The Marines Are Landing

Brothers, I am pleased to announce that 3 of Kappa Tau's finest have joined the marines.  This may be the most brothers that have every entered the marines at one time.  Our military always needs good leadership and the overall quality of the Corp will certainly be going up with these three new additions.  All 3 are going to Officer Candidate School. 

Wil Southerland (11) from Memphis who is the current president of the chapter will be going in as a pilot.

Frank Crocker (11) from Jackson TN will be going in as part of ground contract (ground forces).

Daane Blocksma (11) from Knoxville will be going in as a JAG Officer.

Congratulations brothers and keep us safe.

Josh Holly - Serving Our Nation and Phi Gamma Delta

Josh Holly was a Kappa Tau brother from the class of 97.  After leaving UT he began his professional career in one of those most prestigious jobs a young man can hope for, a Phi Gamma Delta field secretary.  But the excitement of big time government employment came calling and Josh landed a job with the National Republican Congressional Committee in 1999 as Director of News Analysis.  From there were other Press related jobs including a stint with Lamar Alexander for Senate campaign in 2002.

In 2005 Josh became a staff member and Republican spokesman for the U.S. House of Representatives.  He has remained in that position but his duties now include being on the U.S. Armed Services Committee. 

Josh's public relations skills is also going to good use for Phi Gamma Delta.  He was appointed the Public Relations Director by the Archons and regularly assists the fraternity with critical issues facing both International and local chapters.  At Fiji Academy last month Josh led a class for chapter presidents on the need for building good public relations for local chapters.

Josh lives in the DC area and is married to Kelly Bulliner Holly.  They have one child.

VACO - A Growing Company with a Kappa Tau Connection

In 2002 two Kappa Tau alum brothers, Brian Waller and Jay Holloman, teamed up with a third partner, Jerry Bostelman, to open up a recruiting and placement services company in Nashville called Vaco.  Since then, the company has grown rapidly and now has 1000+ employee consultants and over 25 offices around the country.  Inc Magazine has named them one of the fastest growing companies in the US each of the last four years.

The Kappa Tau and Phi Gamma Delta association has non ended with just the two founding partners.  Other brothers have joined the company and today Kappa Tau brothers Kevin Witt (92), Jeff Ramsey (94), Eric Hardesty (98), Brandon Guy (96),  Matt Simpson (96), and Ryan Thompson (96) work out of the Nashville office.  Joe Fracchia  (96) works out of the Memphis office and Bob Hanley (96) works out of the Orlando office.  Here in Knoxville we have Michael Laraia (03)  who is a Florida State graduate. 

So what exactly does Vaco do?  The company does both permanent job placement and contract or project placement in a number of fields such as financial, information technology and management. If you have a need for employment opportunities or you are looking for professional staffing, please give a brother at Vaco a call.

Their website is vaco.com