History

ALPHA XI ETA CHAPTER OF 

PHI ALPHA THETA

NATIONAL HISTORY HONORARY SOCIETY

Apply for membership

To apply for membership, fill out this form and return to Professor Gerald Iguchi (403P Wimberly) along with a check for $50 payable to UWL. Paper copies are also available outside 403P Wimberly. Initiation Ceremony will take place annually in spring semester.

Membership requirements are:

At least 12 credit hours in history completed BEFORE application.
3.1 or higher GPA in history
3.0 or higher overall GPA

Note: Membership is NOT limited to history majors or minors.

As a member of Phi Alpha Theta, you will receive:

1. The use of a PAT honor cord for your UW-La Crosse graduation, and opportunity to purchase other regalia.
2. The honor of being inducted into a local chapter of a national fraternity at a yearly ceremony.
3. Networking opportunities with local, regional and national history students at Phi Alpha Theta events.
4. The right to claim this membership on your resume or curriculum vita.
5. An official membership certificate.
6. A one-year subscription (4 issues) to the quarterly journal, The Historian.
7. New members’ names will be printed in a future issue of The Historian (allow approximately 6 months for names to be published).

Questions? Visit http://www.phialphatheta.org or email Professor Gerald Iguchi - giguchi@uwlax.edu

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What is Phi Alpha Theta?

For the first time in the history of UW-La Crosse, the History Department was granted permission to found a chapter of the national history honorary fraternity, Phi Alpha Theta in 2010. This ninety-year-old organization promotes history research, teaching, scholarship and education across the nation. There are over 900 chapters of PAT at colleges, universities and institutions of higher education across the United States. Undergraduate and graduate students, as members of Phi Alpha Theta, participate in activities to celebrate and promote the study of history. Many students travel to regional or national conferences to present or hear historical scholarship. This is the first taste of active historical research for most students, and a number of the current faculty members at UW-La Crosse were members of PAT in their own time as students. 

Special thanks to ProfessorJames Longhurst for establishing a Phi Alpha Theta chapter at UW-La Crosse.

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Officers:

2020-2021 
Brittney Dechambeau, President 
Kayla Price, Vice President 
Mary Miller, Treasurer 

Faculty Advisor: Professor Gerald Iguchi 

 
2019-2020 
Johnathon Jaeger, President 
Jesse Gilbertson, Treasurer 

Faculty Advisor: Professor Gerald Iguchi 
 
2018-2019 
Christina Grev, President 
Olivia Hoff, Treasurer 

Faculty Advisor: Professor Gerald Iguchi 

 

2017-2018 

Kaley Brown, President
Daniel Potter, Vice President
James Gillingham, Treasurer
Katrina Bjornstad, Secretary

Faculty Advisor, John Grider

 

2016-2017 

Dakota (Cody) Stuckey, President 
Abigail Turner, Vice President 
Michelle Kelly, Treasurer 
Kayley Brown, Secretary 

Faculty Advisor: Professor Gita V. Pai 

 

2015-2016 

Garrett Carlson, President 
Callie O'Conner, Vice President 
Joey Barr, Treasurer 
Dakota (Cody) Stuckey, Secretary 

Faculty Advisor: Professor Gita V. Pai 

 

2014-2015 

Rob Belle/Garrett Carlson, President 
Calli Niemi, Vice President 
Julia Roden, Treasurer 
Rebecca Schnabel, Secretary 

Faculty Advisor: Professor Gita V. Pai 

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 Activities:

Candy Cane fund raiser

Thursday, December 9, 2015

Candy Cane 1 
Aaron Brown and Calli Niemi sell The Chancellor a candy cane.

2015 Phi Alpha Theta initiation ceremony

Thursday, November 5, 2015 

2015 PAT initiation 1
PAT president Garrett Carlson opens the initiation ceremony.

2015 PAT initiation 2

2015 PAT initiation 3
Krystle Thomas receives her certificate from Kathryn Witt and History Dept. Chair John Grider.

2015 PAT initiation 4
Aaron Brown, Rebecca Schnabel, Julia Roden, Callie O'Conner, Kathryn Witt, and Calli Niemi read the Six Great Age.

2015 PAT initiation 5

2015 PAT initiation 6
New initiates: Luke Erlandson, John Forneris, Leah Genz, James Gillingham, Robert Grover, Michelle Kelly, Matthew Krier, Dean McGuire, Krystle Thomas, Melissa Troutt, Abigail Turner, and Zachery Wallenfang.

With Garrett Carlson, Calli Niemi, Callie O'Conner, Roman Lulloff, Jenny DeRocher, Kathryn Witt, Rebecca Schanabel, and Cody Stuckey.

2015 History hunt

Saturday, October 10, 2015
Downtown, La Crosse

History Hunt 2Organizers: Calli Niemi and Julia Roden

History Hunt 1
Roman Lulloff as lumber baron Gideon Hixon

History Hunt 3
Aaron Brown and Nick Mauel

History Hunt 4
Garrett Carlson as Hixon

History Hunt 5
Kathryn Witt and Cody Stuckey

2015 Campus Close-Up

Friday, April 24, 2015
Cartwright Center, UWL

Witt2Kathryn Witt

 

Witt1
Potential students receive information about UWL's History Department.

