‘I Will Always Have Someone’: Student Advisory Committee Member Abe Hester Wants to Make Positive Change Within the Fraternity and Globally
Student Advisory Committee Member Abe Hester plans to change the world.
The University of North Texas student recently accepted a full-ride offer from Washington University Law School in St. Louis and joined the Missouri National Guard. He hopes to work for a Non-Governmental Organization someday.
But that wasn’t the first step toward a successful career in international law and making the world a better place, he said. The first step was becoming a member of Lambda Chi Alpha.
“Lambda Chi taught me that a lot of different voices can come together to make something positive and make something great despite different backgrounds and subgoals,” Hester said. “My hope is that law school gives me the opportunity to do that on a global scale.”
Hester, a senior at UNT, majors in political science and philosophy, minors in history and military science, and is working toward certificates in legal studies and peace studies.
He is also heavily involved on campus. Besides serving as Beta of his chapter, he has also served as Chief of Staff for the Student Government Association, Public Affairs Officer for the Army ROTC Detachment, and President of Debate.
His Lambda Chi experience, though, is one-of-a-kind.
“Growth and learning in an abstract way the worth of other people is really what I’ve gained,” Hester said.
“(Being in Lambda Chi) means that no matter where I go or where I am in the country — or even internationally — there is going to be somebody I can talk to with a similar set of values and beliefs,” he continued. “I think people are afraid sometimes to go to new places. But Lambda Chi is such a large organization that that won’t be an issue for me … I’ll always have someone.”
It is the social focus of the organization, he said, that makes it different than the kind of brotherhood he has experienced on the debate team and in ROTC.
“It has been a great exposure to a kind of organization I hadn’t been a part of before,” he said. “(Lambda Chi) showed me how easy it is to help your fellow man just by getting together and working together and supporting each other.”
Networking is an important part of Lambda Chi Alpha, and it’s a big reason Hester applied to be on SAC, which he serves as the Grand High Theta for.
“It’s been great. Getting to work with Brandan (Bonds) and other members from IHQ and the board has been incredible,” Hester said. “We’re moving toward (General Assembly), and yeah, there have been some hiccups along the way. But we’ve been able to overcome all of that and work with each other and our chapters in a constructive manner.”
But joining SAC was important to him for several reasons.
“I wanted to do it because, especially coming from a colony, it would help me gain a perspective from the upper level,” he said. “It’s not only for my own enlightenment. It’s so I can take back what I learn to my chapter and let my brothers know how things work and help them out.”
He encourages all undergraduates who are even remotely interested in SAC to apply.
“Even if they don’t think they’re going to make it — I know it’s a stretch — take that shot,” Hester said. “If their priority is to make a positive change within the fraternity, there is no better place to do it.”
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