In this extra special episode of Business Edge, guests M.C. Moore and Dr. William Callarman speak about their time volunteering for Alpha Kappa Psi. Both guests were recipients of Gold DSAs (Distinguished Service Awards) at the 61st Convention in Miami, which is the highest and most prestigious award that brothers may receive.
M.C. Moore [00:00:00] That experience that you're gaining and picking up in your professional life. Our students want to hear about that. So there are so many different ways to give back. We love to have people to come in as Chapter Advisors, but if you don't have the time, find other ways to give back as you have time.
Finn Lambouris [00:00:15] You're listening to Business Edge, the podcast for professionals looking to excel in the workforce. In each episode, our guests take a deep dive into their personal and professional experiences to give you an edge in the marketplace. This podcast is brought to you by the Commonwealth Leadership® Alliance.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:00:29] Good morning. Thank you for joining us again on the Business Edge podcast. I'm Chrissy and this is Nicole. We're live here in Miami at the 61st Convention. How are you doing, Nicole?
Nicole Klemp [00:00:38] I'm doing well, Chrissy! Thank you!
Chrissy Vasquez [00:00:40] Perfect. Well this morning we are very lucky to have M.C. Moore and Bill Callarman with us this morning. Welcome, guys.
William Callarman [00:00:46] Thank you.
M.C. Moore [00:00:47] Good morning. Good morning.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:00:48] So can each of you explain or give an overview to our listeners, your professional career?
M.C. Moore [00:00:53] Well, for me, I started in business, as many of us did, AKPsi. But over the course of my career, I leaned more and more into technology. So right now I work as an Agile coach. I'm an IT software delivery professional. I work for a consulting company. It's called CapTech Consulting. And I love my job, love my company.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:01:15] That's awesome. Bill?
William Callarman [00:01:15] Okay, when I finished my doctoral program at Arizona State, I went on active duty with the United States Army to fulfill an ROTC commitment. I retired as a captain. Joined the faculty at FTU, now the University of Central Florida in 1972. Taught there for 35 years, retired in 2005. It's interesting and I kind of laugh because in my life I've had only two full time jobs. United States Army and UCF.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:01:50] Wow.
Nicole Klemp [00:01:50] That's incredible.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:01:52] That really is. So you both have been longtime volunteers with our organization. Can you give a overview of what positions you've had or what roles you've served? Bill?
William Callarman [00:02:01] Okay. In 1992 I became the Faculty Advisor for Nu Chi chapter at University of Central Florida. During that period--that's 30 years--and I continue, even though I retired in 2005, I continue as the Faculty Advisor and work with the chapter on a regular basis. At one point in time I spent three years as Central Florida's Section Director. Then that was followed by six years on the Board of Directors of the fraternity.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:02:33] And now you're in retirement from AKPsi official positions, correct?
William Callarman [00:02:37] No, I'm still Faculty Advisor.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:02:38] Oh, you're still Faculty Advisor?
William Callarman [00:02:39] Oh, yes, I'm still doing that.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:02:41] Oh, I didn't realize that.
William Callarman [00:02:42] Oh, yes.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:02:42] Oh, wow. M.C., what about you?
M.C. Moore [00:02:44] It's been a journey. It really has. I can honestly say I've spent most all of my fraternity career on the operations side. I've been fortunate enough to have every position except Sectional Director. I started out as a what was then called a district director. We now know of them as Chapter Advisors in 1990.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:03:06] Wow. Were you born yet, Nicole?
Nicole Klemp [00:03:09] Yes, I was. I was born in the 80's, thank you.
M.C. Moore [00:03:11] That's excellent. And worked as a Regional Director, Fraternity Vice President. I was very privileged to be our Fraternity President in 2001 to 2003. Then I spent ten years working with the Judiciary Committee. I was its first chair. Worked with Chrissy. Loved it.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:03:29] Very close. We became BFFs.
M.C. Moore [00:03:31] Then I had to take a hiatus. I was burnt out. But the passion was still there. And I came back to my first love as a Chapter Advisor in the Atlantic Gulf Coast region. And now I currently serve as an Area Vice President. Love it.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:03:47] That's awesome. And you're both from the Southeast region. So what is the magic sauce in that area that gets so many brothers to volunteer post-graduation?