2015 History movie night

Thursday, April 23, 2015
Centennial Hall, UWL

PAT Schindler's List Poster Normal Size

 

2015 Hear, Here! launch event

Sunday, April 12, 2015
Pamperin Tobacco Company Building, La Crosse

Gebo Braun SauermanRachel Gebo, Cody Braun, and Luke Sauerman

 Abbie Turner
Abbie Turner

2015 National history day

Monday, March 30, 2015
Cartwright and Graff Main Hall, UWL 

NHD1Aaron Brown, Calli Niemi, Becca Schnabel, Rachel Gebo, Callie O'Connor, Chantra Potts, and Julia Roden.

Garfin Graff GuideKate Garfin as a Graff Guide.

2015 Bowling night

Tuesday, February 17, 2015
All Star Lanes, La Crosse 

Bowling NightJenny DeRocher, Roman Lulloff, Garrett Carlson, Rob Belle, Calli Niemi, Nick Mauel, Joey Barr, Cody Elliott, Rachel Gebo, Aaron Brown, Callie O'Connor, Becca Schnabel, and Julia Roden.

2015 Valentine's Day fund raiser

Thursday, February 13, 2015
Whitney Center, UWL

Valentine's flowersJenny DeRocher, Julia Roden, and Luke Sauerman sell carnations.

2014 Phi Alpha Theta initiation ceremony

Thursday, October 23, 2014
Cartwright Center Port O'Call

History Department Chair, Professor John Grider welcomes the audience.

PAT members Robert Belle, Calli Niemi, Rebecca Schnabel, and Kathryn Witt describe the six great historical ages.Provost Heidi Macpherson congratulates new initiate Nicholas Mauel.

2014-2015 PAT members of the Alpha Xi Eta chapter at UW-La Crosse.

Joey Barr, Rob Belle, Cody Braun, Aaron Brown, Garrett Carlson, Sara Crook, Talia Dacquisto, Jenny DeRocher, Cody Elliott, Kate Garfin, Rachel Gebo, Hannah Gothard, Kelsey Hamlin, Anna Hageness, Harrison Jackson, Dessa Karl, Roman Lulloff, Nick Mauel, Calli Niemi, Callie O' Connor, Chantra Potts, Julia Roden, Luke Sauerman, Becca Schnabel, Marty Selleck, Cody Stuckey, and Kathryn Witt.

Author Talk: UW-La Crosse Emeritus Professor Les Crocker discussed his book We've Hung the Lantern (2013), a visual account of UW-La Crosse's architectural history, at the Cleary Alumni & Friends Center on October 1, 2013.

Morser Poster

Author Talk: On March 23, 2011, recent UW-Madison PhD Eric J. Morser spoke about history Department, and the La Crosse Public Library sponsored this public event held bookHinterland Dreams: Political Economy of a Midwestern City (2010), a detailed history of 19th-century La Crosse. Phi Alpha Theta, UW-La Crosse History in the Cartwright Center Ward Room.

2012 Initiation Ceremony, Centennial Hall of 

Mouser Poster

Nations: UW-La Crosse Emeritus Professor Bruce Mouser shared "The Historian's Dilemma: Finding the Narrative Arc" on April 27, 2012. Mouser is author of For Labor, Race, and Liberty: George Edwin Taylor, His Historic Run for the White House, and the Making of Independent Black Politics, which includes research about the history of La Crosse.

Stovey Poster

Spring 2011 & 2012 Trips to St. Mary's: Students traveled to the St. Mary's University of Minnesota Student History Research Symposium to present their historical research to their peers. 

2011 Initiation Ceremony, Cartwright Center Ward Room: On May 5, 2011 Patricia Stovey, recent UW-Madison PhD in Educational Policy Studies, talked about her dissertation High School on the Middle Border that addresses the history of education in La Crosse region's small towns.

Spring 2010 Installation Ceremony, Carl Wimberly Hall: On March 6, 2010, UW-La Crosse's Department of History was granted the right to form its own chapter of Phi Alpha Theta. Both the College of Liberal Studies newsletter and the PAT national newsletter described the event. The Charter Members of this new honorary are listed below. 

Charter Members:

From the UW-La Crosse History department faculty

Deborah Buffton 
Mark W. Chavalas 
John T. Grider 
Jess Hollenback 
Gerald S. Iguchi 
Barbara Kooiman 
Donald LaCoss 
Charles Lee (Department Chair)
James Longhurst 
Marti M. Lybeck 
Victor Macias-Gonzalez 
Heidi Morrison 
Shelley A. Sinclair
Kendall Staggs 

From the UW-La Crosse student body

Kelsey M. Ajango 
Joshua John Arens 
Kyle B. Carrabine 
Patrick M. Eddy
John R. Emery 
Luke J. Johnson 
Bradley J. Masche 
Emily A. Ness 
Kelly A. Nussbaum 
Allyson A. Obermeier 
Emily A. O’Neal 
Rebecca J. Putzer 
Anna B. Schmidt 
Edward C. Staats 
Hannah M. Zander

Installation ceremony:

Installation
PAT National Board member and University of Southern Indiana Professor Jason Hardgrave formally installs the chapter.

 

Installation Crowd Chot
Members of the UW-La Crosse community attend the installation ceremony.

 

Student Initiates

Professor James Longhurst initiates students into the newly-formed Alpha Xi Eta chapter.