K-State Greek chapters and house moms tell their story about how their experience has impacted them, and the important role house moms have in a house.
Lambda Chi house mom ‘all around amazing house mother’
Submitted by Nick May, Lambda Chi Alpha Gamma Xi
At Kansas State University, the Lambda Chi Alpha Gamma Xi chapter would like to acknowledge our house mom, Virginia Davis, as being an all around amazing house mother. She really has a gift connecting with the guys on nearly every level and gives encouraging, helpful advice about anything we have on our minds. She also is a spectacular hair stylist and gives us discounts on haircuts whenever we go see her at the shop for a quick snip.
One aspect about “mom” that she is highly admired for is her never-ending kindness and compassion for the things going on in the house. She never gets angry or scolds us when we are being goofy; she is goofy right along with us and honestly completes the moment. Whenever holidays are creeping around the corner, she always does great interior design work on the house to prepare it for the traditional Thanksgiving or Christmas “feel” for whenever someone walks through the front door. We are very thankful she does those things because she makes our house look a hundred times better than if we would attempt doing it ourselves. Overall, she is an awesome house mom that comes along side us and motivates us to not just be a good house but a great one. The great love goes above and beyond her and the guys in the house. It really gives the chapter that “must have” additional feature that is a critical factor for the success we’ve had over the years.
Delta Sigma Phi’s house mom Barb Holste activity in and out of chapter, good role model
Submitted by Daniel Vogt, Delta Sigma Phi
Barb Holste was born and raised in Glasco, Kan. After graduating high school, she chose to attend Kansas State University where she met her husband, Jerry, also a K-State alumnus. After graduating, the couple moved to Northwest, Kan. and raised three children, also K-State graduates. Obviously, they raised them right!
When she isn’t interacting with the undergraduate chapter, or working on organizing Delta Sig activities, Barb is teaching English to foreign students through an Adult Learning program.
The chapter has really loved getting to know Barb and appreciates everything she brings to the house.
“Mom Holste has been a breath of fresh air for the men at Delta Sig. She has lots of energy, lots of ideas, but most importantly, she makes this chapter house a home away from home,” said Brett Seidl, senior in
In July, Mom is going to join Taylor Johnson, senior in biology, on a medical missions trip to South America where they’ll be providing medical care in under-served areas.
“What other fraternity house mom would do that?” Taylor said. “She really is the perfect person for this job and she has so much energy she’s hard to keep up with.”
Mom also has been having fun with the decorating for our dinners. For every holiday, we have a festive dining room with music, trivia, and prizes throughout the dinner.
Perhaps the biggest indication of the fun we having with Mom came during our serenades in the first week of the school year. A member jokingly offered to drive Mom to all of the sororities on his motorcycle and the house was shocked when she accepted. It’s safe to assert that no other fraternity house mother that day was riding a motorcycle. We all loved it!
Mom Holste has been a perfect fit for the house and we are blessed to have her.
Kat Lopez shares experience of being a new, unique house mom at Delta Upsilon
Submitted by Kat Lopez, house mom
I began pursuing my Master’s Degree at K-State Fall 2011. In February of 2012 I was doing volunteer work for Delta Upsilon International Headquarters, facilitating workshops at a regional leadership seminar, and that’s when I met the K-State chapter’s Executive Board members!
The President and the VP, at the time, invited me to be a guest speaker at one of their chapter meetings. So, I went to have dinner/speak with the men that spring- then about 2 weeks later, I was asked to serve as their “house mom” for the following year! I was SO impressed with every member I had met at that point, and just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get the chance to be involved with their chapter!
There are SO many rewarding parts of this role. I love receiving those calls/texts/emails, and having those updates from a guy who simply wants to tell me about something he is proud of and has achieved! It’s the “Kat, can we brainstorm some ideas for my position” question, and those chats through all hours of the night planning something with them, and it’s the getting the chance to brag on them in recommendation letters that TRULY make up the gifts I receive from working with them!
Overall- one of the sweetest rewards of the position is getting to stand witness to the amazing growth of these guys as students, leaders, and men. They are truly remarkable and I am just so honored to simply have a small presence in each of their chapter and college experience! The guys of DU are not only outrageously personable, creative and witty, but they are also extremely driven, hard-working, and talented!
The friendships and bonds that I’ve gained with those guys at 1425 University Dr. have been blessings in my life. They are very special to me and I could not be more proud of them as individuals or as a chapter.
My “fraternity house mom/advisor” status is something that I could have never scripted, but has hands down been one of the most gratifying experiences of my entire life.