M.C. Moore [00:03:55] There is something about... Its that bleeding blue and gold and it's contagious and it carries from generation to generation. And I even had a conversation last night where a brother had reached out from my home chapter, Beta Xi, Virginia Tech, woo hoo, go Hokies. There's something about it. And once that fire is there, it just carries. And I think that's what you will see at a number of the chapters in this part of the country.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:04:21] And I think you mentioned it. You know, sometimes you have to take a step back because you're a little burnt out. So maybe that fire gets a little lower, but then it comes back, but it never goes out.
M.C. Moore [00:04:29] The embers are always there.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:04:30] Yes, Bill?
William Callarman [00:04:31] You know, when we talked yesterday and you asked that, you know, what was my response?
Chrissy Vasquez [00:04:36] We do it right.
William Callarman [00:04:37] We do it right. And I think that's extremely important because the Regional Director of the fraternity all have focused on doing things right. Not just doing things but doing the right things right. And that instills in the brothers the five core values. And if you've been a part of that and a deep part of that, you're going to want to pass it on. It's that pass it forward concept.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:05:12] Mm hmm.
Nicole Klemp [00:05:13] Yeah. And you've both contributed to that culture of getting people excited about it. And I think that brings me to another question. You know, we have a lot of students listening, a lot of younger professionals just out of college. What advice would you give to some of the brothers that, you know, may be getting ready to graduate or have recently graduated and may be interested in getting involved? Or maybe they've been out for a little while and want to get back into volunteering. How can they kind of get back into that?
William Callarman [00:05:42] Well, one of the ways is with the Chapter Advisory Boards. Limited number of positions, but it's the opportunity to really help guide the chapter and be the mentor to the officer in the chapter who holds basically that same position. Additionally, being active in the activities that they're invited to, the picnics, the barbecues, all the different activities. Being involved during the recruitment process and coming back and being a speaker in recruitment process. And it's fascinating to go to homecoming football games and you see an AKPsi alumni tent at homecoming.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:06:32] Oh, that's awesome. That's really cool. And you said something, Bill, that I think is so important. The Chapter Advisor doesn't do for the chapter. They mentor the chapter, right? And I think that's such a key relationship because that's what I think also sets our students apart. They've had that value of a mentor. And so when they get out of college and start moving forward in their career, they know what a mentor can do. And so I do see a lot of brothers looking for mentors around them in their professional career and once again, showing how AKPsi really mimics our professional career and our life.
William Callarman [00:07:03] Yeah, that's absolutely, you know, the operative word in the Chapter Advisor or Faculty Advisor is "advisor." It's "advisor.".
Chrissy Vasquez [00:07:11] Absolutely.
William Callarman [00:07:11] And it's not a role of a dictator. it's a role of being there as a support when the support is needed.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:07:19] Yup. M.C., what advice do you have?
M.C. Moore [00:07:21] I think first and foremost, especially in today's fast paced, technology driven world, new younger alumni should come to the AKPsi.org website. Start there. There's tremendous information that's there. You can get connected into the organization again, but whether you want to, you know, take on an official volunteer role, that's great. But we have alumni chapters. We have chapters that need professional speakers and that experience that you're gaining and picking up in your professional life. Our students want to hear about that. So there are so many different ways to give back. And it doesn't have to be--we love to have people to come in as Chapter Advisors, but if you don't have the time, find other ways to give back as you have time.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:08:04] I think that's a great point. There's a lot of ad hoc opportunities. You can come to Convention, present one session. That's very important, that's volunteering. There's a lot of one time short obligation ways to get involved. It doesn't have to be an official Chapter Advisor or official position like that. There's a lot of different work to be done. Bill, I know you have an interesting story, so you and your father are both members of AKPsi. We have that in common, but tell our listeners a little bit about that story.
William Callarman [00:08:32] Okay. Its story began in 1962, the fall of 1962. I was a sophomore. And here's Alpha Kappa Psi, the professional business fraternity. I said, "okay, that looks like it might fit" because I was looking for experiences at the university that would help me with a competitive advantage upon graduation. And so I'm looking at Alpha Kappa Psi at West Texas State University, then, now West Texas A&M. My father was dean of the School of Business. And I knew he was a brother of AKPsi, but one of the questions that I was asked by our pledges. "Did your father influence you to become a brother of AKPsi?" And I said, "you know, think about it. No." Then I got to thinking, why not? Because he and I were initiated on the same day. Me as a new brother, he as a faculty member.
