Soccer Taco—margaritas, Mexican food, and soccer. 

Swagger —fantastic shoes. 

Downtown Grill & Brewery —great food. fantastic service. festive beverages. 

Val’s Boutique —great clothes. trendy accessories. picked up a great bracelet and sunglasses. 

I’ve been to Knoxville twice since moving to TN in June and the four places above have made quite the impression. I would like to go back and check out a show at the Bijou and hang out more in the Old City. Just 3 hours away. Mini affordable vacay in a place where I have some good pals. 

Knoxville is home to the Dirty Guv’nahs.  Check them out. 

Truth. Courage. Faith. Power. 

These are the values of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity. 

After spending a weekend with the Great (GREAT) Southern Division of DTD I am more than excited to have Delts arriving to Vanderbilt’s campus in Fall 2012. 

There are many quality men that make up this organization. The men of SELU and UT stole my heart. Southern gentleman at their finest. 

Jim Russell, Executive Vice President of DTD, Lee Grace, President of Southern Division, and Alan Brackett, President of DTD, are incredible examples of what it means to be a True Delt and I can only hope that our future members at Vanderbilt grow into being such gracious, intelligent, kind, stylish, fun, classy, and inspiring men. 

My co-facilitator, Gene P. has been a chapter advisor for 20 years and he is AMAZING! The relationship he has built with the chapter members is admirable and I wish I could bottle it and give it to all of our fraternity volunteers. 

I am still processing the weekend. Lots to think about when it comes to educating our fraternity men. 

First Crucial Point—education is not just for new members;active members still have much to learn. Our chapters need to recognize this and work to create intentional programming to keep with the goal of making men better men. 

Second Crucial Point—inter/national fraternal organizations must partner with Student Affairs professionals to develop and implement curriculum. Like doesn’t have to teach like. Collaboration is key to success. 

Best point of the weekend— “Everyone must find their “extra”. Average is OVER.” Thanks Alan Brackett! 

So, yes I really love Nashville. Thanks for asking!

This new feature will highlight a Nashville Noun (person, place, thing, or idea) that I love.

First on deck is the Nashville Public Library. I ventured there for my first in-agency Junior League General Membership Meeting.

This place is absolutely gorgeous! I went on a tour with the lovely Liz and she showed me some of the nooks and crannies. I’m a fan of libraries in general but those that have incredibly high ceilings, custom made chandeliers, a teen room (totally taking my Little Sister there), a room dedicated to Nashville and the role the city played in the Civil Rights Movement, and a puppet show theatre with performing artists on staff that have a puppet workshop below the library, are really pretty high up on my love list.

Me and reading are BFFs and adding the NPL to this equation is a must. On top of that I can get books for my Kindle and they have a free music downloading program and I can 5 free new songs a month.

I am armed with a public library card and the GRE to study for this spring.

Also, I’m totally going to a puppet show. Shakespeare’s The Tempest with puppets—I’m not missing out on that one even if I have to borrow someone’s kid for the day ;).

Oh, and yes. I’m a huge nerd!

The moment I knew I was sold on SEC football…

I purchased a monogrammed black & gold scarf (Go ‘Dores) specifically for football tailgates…It is currently February and football doesn’t begin until August. 

Ummm…so I guess I’m ALL IN! 

Renewing my season tickets next week ;). 

Times do change, don’t they? 

Purchase yours from Marley Lilly. Totally affordable and adorable. What more could you ask for these days in a scarf? 

I’m off to work with fraternity men this weekend at the Delta Tau Delta Southern Division Conference in Knoxville, TN. 

I love this part of my job and find it to be a great privilege to be able to work with various inter/national organizations. My day to day role is that of Panhellenic Advisor but since my days of being a SARF (HouseMom) for Pi Kappa Alpha at University of Maryland, College Park I have yearnings of jumping into guyland every once in a while. 

The New Member Educator Track will be my responsibility this weekend along with a co-facilitator who I have yet to meet but I’m sure he’ll be another lovely believer in the fraternity experience and specifically the experience of Delta Tau Delta.

I saw this article recently and I hope to be able to share some of these resources with the young men I interact with while in Knoxville. 

New Member Education can be a tough egg to crack especially because many of our men actually believe in or have been intensely socialized into believing in a culture of hazing. There is certainly a lot more work that we need to do in addressing that issue and not only just for Greek Life but also marching bands, athletics teams, and the military. 

Delta Tau Delta certainly does not endorse hazing and our time with the men this weekend will be spent helping them craft an intentional, educational, safe, and meaningful new member education program for its newest members. 

Should be quite an adventure this weekend. Wish me luck and wisdom!