where he fought, I went to the Wilder Monument that stands 85 feet tall and overlooks all of the battlefield. Col. John Wilder is most known for his “lightening brigade” on this hill where they fought off several Confederate fleets. His lightening brigade were made up of members with the 17th Indiana Volunteer Infantry (Go Hoosiers!).

After I was done visiting this incredible tower, I found where my 5th-Great-Great Uncle fought. After doing some research, I found that he served on the 44th Indiana Regiment. When looking for the marker where they were based for a hour, I finally stumbled across it. They were stationed up on a hill by the “Snodgrass House”. The Snodgrass House was a makeshift hospital for the Union soldiers. A family of nine previously lived in it before allowing the Union to use it. The crazy thing is the family of nine all live in the 12X12 single room! Standing on the ground where Fielding fought was an indescribable feeling especially without us knowing if he was ever wounded there. Below is the picture of the stone dedicated to the 44th Indiana Regiment and the view they had during the battle.

Troy University

With the men of Sigma-Tau Zeta at Troy University they were very welcoming to myself and my boss. They have had a few problems in the past but they were ready to find a way to get out of that hole and fill it and lay down a foundation and build. Each officer came in with a plan to learn and find a way to lead for their chapter. It was a joy working with them to find ways to accomplish what they wanted. As a whole brotherhood I was able to be a part of their recruitment process and talk to some potentials about why I believe they should join Lambda Chi Alpha there. This allowed me to showcase some of my cornhole skills at an event which the Alabama boys were shocked that an Indiana kid could play so well. The campus as a whole was very pretty along with their athletic complexes. It was easy to access everything along with the houses there on fraternity row.

The house there is the same as the other seven fraternities but within the Lambda Chi house many alumni brothers have came in and helped buy furniture for their formal and social rooms so it is in the best condition possible. The boys at Troy were a great first visit and I look forward to the rest!

Food!

Being the person I am I wanted to start off my Sunday with some…BBQ! On my way down to Troy University, I stopped in Montgomery, Alabama and went to this place called Dreamland BBQ. It was located in this old brewery building just across the street from where the Montgomery Biscuits play baseball. When I walked in there was a sit open at the bar area so it was nice not waiting on a table. As soon as I sat down this couple engaged conversation with me and asking “where ya from? how did you get down here?”…you know…the good stuff! While talking to them, the whole room was filled with words like: sir, ma’am, sweetie, y’all, and just good ole down home sayings. Everyone was so nice and it really showed the southern hospitality and made me feel like I belonged in there. The food at Dreamland’s was AMAZING! I had some pulled pork with ribs and a side of potato salad and fried okra. The ribs were so delicious but they weren’t super meaty so I did not get much off of them. Overall with the atmosphere and the food I would give it a 8.5/10. I was told their banana pudding is to die for, so once I am in Montgomery again visiting our chapters there, I will for sure try it.

Our first dinner with the chapter at Troy, their president and a few officers took us to a steakhouse called Santa Fe. There is was a mix of Texas Roadhouse and a Longhorn. There were peanut shells everywhere which I found cool because I love peanuts of course. I got a specialty burger that had homemade bbq sauce with pepper jack cheese and an onion ring with it along with fries. The burger was very tender and wasn’t dry at all! The food I ate I would rate as a 8.5/10.

For the Monday, we ate at a small town diner called Rumors on the Square in their downtown district of Troy. This place was very unique and had that small town southern feel to it. It looked like many locals were in there for a quick bite to eat before they had to head back to work for the rest of the day. Seeing that they made a lot of things from scratch, I had to challenge their chicken fingers. All I can say is wow! They completely blew my expectations out of the water. I would say that meal with the potato salad may have been a top 3 of chicken fingers I have ever had. With the service, environment and food I would rate it 10/10.

For the Monday night dinner, the president and a few others took us to Momma Goldburg’s Deli in the same downtown square. It was a classic deli diner with the steamers for the sandwiches. The diner had Troy University jerseys all over the walls and they highlighted all of the Greek organizations on their walls too! Which I loved when our community gets praised. There I tried their version of nachos which was nacho cheese Doritos with pepper jack cheese that was melted onto the chips and it was life-changing. My boss kept hyping them up and they lived up to the expectation he set for them. The main sub I had was the Pastrama Momma which was pastrami, brown mustard, pepper jack, and pickles on rye bread. Overall, I thought the sandwich was good but it was loaded down with brown mustard so every bite I had was full of mustard and not enough pastrami which was not enjoyable at times. I would rate the overall meal I had as 7/10. If the sandwich would have been put together better, the rating would have been higher.

The last place we were taking to that was local was for lunch on the Tuesday. A few chapter brothers took us to Hook’s BBQ which is a small little building on top of a hill in Troy with TONS of character. This was an old school style atmosphere where you received your to go meals in a to go box. This was by far the best meal I had on my visit. The pulled pork and ribs with their mild bbq sauce…its like the good Lord smacked me in the face and said this is some good eatin’! Along with that the potato salad and slaw…yes I ate slaw were so delicious and to top it off we got a side of pound cake which was super moist and was the icing on the cake. I would rate this place a 10/10 and I can’t wait to visit again!

But in a nutshell it is good to be back in the south because of course of the sweet tea!

This is all from my departure to the end of my visit with the fellas from Troy University. I will have another one on Sunday about my visit at Spring Hill College.

Thanks for checking in! Onward to Mobile!

Jimmy Phillips

Hello Friends and Family!

I am now eight days away until I begin my journey on the road to start visiting chapters! For each visit, I will be posting on here about my time with different schools, the places I saw, and the places I went to eat. Although I will be busy, I hope that this is a good way to explain to y’all what I have seen while on the road.

To give you a quick introduction to what I do as an Educational Leadership Consultant, I will travel to different schools where we have a Lambda Chi Alpha chapter and normally spend three days with them. While there, I will hold an opening meeting where I introduce myself, have the chapter give me some of their background, and give a case study to help find ways to improve the chapter. While on-site I will be with chapter officers one-on-one for a hour a piece and gauge how they are performing in their office and give them advice to help them improve and succeed to help contribute to their chapter. Once this is all said and done I will meet with the officers as a whole and explain to them what I see as areas of improvement but will praise them on areas of operation that they are excelling in. Once that visit is over, I pack up and move on to the next school.

While on the road I will be visiting 23 chapters and be assisting two fellow co-workers in starting a colony on the campus of Illinois State in Normal, Illinois. The states in which my chapters are in are: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. I will be on the road from August 18 – December 8, with some breaks here and there. I cannot wait to share my experience with everyone!

If anyone has recommendations on places I should visit whether it’s attractions, golf courses, or places to eat please contact me!

I look forward to this experience!

– Jimmy Phillips

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton