Xi Epsilon Lambda History
Out of the many chapters in the Missouri District, Xi Epsilon Lambda chapter is one of the youngest. Chartered in 1982, the chapter has already reached many highs and lows in the realm of Alpha. Very unique among chapters in the region, Xi Epsilon Lambda's membership since the chapters inception, has consisted mostly of graduate students from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Before 1982, there was only one alumni chapter in the Mid-Missouri area with which Brothers could affiliate: Beta Zeta Lambda Chapter, which was chartered in Jefferson City, Missouri in 1938. Brothers would drive from towns such as Columbia to attend chapter meetings and to participate in chapter activities. This worked for many brothers until 1977-1978. During that fraternal year, some of the members, who affiliated with Beta Zeta Lambda chapter and lived in Columbia, decided to form a chapter in Columbia.
There were several reasons for the decision to branch off from the prestigious chapter of Beta Zeta Lambda. The first reason was the fact that it was a Jefferson City chapter that concentrated a great deal of its energy on uplifting the community in that city, which meant that it could pay little attention to communities in other areas such as Columbia, where at least fifteen Brothers already resided. The second reason was that many members from Columbia grew weary of making the thirty-minute drive to the capitol city to attend chapter meetings.
Regarding the last reason, many of the Brothers from Columbia noted that, being the prestigious chapter that it was, Beta Zeta Lambda's membership included a majority of older, more established members than those in Columbia who were contemplating the creation of a new chapter. With a great deal of older members in its ranks, the chapter was not quite as energetic in the way of fundraising and community activity as many of the Brothers who traveled from Columbia would have enjoyed. With that in mind, Brothers from Columbia decided to meet informally at the houses of the individual brothers who resided in the city. From 1977-1981, they met at the houses of Brothers such as, Mathew Tyler, George Farris, Stanley C. Hughes, Richard Dozier, Harry M Williams, Larry Wooden, Melvin Kennedy, Raymond Prince, the Reverend Donald McNeal, Cliff Hubly, W.L. Moore, Clarence Wine, Elliot Battle, Alvin Plummer, Keener Tippin, and Arvarh Strickland.
In 1981, several Brothers who had been informally meeting in Columbia made the glorious decision to officially charter a chapter in Columbia, Missouri. There were four Brothers who took the lead in this effort, and in 1982, the Fraternity granted them permission to start a chapter in Columbia, Missouri. XI Epsilon Lambda chapter considers those four to be the chapter's founders. The first founder was Elliot Battle , who was made into Beta Zeta Lambda Chapter. The second founder is Alvin Plummer , who was also made into Beta Zeta Lambda. An interesting note about Founder Plummer is the fact that he did not originally want to charter a chapter in Columbia and believed that the members in the Mid-Missouri area should continue to attend the meetings of the Jefferson City Chapter. He, of course, later became convinced that it could be more beneficial to raise a chapter in Columbia. The third founder Arvarh Strickland , who, in 1948, had also been a charter member of the Gamma Upsilon chapter of Tougaloo, Mississippi. Lastly, there was founder Keener Tippin , who was made into the Alpha Psi Chapter of Lincoln University of Jefferson City, Missouri. Founder Tippin, entered into the Omega Chapter November 12, 2004.