Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Zoroastrianism/Participants

Hi, I am new to this Wikipedia contribution effort. I read the Khoda definition - and this not Zoroastrianism, but rather a counter to the claim that Khoda is an honor society at Stevens. I am a Stevens alumnus, Class of 1976, and I copied and pasted my email from tonight to Khoda at Stevens, which I also forwarded to someone in the Alumni Office who is listed as an Honorary Khoda member. Khoda was never about honor. It represented Stevens at its worst in backdoor and behind the scenes politics. What I write here is the truth. Admittedly I may have written this better for Wikipedia sake, but I wanted you to see what I actually did say to my alma mater. Moreover, there are lies on the Khoda website which I can name names and easily counter. The truth should be told, and cleaned up. Karl Ammann.

Hi,

I was just speaking with a Stevens alum, and I thought of punching up Khoda, and there you are.

I think it is nice that this society has changed to a senior honor society. History has been altered as I see from when I was there. I graduated in 1976, and Khoda was never an honor society. It was the secret society that was supposed to help guide and run Stevens with the Administration behind the scenes. Its members were kept secret, and represented the Machiavellian side of Stevens as far as I was concerned. I distinctly remember Khoda being against my election as Inter-Fraternity President, and members giving me a lot of grief over my initiatives, firsts for an IFC President to do. I remember one Khoda member being the Delt president and other fraternities fighting me on every single initiative at IFC meetings until I addressed the issue of Khoda with Dean Richard Eversen at our private weekly meetings on Thursdays at 10 AM. After that meeting with Dean Eversen, things got a little easier until I won some hearts and minds that my initiatives were actually great for the fraternity system, and for Stevens overall. One thing, I was the IFC President to fight to get GD (God Damn) off GDI, and build bridges to the Administration, which Dean Eversen awarded me praise for this first from the IFC President, and to the overall student body, which the then Student Council President and Stute Editor were not entirely receptive to. I can tell more on this story, and I know who I am writing about, but unless you want to question and really hear more, I will stop here. Put it this way, the Stuco President refused to meet with me, although I did see him later as an alum and things had changed, and the Stute Editor refused my offer to personally pay for additional pages in the Stute newspaper to highlight IFC sports and then donate the remaining space to Stevens to use as it saw fit. And when I was a senior ready to graduate, I heard about how there was this deficit in the IFC coffers, and that was no big surprise. I am the first IFC President, along with my Secretary Treasurer, to actually bring in charts, graphs, and the IFC ledger book to show that dues from each fraternity needed to be increased because of 13 years of deficit spending that was out of control. Hmm, guess who voted down the dues increase when I was IFC President. Khoda member president and fraternities shown as having Khoda members, essentially what were known as the big houses at the time. The next guy ran unopposed, and did the one thing I almost did but decided not to do - threaten to shut down the IFC if everyone did not go along with a dues increase. Then I heard that supposed I embezzled IFC funds, when nothing further from the truth was reality.

I remember when I started to run for IFC President, it was a Khoda man who stole my planks, fed them to his fraternity brother, who then ran against me using my planks. Fortunately, I had not said anything, and I used my position as Secretary Treasurer and politics among my backers on the council to allow the contender to speak first. That is how Machiavellian Khoda was. Hopefully you have indeed straightened out Khoda. Historically, I must ask - Honesty? Honor? That is not what is one the internet now. In my opinion, and I have often said this, Khoda should be put out of business. So, what have you been up to?

You know, there is a time to say - well, that is in the past, and we are all getting along now. But, in reality, what should be done is clean house, and tell the truth. Senior honor society - no way was it based on honor, nor on grades. Come on, that is a lot of crap that you have on the net, and Wikipedia is wrong about that. I still have a problem with the blatant lies. I suggest that you tell the truth, because that is what I do, and I have been close to death, and my book will not lie. I am doing my autobiography, and hope to sell it.

I must say, that eventually things turned around due to my persistence dealing against Khoda as some of them were also members of Gear and Triangle, and I did get along with them at those meetings - even agreed on several issues and suggestions to help improve life at Stevens.

By the way, there were only five members of Khoda, not 12 as you list. And they were photographed in silhouette in the Stevens year book. I remember Dean Eversen was shocked in that one meeting when I named all five members of Khoda, and the five previous members as well. I used to have my finger on the pulse of Stevens, and was regarded by Dean Eversen and some others as being a good citizen and Stevens man with Stevens at heart.

So, what made you launder history? The fact that I complained, and that this may have traveled back to Hal Raveche? Because when I write, I write the truth, and what happened is the truth.

Sincerely,

Karl L. Ammann, Stevens Class of 1976.