What about Utah?

We knew the answer was Chi Alpha but we didn’t know where.  When asked the question, “Where do you want to plant Chi Alpha?”  Our answer was, “Where there are none.”  A bit of a vague answer.  There were a few places this applied to in March of 2010:  New Mexico, almost the entire Northeast, and Utah.  We were having dinner with a family friend, Jack.  He was visiting from Utah.  He asked the question and we answered, “Where there are none.”  His reply: “What about Utah?”  You know how words can echo in your mind like they were said with more power and zest than they originally were.  It’s like God added a smoke machine and music in the background of this memory.  I believe Jack’s voice was deeper in the memory too. It was a simple question that repeated in our minds over and over.  After that dinner, we looked at each other and asked, “What about Utah?”  Thus began the journey.

On July 25, 2012, we entered Orem through the mouth of Provo canyon. (That memory has the “Hallelujah” chorus triumphantly playing in the background.) It was a long journey from Jack’s prophetic question on March 13, 2010, but beyond worth it.

Here we are in 2018.  When we arrived, there were no Chi Alphas in the state of Utah.  Now there are two! We started at Utah Valley University with a stellar team alongside us.  We have a very strong, healthy group there with 7 student leaders.  We also started a second Chi Alpha at the University of Utah in 2016.  Here’s to the next four!  (I'm sure each of those memories will have smoke machines and music too.)