Edward Springman ‘60 ([email protected]) says that he joined Lambda Chi Alpha because he thought he needed more of a social life. Little did he know the impact that the chapter would have on the direction of his life. “I think I would have eventually ended up where I am today without Lambda Chi Alpha, but it certainly helped me. I learned so much about associating with people, and how to lead.”
Ed grew up in a rowhouse in Lancaster, a self-described ‘terrible student’ who would much rather work than study. He says that he doesn’t know what Penn State was thinking, admitting a student with a 2.1 GPA, but they did. Since so much of his time in high school had been spent working, he set out to find some friends and a social life — and he found them at Lambda Chi Alpha.
He says that the learning curve was steep and laughable. “I remember our first social event when they served shrimp cocktail… I had no idea that I was supposed to peel that shrimp,” he says with a laugh. “And the next one they had artichokes, and I thought I was supposed to chew the whole leaf! I never knew about a lot of that stuff. Boy, was I a klutz.”
He caught on fast and before long he was the rush chairman, telling freshmen why they should join the brotherhood. As much as his etiquette and social acumen changed, he found that one thing definitely hadn’t: he was much more interested in making money than sitting in class. He became concessionaire for the chapter, worked for the State College Recreation Department, and sold pennants and buttons at football games. He bought and rented out mobile homes, owning a total of four by the time he was a senior.
His last year of school — 1960— he earned $10,000. Upon graduation, he was offered a job … for a $2,500 annual salary. “Man, something’s not right,” he remembers thinking at the time. “I messed something up.”
He decided to go back for his MBA, but soon found that equally frustrating — “I could have been teaching most of those classes!” he said. But starting his masters helped him in job interviews, landing him a position first at Alcoa Aluminum, and then IBM.
By the end of the decade, he’d started his own real estate business, CES Properties, Inc., a company with 140 employees in Washington, Texas, Colorado, Missouri, Oregon, New Mexico, and California.
He says that Lambda Chi Alpha impacted a lot of his success. “I gained a lot of skills by being in the house,” he says. “And I’ve always felt indebted to the fraternity for letting me learn stuff that I never would have learned in class. We all gained skills doing different things. We learned leadership skills, practical skills. We were basically learning how to run a small business. So much of what they teach you in college doesn’t amount to much — the real way to learn is just by doing it, and Lambda Chi Alpha gave that to me.”
He says that giving back to Lambda Chi Alpha — which included a recent $25,000 matching gift to repair the roof — has been critical for him. “I’ve always felt that the fraternity helped me and I wanted to give others that same opportunity. I give money because I feel like now is my time to help others. And I was always so proud to be a member of Lambda Chi Alpha. I firmly believe that if we are in a position to help others, that is what we should be doing.”
“I think that if the house is in good repair and well maintained, you are going to attract a good quality of individuals, and be able to create learning opportunities for people,” he added. “I learned more from doing stuff at the house and different jobs at the house taught me infinitely more than I learned in class.”