M.C. Moore [00:09:30] Wow.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:09:30] That's incredible.
William Callarman [00:09:31] And then followed five years beyond that. Actually, seven years beyond that, my youngest brother was initiated into Alpha Kappa Psi.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:09:38] Oh my goodness. Runs deep in your family.
William Callarman [00:09:41] Oh, yes.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:09:42] That is awesome. That is awesome. People ask me too and my dad was not influential at all. He did not push me. I didn't even really know much about the organization from him. I just knew that there was these people I called uncles, which I didn't understand because they weren't related to us. Uncle Larry, Uncle Mike. And next to my dad's bed, there was a mug, glass mug with some sort of picture on it that I looked at every day of my life, you know, going in and saying good morning or goodnight. And after I got initiated, I came home for that first winter break and I was like, "oh my God, That's the crest of Alpha Kappa Psi." Yeah. It was one of those really surreal moments for sure.
Nicole Klemp [00:10:20] That's amazing.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:10:22] You've been listening to Business Edge, brought to you by Alpha Kappa Psi professional business fraternity and sponsored by Synergos Association Management Company. Now, let's get back to the conversation.
Nicole Klemp [00:10:35] So, M.C. and Bill, we have a signature question on the Business Edge podcast. So we ask all of our guests. So, M.C., I'll start with you. So tell us about a time when your personal values were challenged. What happened and what did you do about it?
M.C. Moore [00:10:48] It's really interesting you ask that. As it turns out, I'm a facilitator for the College of Leadership, and my session that's coming up, I've talked about it in an earlier one. But I'm doing it on ethics. So here we go. Really interesting situation happened a number of years ago. I was working for a small organization, actually a startup, working with a brother of AKPsi. We were working together. Had had a situation where people were being hired into the organization and for sales. Sales type work. But our founder of the company, since we were so small, had a really direct hand in how things worked, didn't like this one particular individual and said, "not a good fit. Get rid of him." That was kind of the get rid of him and guess who had to to make that. Yes. So that put me in that ethical dilemma because the person was good. There was nothing in my mind that, you know, dictated, warranted that decision. So I had to do what I had to do, but it raised that. So I was able to go back and sit down with my brother, who I, as it turns out, reported to at the time and said, "we need to have a conversation about this because, you know, what happened here was not right. I don't feel comfortable with it. We are both brothers. We both value integrity. We, you know, we both have ethics. You understand where I'm coming from." And this person said, "yes, I know exactly what you said." I said, "but but let me be clear. If this were to happen again, A, I'm not going to do it. And B, I'll give you my resignation as well." So I kind of drew that line in the sand. And it didn't happen again.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:12:32] Wow.
Nicole Klemp [00:12:33] That's a great story. Thank you for sharing that.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:12:35] Absolutely, Bill?
William Callarman [00:12:36] It's always an interesting question and that episode I will relate to you is one of the things that happens to university faculty members is--and virtually any teacher--over the years, you have all kinds of people who try to influence the grades that you give. I had a student offer me $10,000 to pass the course.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:12:57] Oh, my gosh.
William Callarman [00:12:58] Oh, yes. Oh, I've had other--but the incident I want to relate to you is basically the first one that I ever had. I was a doctoral teaching assistant at Arizona State University. I'm teaching a class. I have a night class. I finished the night class. I'm going back to my cubicle. As doctorals, we had cubicles. And I had a colleague of mine. One of the other doctoral students, his cubicle was next to mine. And we always, he was teaching that night too, so we always made sure that we were both there and left at the same time. And I'm sitting there in my office and all of a sudden this absolutely beautiful young lady shows up. And she said, "I really need to talk to you." I said, "Come on in and sit down." Recognize, cubicle, no closed door. Colleague. But in 1970, it was a little bit different world than it is today. But I said, "okay, what's up?" She said, "Well, my boyfriend is in your class. And I am willing to do anything to ensure that he gets a good grade."
Nicole Klemp [00:14:07] Oh, my goodness.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:14:08] Wow. I wish you guys could see our eyes right now.
