Gamma Tau/Drake receives the 2018/2019 David L. Westol Sacred Purpose Award
Bloomington, IN - Theta Chi Fraternity is proud to announce Gamma Tau Chapter at Drake University as the 2018/2019 recipient of the David L. Westol Sacred Purpose Award. The award was presented during the first session of the 2019 Initiative Academy.
The mission of Sacred Purpose is to protect our brothers, and the broader campus community, by providing health and safety education. By offering programmatic support at the chapter and international levels, Theta Chi inspires its members live up to our Fraternity’s highest calling.
Gamma Tau Chapter fully embraced the Sacred Purpose movement into their daily chapter operations and led the way for health and safety programming on their campus. They created a brand at their university as a chapter who embodies health and safety and completed all of their programming requirements for Sacred Purpose. These brothers educated themselves on the importance of mental health awareness for college students and hosted a tabling campaign on campus to foster suicide prevention. They also embraced the importance of substance abuse education by partnering with their university to raise awareness on the warning signs and dangers of incapacitation from alcohol. This chapter is ennobled by our high and Sacred Purpose and demonstrated their commitment throughout the 2018/2019 academic year.
The gentlemen of Gamma Tau Chapter continue to exceed expectations of implementing Sacred Purpose in their daily lives and this year was no exception. The Fraternity is proud of their commitment to the health, safety, and well-being of our members and others.
The Sacred Purpose award is named in honor of David L. Westol (Beta Zeta/Michigan State 1973) whose volunteer and professional career have been devoted to the health, safety, and protection of fraternity and sorority members. After graduating from Michigan State in 1973, Dave worked for his alma mater as Assistant Director of Student Activities and Advisor to Fraternities. He was admitted to the Michigan Bar in November 1979 and became an assistant prosecutor for the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney in Kalamazoo County, MI. From 1975-1980, Westol served as a Regional Counselor for Theta Chi before being elected to the Grand Chapter as International Vice President in 1980. He remained in that role until completing his maximum second term in 1988. In December of that year, he was named the Fraternity’s Executive Director and held that position for 18 years. Today, he is the founder, owner and CEO of Limberlost Consulting.
Westol’s interfraternal career is equally impressive. He was elected to the board of directors of the Fraternal Information and Programming Group (FIPG) in 1993 and served FIPG in the roles of Director of Policy Interpretation and Administrator. In July 1998, he was elected to the Fraternity Executives Association board of directors and served as president from 2002-2003. He has also served on the board of directors for HazingPrevention.org and on the Association of Fraternal Leadership and Values.
Dave has become a universal figure at fraternity and sorority leadership development events. He has performed his signature anti-hazing presentation “Hazing on Trial” over 1,800 times since 1981 and has spoken on more than 350 campuses and at over 200 Greek leadership events. Dave has served as a faculty member for the Association of Fraternity Leadership and Values, the Northeast Greek Leadership Association, the Southeast Interfraternity Conference, and the Fraternal Risk Management Trust, Inc. From its first session in the early 1990s through 2010, he was a faculty member for “Risk Management on the Road,” an annual workshop for traveling consultants of women’s national fraternities and sororities.
In 2012, Dave was named a recipient of the North-American Interfraternity Conference’s Gold Medal, the most prestigious honor in the inter-fraternal world. Brother Westol is one of only four Theta Chi members to have received the Gold Medal.
Founded in 1856, Theta Chi Fraternity is a men’s collegiate fraternity with more than 191,000 initiated members and has established 241 chapters. Leadership development, personal development, and service to alma mater are fundamental to Theta Chi Fraternity’s mission.