Purdue News
Purdue News
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April 15, 1998
Service organization celebrates half centuryWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- A student organization at Purdue University is gearing up to celebrate 50 years of leadership and service to the community.Tomahawk, a student service and leadership organization, participates in events around campus and the community. "Purdue's chapter was founded in the fall of 1949 and was one of seven chapters in the Midwest. Now, we are the last remaining chapter," said Kenyatte Simuel, president of Tomahawk and a senior in computer technology from Michigan City, Ind. "There is no danger of our chapter closing. We have a strong organization with more than 30 members who do at least 40 service projects for the community a semester." For the 50th anniversary next year, the organization is planning a reunion of all the Tomahawk Purdue alumni. "We are hoping to be able to have a big reunion of all the past members," Simuel said. "Since we are such a close-knit family, it will be good to see people who have moved on." Tomahawk alumni include astronaut Jerry Ross and Richard Hazleton, president and chief executive officer of Dow-Corning Corp. Throughout the year, members participate in service projects around the community. For example, they handed out boxes filled with canned goods at Food Finders Food Bank Inc., sponsored a family fun night with carnival games for children and their families at Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Wabash Valley, created crafts such as paper masks with children at elementary schools, helped staff at the YMCA to organize art projects such as finger-painting and sketching for children, and provided overnight security and cleaned rooms at a Lafayette homeless shelter. "At a time when service to the community is decreasing, we fill an important role," Simuel said. "We are an organization for students who want to give something back. We think service is very important, and we strive to help people around the community who need a helping hand." One of the many goals of Tomahawk is to create leaders. Drew Reusser, a graduate student in the School of Industrial Technology from Carmel, Ind., said: "We not only want to encourage service, but we also want to build strong leaders. We do this by requiring that members be leaders in other clubs and organizations. We attend several leadership camps throughout the year. We have a lot of fun at these camps, but I think that in the end, the camps really make a difference." Members in the organization are given opportunities to take leadership roles. "We have 17 offices available for students," Simuel said. "This allows them to choose varying degrees of involvement in the club. Officers are elected every semester, giving our members a chance to lead while still allowing them to maintain their grades, social lives and other commitments." Tomahawk also is an athletic booster club. "We work the information booth at home football games, help in stadium cleanup, and maintain some of the traveling trophies," Reusser said. Tomahawk also keeps the Illinois cannon, a trophy that goes to the winner of the annual University of Illinois-Purdue football game. Simuel said the trophy has been in Purdue's possession for several years: "Every time we play a game at Illinois, we drive the trophy there and then drive it right back. We enjoy keeping this symbol of a friendly rivalry. Hopefully, we will keep it for many more years." As part of belonging to a booster organization, Tomahawk members are expected to regularly attend Purdue volleyball, track and field, baseball, softball, basketball, and football games. "We feel like all athletic games deserve our support, not just the ones most highly attended," Simuel said. "When we give support to the smaller teams, we get a lot of appreciation from them. We also think that by supporting the sports, we raise the pride and sprit of the whole campus." Lloyd Weaver, faculty adviser and professor of computer technology, said the organization is not known for just one aspect of its service. "We are really an all-encompassing service organization that provides support for all types of projects," he said. "We really do it all, from service, to leadership, to boosting. We have a strong chapter, and a strong sense of family."
Sources: Lloyd Weaver, (765) 494-2567
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