William Callarman [00:14:11] And I'm floored. I'm floored. you sit there, "how do you respond to this?"
Chrissy Vasquez [00:14:17] Right.
William Callarman [00:14:17] And I looked at her and I said, "okay." I decided to play a little dumb. Because I said, "okay, what are you really talking about? What did you--what does this mean? What?" And she was pretty explicit.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:14:30] Wow. Wow.
William Callarman [00:14:32] And I looked at her and I froze her with a stare. And I said to her, "what you are offering me seems to be of very little value to you. What you're asking me to give up is extremely important to me. Good night."
Chrissy Vasquez [00:14:53] Wow.
Nicole Klemp [00:14:54] That's a great response.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:14:55] That absolutely is. Wow. Was your colleague next door to hear this or was it--
William Callarman [00:15:00] Oh, yes, He was here. He was there.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:15:01] So you guys definitely probably debriefed on the way out.
William Callarman [00:15:04] Oh, absolutely. We debriefed. But, you know, it starts with a shock and then it's followed by laughing about it. Yeah.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:15:13] So having gone to Arizona State and been in the business school, I can picture the exact building of probably where you were. So I picture this story very much in my head about what that was probably like walking out that night.
William Callarman [00:15:24] Yeah. And see, one of the other elements to it, too. And I left out. And forgive me for leaving it out. This young man was the son of a member of the board of directors of General Motors. Arizona State was his fourth university. He'd flunked out of three universities prior to being admitted to ASU.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:15:47] Wow.
William Callarman [00:15:48] So it was extremely important to him.
Nicole Klemp [00:15:50] Yeah.
Nicole Klemp [00:15:51] I think he needed a little lesson in integrity. Sounds like.
William Callarman [00:15:54] Absolutely.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:15:55] I'd be curious to know if he knew she went there or if she was going on her own.
William Callarman [00:15:59] I have no idea. I didn't probe. But she had told me that the father was going to, if he flunked out again, disinherit him.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:16:09] Oh, wow.
William Callarman [00:16:10] Oh, yeah.
Nicole Klemp [00:16:11] That is quite a tangle. Tangled web there.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:16:14] Yes, absolutely. And I think it brings up there's plenty of times where we get approached in our career and even in the fraternity or other volunteers where a situation is like that, and you're like, "how do I reply? How do I keep the reply professional? How do I keep it short and concise?" And especially you mentioned there's a change in times, right? So especially in today's world, you have to be extremely careful about what you say, how you present it.
William Callarman [00:16:40] Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Now, one of the--can I throw another incident in just for fun?
Chrissy Vasquez [00:16:45] Yeah, for funsies as the kids say.
William Callarman [00:16:48] Oh yeah. And see, it comes from all different directions from places that you really don't expect it. The dean of the College of Business there at Arizona State. His executive assistant. Her son was in my class. And well before that, I had talked with her because as the mail comes into the university, into the College of Business Office. My father collected stamps from all over the world. And so I asked, you know, Virginia, can you help me with that? And she said, "Sure." So now, later her son is in my class. And he's not doing well. You know, he's running a D average. And she calls me in and says, "You're telling me that my son is a D student?" And I said, "No, I'm not telling you that. What I'm telling you is that he's just married. Just taken a new job. He's taking this night class. He's not doing well in my class. That doesn't mean he's a D student. It simply means he's not performing well." But here's the kicker. He did earn the D. The stamps stopped coming.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:18:01] Oh, wow.
William Callarman [00:18:03] Very subtle. But you're no longer in favor.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:18:08] Wow.
Nicole Klemp [00:18:09] That's a shame.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:18:09] Well, Bill, thank you for sharing your experience with us. It's been such a pleasure to talk with you. And thank you for all you do.
M.C. Moore [00:18:14] Thank you all. This has been fabulous.
William Callarman [00:18:16] Absolutely. Absolutely. And good to see you again, Chrissy, and nice to meet you, Nicole.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:18:21] Super. Thank you so much.
Nicole Klemp [00:18:22] Enjoy the rest of Convention!
William Callarman [00:18:24] Oh, I shall. Thank you.
Chrissy Vasquez [00:18:26] Thank you.
Finn Lambouris [00:18:29] Thanks for listening to Business Edge. If you have questions, comments or topic suggestions for us, email businessedge@akpsi.org.