The summer 2009 issue of the award winning Kansas Deltan has been mailed to alumni.  A copy is available online at www.ksdelta.org/alumni/newsletter.html.  The latest issue provides updates on the chapter house, information for the 2010 Hawkins Weekend, an update on chapter operations, memorial for Dr. Loran B. Smith, and the continuing series: SigEp Spotlight.

The Kansas Deltan is a regular publication of the Kansas Delta Alumni Corporation, providing news and updates to alumni of the Washburn University chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon.  If you have not received your issue, please update your contact information at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

The Washburn athletics Hall of Fame has announced its 2009 class with the addition of two Sigma Phi Epsilon members who will be inducted on Oct. 3 and introduced at halftime of the football game between the Ichabods and the Fort Hays State Tigers. Joining the class of 118 are former football player Gary Yager and as a meritorious service inductee, former Ichabod golfer Mark Heitz.

Gary Yager • Football (1972-75)

Gary was a first team all-CSIC selection as a senior after wrapping up his career with 1,297 rushing yards which is currently 15th on the all-time Ichabod rushing chart and was the fifth-highest at the end of his career after playing only three seasons missing one with an injury. He has 12 career touchdowns and four 100-yard rushing games while leading the Ichabods in rushing as a junior and senior. He rushed for 784 yards as a senior with eight touchdowns and his rushing total would have been the third-highest single-season total in school history. He rushed for a career-high 135 yards on 28 carries against Pittsburg State as a senior. His junior season, he rushed for 439 yards on 119 carries with three touchdown. His 862 all-purpose yards led the Ichabods as a senior as did his 54 points scored on nine touchdowns. He led the team in rushing during the 1974 Boot Hill Bowl in a 21-7 win over Millikin with 57 yards rushing on 22 carries. The Boot Hill Bowl win is also his top Washburn sports memory. Yager graduated from Washburn in 1976 and he is a graduate of East High School in Kansas City. He is the president and CEO of Vision Bank in Topeka. Yager and his wife Widge (also a Washburn graduate) have two sons - Tyson and Tab.

Mark Heitz • Meritorious Service • Golf (1970-72)

Mark has been instrumental in the success of Washburn athletics and the entire University by sponsoring many endowed scholarships for Ichabod and Lady Blues student athletes and both his and his wife Lisa's names as well as endowed funds for the Washburn law school. He has served on the Washburn Board of Regents as well as the law school's board of governors and is currently a trustee of the Washburn Endowment Association. Heitz's support of building projects such as the Lee Arena and Whiting Field House renovation projects and the Falley Field renovation project has helped put the Washburn athletic facilities on the map as some of the best in the country. He was honored as the Ichabod Club Person of the Year in 1998 and graduated from Washburn in 1974 earning his juris doctorate in 1977. He also is a member of the American Bar Association, Kansas Bar Association, Oklahoma Bar Association, Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity, past secretary for the Kansas Day Club and a past chairman of the Kansas Insurance Education Foundation and National Association of Life Companies. Heitz has served as president of the WU Law School Association and received the Alumni Association's Distinguished Service Award in 2002 and an honorary Doctorate of Law in 2001. The Heitz's have one daughter, Kara.

Ansley was nominated by Alpha Phi sorority. Ansley is vice president of programming and vice president of membership development for Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, and he serves as a Student Ambassador and was a summer orientation counselor. Ansley volunteers with YouthAIDS, Race Against Breast Cancer, Festival of Trees, Red Stocking Breakfast, WU in the Community, 20/30 Club Gala and at an Indiana soup kitchen this summer. He is a junior majoring in accounting and plans to pursue a degree in law and eventually enter politics. His parents are Jon and Patti Ansley, Deerfield, Kan. 

Plattner was nominated by Student Ambassadors. Plattner is vice president of Student Ambassadors and a residential living community advisor. She was inducted into Mortar Board and has been named to the President's Honor Roll. A senior in the physical therapist assistant program, she completed her clinical rotation at a nursing home and participated in a medical mission trip to Haiti. Plattner also volunteered in Relay for Life, the WU Move Crew and College Hill Clean Up and participates in intramurals and Bod Squad. After graduation, she plans to pursue a degree in exercise physiology. Her parents are Doug and Sue Plattner.

Washburn University students have been selected as candidates for 2007 Homecoming king and queen. The Homecoming king and queen will be crowned on Oct. 20 at halftime of the 1 p.m. football game vs. Truman State University, Yager Stadium at Moore Bowl. 

Among the candidates selected was Nathan Ansley, Garden City, Kan.  Ansley was nominated by Alpha Phi sorority.
Ansley is vice president of programming and vice president of membership development for Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, and he serves as a Student Ambassador and was a summer orientation counselor. Nathan volunteers with YouthAIDS, Race Against Breast Cancer, Festival of Trees, Red Stocking Breakfast, WU in the Community, 20/30 Club Gala and at an Indiana soup kitchen this summer. He is a junior majoring in accounting and plans to pursue a degree in law and eventually enter politics. His parents are Jon and Patti Ansley, Deerfield, Kan.  Find out more about Washburn University 2007 homecoming candidates.