You might think that, after my senior speech, I would have said everything that needed to be said. You would be wrong.
First off, I'd like to thank Tarah, Michele, Emily, and Amanda McCreary who all helped me make this book, either by giving me pictures, or printing things out for me, or letting me use their computers. Thanks, guys! I couldn't have done it without you.
I'd also like to say that this has been an extraordinary semester, and it deserved to be documented. Things were a little rough last semester, when it dawned on the chapter that more than 10 of us were graduating in the spring, and we had had a pledge class consisting of Katie Molloy and ... no one else. And with Katie moving back to Melbourne, Australia, at the semester's end, we knew our chapter was in dire need of some new blood.
This semester, we put all our energies into rush, and it went as well as we possibly could have hoped. The Bill Whitmore Spring 2002 pledge class consisted of Olaf, Patrick, Rachel, Moriah, Laura, Linda, Melissa, Brian, Erica, Mike, Chris and Kate - twelve extraordinarily dedicated individuals. All of them completed their requirements, and spared us the agony of a debate over who would be inducted and who wouldn't. You guys have breathed new life into the fraternity, and we all have faith that you'll keep our traditions alive.
In less than a week from when I write this, I'll be graduating, alongside Butch, Smooch, Amanda McCreary, Tarah, Emily, Rachael Clark, Lisa, Rachel White, Lauren, John and Nicole (all apologies to anyone I may have left out). Some of us will be staying in the area, while others will be moving thousands of miles away. But I know that all of us will miss the presence of Alpha Phi Omega in our lives, and will do our best to live out its ideals even after we're gone.
- Jake Lilien