Choosing a fraternity to join can be a difficult decision for some men, but for Wayne L. “Luke” Taiclet, choosing Lambda Chi Alpha seemed almost fated. Taiclet’s two older brothers were already in Lambda Chi Alpha, so he was already familiar with the fraternity and knew some of the brothers. His nephew later joined as well, deepening the legacy.
“It was not really a choice as much as a destiny,” Taiclet said about his decision.
Even though it was an easy decision to join the fraternity, being a legacy had “a certain panache” to it. Many active members at the time knew his brothers, and he had high expectations to live up to.
Taiclet, however, still had a unique experience with Lambda Chi Alpha outside of his brothers’ legacy. He was a part-time student after his freshman year, but continued to live in the fraternity house and remain an active member.
He would later join the army and, after his service, return to Penn State as a full-time student to finish two undergraduate degrees. Because of this, Taiclet enjoyed the opportunity to be a part of an extended brotherhood that spanned eight years. “I had the pleasure of knowing a wide swatch of brothers who were active in the chapters from 1975 to 1983,” Taiclet said.
His experience gave him the chance to see the changes Greek life faced over time. In the mid-70s, rules for all students were looser, which, Taiclet stated, “was greatly evidenced in the fraternity system.” But by the early 80s, an effort was made to reduce negatively-viewed practices, such as excessive alcohol consumption and unruly behavior.
However, this change was seen as a missed opportunity to influence Penn State Greek life in a positive rather than punitive way. By the late 90s, Taiclet said, “the attempts to restrain the activity drove a lot of behavior ‘underground’ and in turn rendered the activities more unsafe.”
“By sheer happenstance, I was part of tremendous change in the chapter as well as Greek life in general,” he said.
In light of the changes that Taiclet experienced, he sees his time with Lambda Chi Alphas as educational in ways that couldn’t be taught in a classroom. He learned practical and personal lessons that remain with him to this day, and now finds it difficult to identify his favorite moments.
“Suffice to say that I am, and will be, eternally grateful for the opportunity to know and call … such an outstanding, outlandish, inspiring, irreverent, loyal, loquacious, concise, complex, awe-inspiring and grounded group of men [Brothers],” Taiclet said.